Focusing on one of the most prominent sacred sites of goddess(es) worship in India, the Nīlācala (blue hill) of Guwahati in Assam, this article delineates the historical evolution of a local goddess cult and its association with the groups of multiple feminine deities. Based on literary, inscriptional, archeological and oral sources, it demonstrates three phases of transition amidst political changes: (i) worship of yoni, the local sacred geography, by autochthonous people, (ii) the reorganized Tantric yoginī cult associated with a new regional goddess, who was worshipped by the ruling family of the Mlecchas and the Pālas and ( iii) the magical and comprehensive Mahāvidyās and the restored goddess Kāmākhyā cult by the Koches. Here the transition does not mean a sudden change, but a steady process by which a former tradition not only altered but also continued and acquired new connotation in a different socio-religious context. Instead of applying the analytical distinction which often simplifies the multi-sided and prevalent traditions in the form of binary opposition such as ‘tribal/Hindu’ or ‘local/universal’ or ‘Tantric/Puranic’, this article shows how the divergent strands of incompatible religious traditions became mutually dependent.
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