© Equinox Publishing Ltd 2021, Ofce 415, The Workstation, 15 Paternoster Row, Shefeld S1 2BX Religions of South Asia 13:3 (2020) 55–85 ISSN (print) 1751-2689 https://doi.org/10.1558/rosa.19013 ISSN (online) 1751-2697 The Yoni of Kāmākhyā: The Intersection of Power and Gender in its Mythology PAOLO E. ROSATI 1 Independent scholar Monteverde, 00152 Rome, Italy paoloe.rosati@gmail.com ABSTRACT: The mythology of the yoni of Satī was introduced in the early medieval Kālikāpurāṇa (ninth–eleventh century ce), a śākta text that linked the sexual symbol of the Goddess to the Kāmākhyā-pīṭha in Assam. This article will analyse the medieval Purāṇas and Tantras compiled in northeastern India—focusing on their mythological accounts of the cosmogony of the yoni pīṭha—in order to outline a historical evolution of the yoni symbol through the Middle Ages. Combining leftist Freudian, post-structuralist and post-gender theories with religious studies, the yoni will be considered both as a source of power and as a battlefeld of sex– gender identity. In conclusion, this article will challenge the idea of a static yoni but will underline a sex–gender evolution of its identity, which encompasses and transcends both male and female powers. KEYWORDS: Butler; Foucault; goddess; Kaula; pansexualism; śakti; Tantra. INTRODUCTION The temple of Kāmākhyā, who is the goddess of desire, is located on top of Nīlācala (Blue Mountain), near Guwahati, in the Brahmaputra Valley of Assam. It is part of a larger sacred complex, which includes the Tantric shrines of the Mahāvidyās, and other minor Hindu temples that are scattered 1. Paolo E. Rosati holds a PhD in ‘Asian and African Studies’ (South Asia section) from ‘Sapienza’ University of Rome; his main feld of research is Assamese Tantra and the yoni cult of Kāmākhyā. Since 2015, Paolo has regularly published referred articles and presented at international conferences on these topics; presently, he is guest-editing a special issue on Tantra for RoSA. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44