Shakti Pitha

The shrines are dedicated to various forms of Adi Shakti. Various Puranas such as Srimad Devi Bhagavatam state the existence of a varying number of 51, 52, 64 and 108 Shakti Pithas of which 18 are named as Astadasha Maha (major) in medieval Hindu texts.

Various legends explain how the Shakti Pithas came into existence. The most popular is based on the story of the death of the goddess Sati. Out of grief and sorrow, Shiva carried Sati's body, reminiscing about their moments as a couple, and roamed around the universe with it. Vishnu had cut her body into 51 body parts, using his Sudarshana Chakra, which fell on earth to become sacred sites where all the people can pay homage to the goddess. To complete this massively long task, Shiva took the form of Bhairava.

Most of these historic places of goddess worship are in India, but there are seven in Bangladesh, four in Nepal, three in Pakistan, and one each in Tibet, Sri Lanka and Bhutan. There were many legends in ancient and modern sources that document this evidence. A consensus view on the number and location of the precise sites where goddess Sati's corpse fell is lacking, although certain sites are more well-regarded than others.

Hinduism

Hindu literature

The Brahmanda Purana, one of the major eighteen Puranas mentions 64 Shakti Pithas of the goddess Parvati in the Bharat or Greater India including present-day India, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka, some parts of Southern Tibet in China and parts of southern Pakistan. Another text which gives a listing of these shrines, is the Shakti Pitha Stotram, written by Adi Shankara, the 9th-century Hindu philosopher.

According to the manuscript Mahapithapurana (c. 1690–1720 CE), there are 52 such places. Among them, 23 are located in the Bengal region, 14 of these are located in what is now West Bengal, India, 1 in Baster (Chhattisgarh), while 7 are in what is now Bangladesh.

Daksha yajna

According to legend, Brahma once conducted a huge yajna (ritual sacrifice), where all the prajapatis, deities, and kings of the world were invited. Shiva and Sati were also called on to participate in the yajna. All of them came for the yajna, and sat in the ceremonial place. Daksha came last. When he arrived, everyone in the yajna, with the exception of Brahma and Shiva, stood up, showing their reverence for him. Brahma, being Daksha's father, did not rise. Shiva, being Daksha's son-in-law, and also due to the fact that he considered himself superior in stature to Daksha, remained seated. Daksha misunderstood Shiva's gesture, and considered this act an insult. Daksha vowed to take revenge on the insult in the same manner.

Daksha performed a yajna with a desire to take revenge on Shiva. Daksha invited all the deities to the yajna, except Shiva and Sati. The fact that she was not invited did not deter Sati's desire to attend the yajna. She expressed her desire to Shiva, who tried his best to dissuade her from going. He relented at her continued insistence, Sati went to her father's yajna. However, Sati was not given her due respect at the yajna, and had to bear witness to Daksha's insults aimed at Shiva. Anguished, Sati cursed her father and self-immolated.

Enraged at the insult and death of his spouse, Shiva in his Virabhadra avatar destroyed Daksha's yajna and cut off his head. His anger not abated and immersed in grief, Shiva then picked up the remains of Sati's body and performed the Tandava, the celestial dance of destruction, across all creation. Frightened, the other deities requested Vishnu to intervene to stop this destruction. As a recourse, Vishnu used the Sudarshana Chakra on Sati's corpse. This caused various parts of Sati's body to fall at several spots across the world.

The history of Daksha yajna and Sati's self-immolation had immense significance in shaping the ancient Sanskrit literature and influenced the culture of India. Each of the places on Earth where Sati's body parts were known to have fell were then considered as Shakti Pithas and were deemed places of great spiritual importance.^{[citation needed]} Several stories in the Puranas and other Hindu religious books refer to the Daksha yajna. It is an important incident in both Shaivism and Shaktism, and marks the replacement of Sati with Parvati, and of the beginning of Shiva's house-holder (grihastāshramī) life from an ascetic. This event is ahead of the emergence of both of the couple's children, Kartikeya and Ganesha.

Shakti Pithas

Each temple has shrines for Shakti and Kalabhairava, and most Shakti and Kalabhairava in different Shakti Pithas have different names.

