Shaktipeeth - Part 1

Historical background of Shakti-peethas

In Bramhanda Purana we come across the Shakti-peethas, their importance and epics about their origin. According to Bramhanda Purana, there are 64 Shaktipeethas of Godess Parvati. Sage Markandeya composed the Devi Saptashati which relates the virtues of divine goddess of Shakti (Parvati). According to Shiva Purana, Devi Bhagwata and Kalika Purana there are 4 major Shaktipeethas namely Puri (inside Jagannath temple, Orissa), Behrampur (Orissa), Guwahati (Assam), Kolkata (Kali temple, West Bengal).

According to the epics, the following story is related to the formation of Shaktipeethas. King Daksha’s daughter, Sati was wife of Lord Shiva. The King did not like his son-in-law because of his attire and dwelling. Once he arranged a great Yagnya and did not invite his son-in-law i.e. Lord Shiva. Sati went to the Yagnya in spite of advice from Lord Shiva for not doing so. She questioned her father for not inviting Lord Shiva. She was insulted and her husband was belittled at Yagnya by her father. So she jumped into the Yagnya fire. When Lord Shiva came to know about his wife jumping into fire, he became furious and destroyed the Yagnya through Shivaganas. He performed Ugra-tandava holding his wife’s lifeless body. Lord Vishnu pacified Lord Shiva. During Ugra-tandav, Parvati’s body got cut into pieces and fell at 52 places on the earth and each of those places became Shaktipeethas. It is presumed that the place where heart of Parvati fell is where Ambaji temple at Mt. Abu was constructed. 

According to another epic when Shiva was performing Ugra-tandav with Sati’s body, Vishnu, Brahma, other Gods and sages gathered at Yagynashala and started praying Aadi-shakti with bowed head. At the same time, the head was severed from Daksha’s body. Due to the prayers of Gods and others, the body of Sati started disintegrating into drops of Shakti-swaroop. They started scattering all over the world and became Shaktipeethas. In Bharata they fell from Himalayas to Kanyakumari. Thus we have many forms of Shakti as Vaishnavi, Varahi, Vishalakshi, Kali, Mukambika, Kanyakumari and so on. 

When Shiva calmed down from his Ugra-tandava, Shakti entered the body of Shiva (i.e. she married after taking re-birth as Uma) and became part of Shiva. Due to Shiva’s divine grace, all those were killed at Yagnya became alive. Bowing to the request of Uma, Shiva brought King Daksha back to life and made him one of the Ganas. It is believed that Daksha’s head resembled that of a goat after he came back to life.

Shakti-peethas with shakti temple

Some of the Shaktipeethas that are mentioned in epics (where we find the Shakti temple) are listed below –

Name of Shaktipeetha	Name of presiding Deity	Place
Sharadapeetha	Shri Sharada	Shringeri, Karnataka
Kamarajpeetha	Shri Kamakshi	Kancheepuram, Tamil Nadu
Dharmapeetha	Shri Dharmavardhini	Thiruvaiaru, Tamil Nadu
Manikarnika peetha	Shri Vishalakshi	Kashi, Uttar Pradesh
Chitrambala peetha	Shri Shivakashi	Chidambaram, Tamil Nadu
Mantrini peetha	Shri Minakshi	Madurai, Tamil Nadu
Kumari peetha	Shri Kanyakumari	Kanyakumari, Tamil Nadu
Shivashakti peetha	Shri Akilandeshwari	Thiruvannamalai, Tamil Nadu
Vishnushakti peetha	Shri Mangalambika	Kumbhakonam, Tamil Nadu
Aruna peetha	Shri Abidambal	Thiruvannamalai, Tamil Nadu
Kamali peetha	Shri Kamalambal	Thiruvarur, Tamil Nadu
Setu peetha	Shri Parvat Vardhini	Rameshwaram, Tamil Nadu

Besides these there are 4 shakti peethas in Maharashtra.

Karveer peeth, Mahalakshmi, Kolhapur; Tuljapur peeth, Tulja bhavani (Mahishasur mardini), Tuljapur; Mahurgadh peetha, Shri Renuka devi, Mahur; Saptashrungi peetha, Shri Jaydurga, Vani

Shaktipeethas in Ashta-dashashakti-peetha stotra

There is disagreement in understanding if some modern cities correspond to the 64 locations mentioned in Puranas. However there seems to be agreement about 18 locations as mentioned by Adi Shankaracharya in his Ashta-dashashakti-peetha stotra.

Below is the list mentioned by Shri Shankaracharya. It indicates the location where the part of the body (of Sati) fell.

Peetha	Location	Part of body which fell	Name of Deity (Shakti)
Lanka peetha	Tricomalee, Sri Lanka	Groin	Shankari devi
Kanchikaamkoti peetha	Kanchipuram, Tamil Nadu	Back part	Kamakshi devi
Pradyumna peetha	Pandua, West Bengal	Stomach	Shrigala devi
Crounja peetha	Maisur, Karnataka	Hair	Chamundeshwari devi
Yogini peetha	Alampur, Telangana	Upper teeth	Yogamba devi
Shrishaila peetha	Shri Shailam, Andhra Pradesh	Neck part	Bharamaramba devi
Shri peetha	Kolhapur, Maharashatra	Eyes	Mahalakshmi
Renuka peetha	Mahur, Maharashtra	Left hand	Renuka devi
Ujjaini peetha	Ujjain, Madhya Pradesh	Tonge	Mahakali devi
Pushkarini peetha	Pithapuram, Andhra Pradesh	Back portion	Puruhutika devi
Oddyana peetha	Jaipur, Orissa	Hip bone	Biraja devi
Draksharama peetha	Draksharamam, Andra Pradesh	Naval	Manikyamba devi
Kaamroopa peetha	Guwahati, Aasam	Vulva	Kamaroopa devi
Prayaga peetha	Prayag, Uttar Pradesh	Fingers	Madhaveshwari devi
Jwalamukhi peetha	Kangra / Jwalamukhi, Himachal Pradesh	Head	Vaishnavi devi
Gaya peetha	Gaya, Uttar Pradesh	Breast part	Sarva-mangala devi
Varanasi peetha	Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh	Toes	Vishalakshi devi
Sharada peetha	Sharada peeth, Aazaad Kashmir	Right hand	Saraswati devi

Sharada peetha temple has become non-existent. It lies in the line of control between India & Pakistan. Shringeri Sharda peetha at Shringeri, Karnataka is not a Shakti peetha but is the aspect of Goddess Sharada.

Details about four major shaktipeethas

Here are more details - the name of deity, location and the body part / ornament fell at that location - about 4 major shaktipeethas mentioned above. 

Location	Body part/ ornament	Name of Goddess
Puri	Paad	Bimla
Behraampur	Stana (breast)	Taarataarini
Guwahati	Yoni khanda	Kamakshya
Kolkata	Mukha Khanda	Dakshinkalika

Consolidated list of all shaktipeethas 

As mentioned above there are supposed to be total of 64 shakti peethas, however we are able to gather list of only 51 shakti peethas. We will cover consolidated list of all shakti-peethas in our next article post. The list will include name of temple that was built on each part of the body of goddess or on the ornaments that fell during ugra-tandava and the name of manifestation of Lord Shiva at that place.

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