Shakta pithas

The Shakti Peethas are places of worship consecrated to the goddess 'Shakti', the female principal of Hinduism and the main deity of the Shakta sect.

This goddess is often associated both with Gowrī/Parvati, the goddess of marital felicity and longevity, and with the virgin Durga, goddess of strength and valour.

Legend

According to legend, at some time in the Satya Yuga, Daksha performed a yagna (named Vrihaspati) with a desire of taking revenge on Lord Shiva. Daksha was angry because his daughter Sati had married Shiva against his wishes. Daksha invited all the deities to the yagna except for Shiva and Sati. The fact that she was not invited did not deter Sati from attending the yagna. She had expressed her desire to attend to Shiva who had tried his best to dissuade her from going. Shiva eventually allowed her to go escorted by his ganas (followers).

But Sati, being an uninvited guest, was not given any respect. Furthermore, Daksha insulted Shiva. Sati was unable to bear her father's insults toward her husband, so she committed suicide by jumping into the pyre.

When Lord Shiva heard about her death he became furious. He went to the place where Daksha was performing his yagna and destroyed the area. Daksha was killed by Shiva's ganas.

Lord Shiva then carried Sati's body all over the world in a state of wild grief. At the request of all other gods, Lord Vishnu ("The Preserver" in Hindu mythology) severed Sati's body into 51 pieces with his Sudarshan Chakram, so that Lord Shiva could return to his sanity and once again take up his duties. Various parts of Sati's body fell at different places which became known as Shakti Peethas.

At all Shakti Peethas, the Goddess Shakti is accompanied by Lord Bhairava (a manifestation of Lord Shiva).

Preserving the mortal relics of famous and respected individuals was a common practice in ancient India - seen in the Buddhist stupas which preserve the relics of Gautama Buddha. It is believed by some that these 51 peethas preserve the remains of some ancient female sage from whom the legend of Kali could have emerged and then merged with the Purusha- Prakriti (Shiva Shakti) model of Hindu thought.

Locations

The modern cities or towns that correspond to these 51 locations can be a matter of dispute, but there are a few that are totally unambiguous - for example, Kalighat in Kolkata/Calcutta and Kamakhya in Assam. According to the Pithanirnaya Tantra the 51 peethas are scattered all over India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Tibet and Sri Lanka. The Shivacharita besides listing 51 maha-peethas, speaks about 26 more upa-peethas. The Bengali almanac, Vishuddhasiddhanta Panjika too describes the 51 peethas including the present modified addresses. A few of the several accepted listings are given below.

In the listings:

• "Shakti" refers to the Goddess woshipped (invaribly, in this case, a manifestation of Dakshayani/Parvati/Durga);
• "Bhairava" refers to her consort, a manifestation of Shiva;
• "Organ or Ornament" refers to the body part or piece of jewelry that fell to earth, at the location on which the respective temple is built.

The 51 Shakti Peethas

Sr. No.	Place	Organ or Ornament	Shakti	Bhairava
1	Hingula (Or Hinglaj), about 125 Km towards North-East from Karachi, Pakistan	Bramharandhra (Part of the head)	Kottari	Bhimlochan
2	Sharkrare, a little distance from Sukkar Station from Karachi, Pakistan	Eyes	Mahishmardini	Krodhish
3	Sugandha, about 20 Km from Barisal, Bangladesh at Shikarpur on banks of Sondh river	Nose	Sunanda	Trayambak
4	Amarnath in Kashmir, India from Srinagar through Pahalgaon 94 km by Bus, Chandanbari 16 Km by walk	Throat	Mahamaya	Trisandhyeshwar
5	Jwalamukhi, Kangra, India from Pathankot alight at Jwalamukhi Road Station from there 20 Km	Tongue	Siddhida (Ambika)	Unmatta Bhairav
6	Jalandhar, India from Jalandhar Cantonment Station to Devi Talab	Left Breast	Tripurmalini	Bhishan
7	Baidyanathdham, at Deoghar, Jharkhand, India	Heart	Jaya Durga	Baidyanath
8	Nepal, near Pashupatinath Temple at Gujyeshwari Temple	Both Knees	Mahashira	Kapali
9	Manas, under Tibet at the feet of Mount Kailash in Manas Sarobar (Lake), a piece of Stone	Right Hand	Dakshayani	Amar
10	Biraja in Utkal present Orissa, India	Navel	Vimla	Jagannath
11	Gandaki from Pokhra, Nepal about 125 Km on the banks of Gandaki river where Muktinath temple is situated	Temple	Gandaki Chandi	Chakrapani
12	Bahula, on the banks of Ajay river, at Ketugram 8 Km from Katua, Burdwan, West Bengal, India	Left Arm	Goddess Bahula	Bhiruk
13	Ujaani, 16 Km from Guskura Station under Burdwan district of West Bengal, India	Right Wrist	Mangal Chandika	Kapilambar
14	Udaipur, Tripura, at the top of the hills known as Matabari near Radhakishorepur village, a little distance away from Udaipur town of Tripura, India	Right Leg	Tripur Sundari	Tripuresh
15	Chatral or Chôţţogram at the top of Chandranath hills near Sitakunda station of Chittagong district, Bangladesh	Right Arm	Bhawani	Chandrashekhar
16	Trisrota, at Salbari village under Boda division of Jalpaiguri district, West Bengal, India	Left Leg	Bhraamari	Ambar
17	Kamgiri, Kamakhya, at the Neelachal hills near Guwahati, capital of Assam, India	Genital Organ	Kamakhya	Umanand
18	Jugaadya at Khirgram under Burdwan district, West Bengal, India	Great Toe (Right)	Jugaadya	Ksheer Khandak
19	Kalipeeth, (Kalighat, Kolkata), India	Right Toe	Kalika	Nakuleesh
20	Prayag near Sangam of Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh, India	Finger (Hand)	Lalita	Bhava
21	Jayanti at Kalajore Bourbhog village of Khasi hills under Jayantia Parganas of Sylhet district, Bangladesh	Left Thigh	Jayanti	Kramadishwar
22	Kireet at Kireetkona village, 3 Km from Lalbag Court Road station under district Murshidabad, West Bengal, India	Crown	Vimla	Sanwart
23	Varanasi at Manikarnika Ghat on banks of Ganga at Kashi, Uttar Pradesh, India	Earring	Vishalakshi & Manikarni	Kalbhairav
24	Kanyashram, Kanyakumari the Bhadrakali temple within the precincts of Kumari temple, Tamil Nadu, India	Back	Sarvani	Nimish
25	Kurukshetra, at Haryana, India	Ankle Bone	Savitri	Sthanu
26	Manibandh, at Gayatri hills near Pushkar 11 Km towards north-west from Ajmer, Rajasthan, India	Two Bracelets	Gayatri	Sarvanand
27	Shri Shail, at Jainpur village towards north-east 3 Km from Sylhet town, Bangladesh	Neck	Mahalaxmi	Sambaranand
28	Kanchi, on the banks of Kopai river 4 Km towards north-east from Bolpur station of district Birbhum, West Bengal, India	Bone	Devgarbha	Ruru
29	Kalmadhav on the banks of Shon river in a cave over hills near to Amarkantak, Madhya Pradesh, India	Buttock (Left)	Kali	Asitang
30	Shondesh, at the source point of Narmada river in Amarkantak, Madhya Pradesh, India	Buttock (Right)	Narmada	Bhadrasen
31	Ramgiri, at Chitrakuta on the Jhansi Manikpur Railway line in Uttar Pradesh, India	Right Breast	Shivani	Chanda
32	Vrindavan, near new bus stand on Bhuteshwar road within Bhuteshwar Mahadev Temple, Vrindavan, Uttar Pradesh, India	Ringlets of Hair	Uma	Bhutesh
33	Shuchi, in a Shiva temple at Shuchitirtham 11 Km on Kanyakumari Trivandrum road, Tamil Nadu, India	Teeth (Upper Jaw)	Narayani	Sanhar
34	Panchsagar place not known	Teeth (Lower Jaw)	Varahi	Maharudra
35	Kartoyatat, at Bhawanipur village 28 Km distance from interior Serpur. Alight at Bagura station under district Bagura, Bangladesh	Left Anklet (Ornament)	Arpana	Vaman
36	Shri Parvat, near Ladak, Kashmir, India. Another belief: at Shrisailam in Shriparvat hills under Guntur district, Andhra Pradesh, India	Right Anklet (Ornament)	Shrisundari	Sundaranand
37	Vibhash, at Tamluk under district East Medinipur, West Bengal, India	Left Ankle	Kapalini (Bhimarupa)	Sarvanand
38	Prabhas, 4 Km distance from Veraval station near Somnath temple in Junagadh district of Gujarat, India	Stomach	Chandrabhaga	Vakratund
39	Bhairavparvat, at Bhairav hills on the banks of Shipra river a little distance from Ujjaini town, Madhya Pradesh, India	Upper Lips	Avanti	Lambkarna
40	Jansthan, at Godavari river valley near Nasik, Maharasthra, India	Chin (Two Parts)	Bhramari	Vikritaksh
41	Sarvashail or Godavaritir, at Kotilingeswar temple on the banks of Godavari river near Rajamundry, Andhra Pradesh, India	Cheeks	Rakini or Vishweshwari	Vatsnabh or Dandpani
42	Birat, near Bharatpur, Rajasthan, India	Left Feet Fingers	Ambika	Amriteshwar
43	Ratnavali, on the banks of Ratnakar river at Khanakul-Krishnanagar, district Hooghly, West Bengal, India	Right Shoulder	Kumari	Shiva
44	Mithila, near Janakpur Railway station on the boarder of India-Nepal	Left Shoulder	Uma	Mahodar
45	Nalhati, on a hillock near Nalhati station of Birbhum district, West Bengal, India	Tubular Bones of the Feet	Kalika Devi	Yogesh
46	Karnat place not known	Both Ears	Jayadurga	Abhiru
47	Vakreshwar, on the banks of Paaphara river, 7 Km distance from Dubrajpur station, district Birbhum, West Bengal, India	Portion between the eyebrows	Mahishmardini	Vakranath
48	Yashor, at Ishwaripur, district Khulna, Bangladesh	Hands & Feet	Yashoreshwari	Chanda
49	Attahas, 2 Km distance from Labhpur station district Birbhum, West Bengal, India	Lips	Phullara	Vishvesh
50	Nandipur under a Banyan tree within a boundary wall near Sainthia Railway station, district Birbhum, West Bengal, India	Necklace	Nandini	Nandikeshwar
51	Lanka place not known	Anklets	Indrakshi	Rakshaseshwar

See also

• Durga
• Daksha

Further reading

• Hindu Goddesses: Vision of the Divine Feminine in the Hindu Religious Traditions (ISBN 8120803795) by David Kinsley