Map of Shakti Pithas

Shrinkhala Devi

shri Padmakshi Renuka

Sari

Mahakali devi

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Shakti names at locations of Shakti Peethas
Blue: Adi Shakti Peethas; Red: Astadasha Maha Shakti Peethas; Yellow: Daksha yagna site; Green: Maha Shakti Peethas

List of 4 Adi Shakti Pithas

The mythological texts which include the Kalika Purana, recognize four Shakti Peethas as sites where most of the energy is. Vimala where the feet fell (Pada Khanda), Tara Tarini housing the breasts (Stana Khanda), Kamakhya, where the genitals fell (Yoni Khanda) and Dakshina Kalika, where the toes of right foot fell. These four temples originated from the lifeless body of Sati.

Apart from these 4 there are 48 other famous pithas recognized by religious texts. According to the Pithanirnaya Tantra the 51 peethas are in the present day countries of India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Nepal, Tibet, Bhutan and Pakistan. The Shivacharita besides listing 51 maha-peethas, speaks about 26 more upa-peethas. The Bengali almanac, Vishuddha Siddhanta Panjika too describes the 51 peethas including the present modified addresses. A few of the several accepted listings are given below. In South India, Srisailam in Andhra Pradesh became the site for a 2nd-century temple.

List of 18 Astadasha Maha Shakti Pithas

There are believed to be 64 locations. Adi Shankara's Asta Dasha Shakti Pitha Stotram mentions 18 locations known as the Maha Shakti Pithas. Among these, the Shakti Pithas at Kamakhya, Gaya and Ujjain are regarded as the most sacred as they symbolize the three most important aspects of the Mother Goddess viz. Creation (Kamarupa Devi), Nourishment (Sarvamangala Devi/Mangalagauri), and Annihilation (Mahakali Devi).

Sr. No.	Temple	Place	State in India/Country	Appellation	Part of the body fallen	Shakti
1	Shankari Devi Temple	Trincomalee (Thirukonamalai)	Sri Lanka	Shankari Pitham	Groin	Goddess Shankari
2	Kamakshi Amman Temple	Kanchipuram	Tamil Nadu	Kamakoti Pitham	Navel	Goddess Kamakshi
3	Shrinkala Temple	Pradmunyee (Pandua)	West Bengal	Bhavatārini Pitham	Part of stomach	Goddess Shrinkhala
4	Chamundeshwari Temple	Mysuru	Karnataka	Krouncha Pitham	Hair	Goddess Chamundeshwari
5	Jogulamba Devi	Alampuram	Telangana	Yogini Pitham	Teeth	Goddess Jogulamba (Yogamba Thalli)
6	Bhramaramba Mallikarjuna Temple	Srisailam	Andhra Pradesh	Srisaila Pitham	Neck	Goddess Bhramarambika
7	Mahalakshmi Temple	Kolhapur	Maharashtra	Shri Pitham	Eye	Goddess Mahalakshmi (Aai Ambabai Devi)
8	Ekveera Temple	Mahur	Maharashtra	Moola Pitham	Left hand	Goddess Ekavira
9	Mahakaleswar Temple	Ujjain	Madhya Pradesh	Ujjaini Pitham	Upper lip	Goddess Mahakali
10	Kukkuteswara Swamy Temple	Pithapuram	Andhra Pradesh	Pushkarini Pitham	Back	Goddess Puruhutika
11	Biraja Temple	Jajpur	Odisha	Oddyana Pitham	Part of abdomen	Goddess Biraja
12	Bhimeswara Temple	Draksharamam	Andhra Pradesh	Daksharama Pitham	Left cheek	Goddess Manikyamba
13	Kamakhya Temple	Guwahati	Assam	Kamarupa Pitham	Genitals	Goddess Kamakhya
14	Alopi Devi Mandir	Prayagraj	Uttar Pradesh	Prayaga Pitham	Fingers	Goddess Madhaveshwari
15.	Jwalamukhi Temple	Jwalamukhi	Himachal Pradesh	Jwalamukhi Pitham	Head	Goddess Jwalamukhi
16.	Mangla Gauri Temple	Gaya	Bihar	Gaya Pitham	Breast	Goddess Sarvamangala
17.	Vishalakshi Temple	Varanasi	Uttar Pradesh	Varanasi Pitham	Nose	Goddess Vishalakshi
18.	Sharada Peeth	Sharda, Kashmir	Pakistan Administered Kashmir	Sharada Pitham	Right hand	Goddess Sharada

Sharadha Peeth is currently in a ruined state. Only ruins are found in these places. Its ruins are near the Line of Control (LOC) between the Indian and Pakistani-controlled portions of the former princely state of Kashmir and Jammu. Instead, Sringeri Sharada Pitham, Sringeri in Karnataka even though not a Shakti Pitha, is this aspect of the goddess. It is believed that Goddess Sharada moved from her ruined temple in Kashmir to live in the new temple in Sringeri. Requests have been made by the Hindu community in Pakistan to the Pakistani government to renovate the temple, the issue being raised by former Indian Home minister L. K. Advani to the Pakistan authorities as a confidence-building measure, by increasing the people-to-people cross-border interaction.

In Skanda Purana

As per Sankara Samhita of Sri Skanda Purana,

Sri Sankari Pitham (Thirukonamalai, Sri Lanka)
Sri Simhika Pitham (Simhala)
Sri Manika Pitham (Draksharamam, Dakshavati)
Sri Shadkala Pitham (Peethapuram)
Sri Bhramaramba Pitham (Srisailam)
Sri Vijaya Pitham (Vijayapura)
Sri Mahalakshmi Pitham (Kolhapur)
Sri Renuka Pitham (Mahur)
Sri Kamakoti Pitham (Kanchipuram)
Sri Kuchananda Pitham (Salagrama)
Sri Biraja Pitham (Jajpur)
Sri Sarala Pitham (Jhankad, Odisha)
Sri Bhadreshwari Pitham (Harmyagiri)
Sri Mahakali Pitham (Ujjain)
Sri Vindhyavasini Pitham (Vindhya mountains)
Sri Mahayogi Pitham (Ahicchatra)
Sri Kanyaka Pitham (Kanya Kubja)
Sri Vishalakshi Pitham (Varanasi)
Sri Saraswati Pitham (Kashmir)
Sri Abhirami Pitham (Padmagiri, Dindigul)

List of all Shakti Pithas

In the listings below:

"Shakti" refers to the Goddess worshipped at each location, all being manifestations of Dakshayani, Sati; later known as Parvati or Durga;
"Bhairava" refers to the corresponding consort, each a manifestation of Shiva;
"Body Part or Ornament" refers to the body part or piece of jewellery that fell to earth, at the location on which the respective temple is built.

More details on this are available in the text 'Tantrachūḍamanī' where Parvati tells these details to her son Skanda.

Sr. No.	Place	State in India/Country	Body part or ornament	Shakti	Bhairava
1	A. Amarnath Temple, from Srinagar through Pahalgam 94 km by Bus, Chandanwari 16 km by walk B. Shri Parvat in Ladakh	Jammu and Kashmir	A. Throat B. Anklet	Mahamaya Devi	Trisandhyeshwar (Amarnath)
2	Fullara - It is situated near Labhpur. Fullara is about 30 km. from its nearest town Bolpur Santiniketan in the district of Birbhum Attahas Temple – At a village also named as Attahas or Ashtahas around 2 km east of Labhpur village road in the district of Birbhum	West Bengal	Lips	Phullara Devi	Vishveshwar
3	Bahula at Ketugram, 8 km from Katwa, Purba Bardhaman	West Bengal	Left arm	Goddess Bahuladevi	Bhirukeshwar
4	Bakreshwar, on the banks of Paaphara river, 24 km distance from Siuri Town [a district headquarter], district Birbhum, 7 km from Dubrajpur Rly. Station	West Bengal	Portion between the eyebrows	Mahishamardini devi	Vakranatheshwar
5	Bhairavparvat, also known as Harsiddhi, at Bhairav hills on the banks of Shipra river in the city of Ujjaini.	Madhya Pradesh	Elbow	Avanti Devi	Lambkarneshwar
6	Bhabanipur, located in the Upazila of Sherpur, Bogra, Rajshahi Division. Also located at Karatoyatat, it is about 28 km distance from the town of Sherpur.	Rajshahi Division, Bangladesh	Left anklet (ornament)	Aparna Devi	Vamaneshwar
7	Biraja Temple at Jajpur, in Jajpur District	Odisha	Navel	Biraja Devi	Varaheshwar (Baraha)
8	padmakshi Renuka Mandir, kawade,Alibag, Maharashtra	Maharashtra	Upper teeth	Tripura Sundari devi	Samhara Bhairaveshwar
9	Muktinath Temple	Nepal	Right cheek	Tulasi	Vishnu
10	Goddess Bhadrakali on banks of Godavari in Nashik city (Saptashrungi)	Maharashtra	Chin (2 parts)	Bhadrakali devi	Vikritaksheshwar
11	Hinglaj Mata Temple	Pakistan	Bramharandhra (Part of the head)	Kottari Devi	Bhimalochaneshwar
12	Jayanti at Nartiang village in the Jaintia Hills district. This Shakti Pitha is locally known as the Nartiang Durga Temple.	Meghalaya	Left thigh	Jayanti Devi	Kramadishwar
13	Jeshoreshwari Kali Temple	Bangladesh	Palms of hands and soles of the feet	Jashoreshwari	Chandeshwar
14	Jwalaji, Kangra from Pathankot alight at Jwalamukhi Road Station from there 20 km	Himachal Pradesh	Tongue	Jwalamukhi (Ambika)	Unmatta Bhairaveshwar
15	Kalipeeth, (Kalighat, Kolkata)	West Bengal	Right toes	Kali Devi	Nakuleshwar
16	Kamgiri, Kamakhya, in the Neelachal hills in Guwahati	Assam	Genitals	Kamakhya Devi	Umanandeshwar or Bhayanandeshwar
17	Kankalitala, on the banks of Kopai River 10 km north-east of Bolpur station in Birbhum district, Devi locally known as Kankaleshwari	West Bengal	Pelvis	Devgarbha Devi	Rurunatheshwar
18	A Kanyashram of Balaambika – The Bhagavathy temple in Kanyakumari, the southernmost tip of mainland India, Tamil Nadu B. (also thought to be situated in Yunnan province, China) C Gourikunda Temple	A. Tamil Nadu B. Yunnan, China C. Sitakunda, Chattogram, Bangladesh	Back	Sharvani Devi	Nimisheshwar
19	Bajreshwari Temple, Nagarkot, district Kangra	Himachal Pradesh	left Breast	Jayadurga Devi	Abhirunatheshwar
20	Kiriteswari Temple at Kiritkona village, 3 km from Lalbag Court Road railway station in Murshidabad district	West Bengal	Crown	Vimala Devi	Sanvarteshwar
21	Ratnavali, on the banks of Ratnakar river at Khanakul I Krishnanagar, district Hooghly (locally known as Anandamayee Tala)	West Bengal	Right Shoulder	Kumari Devi	Ghanteshwar
22	Locally known as Bhramari Devi in Jalpaiguri near a small village Boda on the bank of river Teesta or Tri-shrota (combination of three flows) mentioned in Puranas	West Bengal	Left leg	Bhramari Devi	Ambareshwar
23	Manas, under Tibet at the foot of Mount Kailash in Lake Manasarovar, a piece of Stone	China	Right hand	Dakshayani Devi	Amareshwar
24	Manibandh, at Gayatri hills near Pushkar 11 km north-west of Ajmer. People know this temple as Chamunda Mata Temple or Shri Raj Rajeshwari Puruhuta Manivedic Shakti Pitha.	Rajasthan	Wrists	Gayatri Devi	Sarvanandeshwar
25	Mithila, near Janakpur railway station on the border of India and Nepal	Nepal	Left shoulder	Uma Devi	Mahodareshwar
26	Nainativu (Manipallavam), Northern Province, Sri Lanka. Located 36 km from the ancient capital of the Jaffna kingdom, Nallur. The murti of the Goddess is believed to have been consecrated and worshipped by Indra. The protagonist, Lord Rama and antagonist, Ravana of the Sanskrit epic Ramayana have offered obeisances to the Goddess. Nāga and Garuda of the Sanskrit epic Mahabharata; resolved their longstanding feuds after worshipping this Goddess.	Sri Lanka	Silambu (Anklets)	Indrakshi (Nagapooshani / Bhuvaneshvari)	Rakshaseshwar (Nayanair)
27	Guhyeshwari Temple	Nepal	Both knees	Mahashira Devi	Kapalishwar
28	Chandranath Temple	Bangladesh	Right arm	Bhavani Devi	Chandrashekhar
29	Panchsagar Near Lohaghat (in Champawat District of Uttarakhand) just 12 km from nearest railway station Tanakpur. पूर्णागिरी Champawat Varahi Devi	Uttarakhand	Lower teeth/ Navel	Varahi Devi	Maharudra
30	Near Somnath temple, Veraval, Gir Somnath district. Local People call this temple as Kali Mandir, It is nearby Triveni Sangam.	Gujarat	Stomach	Ambika	Vakratundeshwar
31	Alopi Devi Mandir near Sangam at Prayagraj	Uttar Pradesh	Finger	Lalita Devi	Bhaveshwar
32	Present day Kurukshetra town or Thanesar ancient Sthaneshwar	Haryana	Ankle bone	Bhadrakali Devi	Sthanu
33	Sharda Peeth on top Trikoot Hill, at Maihar	Madhya Pradesh	necklace	Shivani Devi	Chandeshwar
34	Nandikeshwari Temple is located in Sainthia city	West Bengal	Necklace	Nandini	Nandikeshwar
35	Kotilingeswar Ghat temple on the banks of Godavari river near Rajamundry	Andhra Pradesh	Cheeks	Bhuvaneshwari	Vatsanabheshwar or Dandapani
36	Naina Devi Temple	Himachal Pradesh	Right eye	Mahishamardini Devi	Krodhishwar
37	Shondesh, at the source point of Narmada River in Amarkantak	Madhya Pradesh	Right buttock	Narmada	Bhadraseneshwar
38	Srisailam, at Nallamala hills, Andhra Pradesh	Andhra Pradesh, India	Neck	Bhramarambika Devi	Mallikarjuna
39	Shuchi, in a Shiva temple at Suchindrum 11 km on Kanyakumari Trivandrum road	Tamil Nadu	nails	Narayani	Sihareshwar
40	Sugandha, situated in Shikarpur, Gournadi, about 20 km from Barisal town, on the banks of Sonda river.8	Bangladesh	Nose	Sugandha	Trayambak
41	Udaipur, Tripura, at the top of the hills known as Tripura Sundari temple near Radhakishorepur village, a little distance away from Udaipur town	Tripura	Right leg	Tripura Sundari	Tripuresh
42	Ujaani, at Mangalkot 16 km from Guskara station in Purba Bardhaman district	West Bengal	Right wrist	Mangal Chandika	Kapilambar
43	Varanasi at Manikarnika Ghat on banks of the Ganges at Kashi	Uttar Pradesh	Face or Earring	Vishalakshi Devi	Kala Bhairaveshwar
44	Bargabhima temple, at Tamluk under district Purba Medinipur	West Bengal	Left ankle	Kapalini Devi (Bhimarupa) also known as Bargabhima Devi	Sarvanandeshwar
45	Virat Nagar district, Alwar, near Bharatpur, India	Rajasthan	Fingers of Left Leg	Ambika Devi	Amritaksheshwar
46	Katyayani Shakti Pitha, Vrindavan, district Mathura	Uttar Pradesh	Ringlets of hair	Uma Devi	Bhuteshwar
47	Devi Talab Mandir, District Jalandhar	Punjab	Left Breast	Tripuramalini Devi	Bhishaneshwar
48	Baidyanath Dham	Jharkhand	Heart	Jayadurga Devi	Baidyanath
49	Adi Kamakshi Amman Temple behind Kamakshi Amman Temple, situated at Kanchipuram Town, Kanchipuram District	Tamil Nadu	Odyanam (Navel)	Kamakshi Devi (Elavarkuzhali)	Ekambareshwar
50	Jogadya (যোগাদ্যা), at Kshirgram (ক্ষীরগ্রাম) near Kaichar under Burdwan district	West Bengal	Great toe	Jogadya Devi	Ksheerkantakeshwar
51	Pithapuram under Kakinada Port Town	Andhra Pradesh	Hip part	Puruhutika	Durvaseshwar
52	Arasuri Ambaji Shaktipeeth at Gabbar Hill (Golden Temple of Gujarat)	Gujarat	Heart	Amba	Batuka Bhairava
53	Jwaladevi Temple, Shaktinagar, Sonbhadra	Uttar Pradesh	Tongue	Jwala Devi	Rudra
54	Chandika Sthan, near Munger town	Bihar	Left eye	Chandika Devi	Chandaleshwar
55	Danteshwari Temple, Dantewada	Chhattisgarh	Tooth	Danteshwari Devi	Kapala Bhairava
57	Tara Tarini, Purushottampur, Ganjam	Odisha	Breast	Tara Tarini Devi	Tumbeshwar
58	Nalhateswari, Nalhati	West Bengal	Stomach/Nauli	Kalika Devi	Jogeshwar
60	Mankachar, 266 km from Guwahati	Assam	Little finger	Devi	Deva
61	Vimala Temple, Inside Jagannath Temple, Puri	Odisha	Foot	Vimala Devi	Jagannatheshwar
62	Anjanakshi, inside Marundeeswarar Temple, Thirukachur on Mount Rudragiri in Aadhi Kanchi, Thirukachoor, Chengalpattu District or Marundeeswarar Temple	Tamil Nadu	Skin	Anjanakshi Devi	Marundeeshwar (Oushadheeshwar)
64	Shri Hatta Kali Temple, Shri Shail (also known as Mahalakshmi Griva Peeth)	Gotatikar, Kalagul tea state, Dakshin Surma Upazila, