On the Chitrachal hill at Guwahati in Assam stands the Navagraha temple, an ancient and remarkable shrine dedicated to the nine planets (navagraha), worshipped here together as nine lingas beneath a single dome, each draped in a colour sacred to its planet. Long a great centre of the study of astronomy and astrology, the temple gives Guwahati its old name of Pragjyotishpura, the city of eastern light.
Devotees come to worship the celestial influences and to seek harmony in their stars. A shrine of deep antiquity and singular character, the Navagraha temple is among the most distinctive of Assam's sacred places.
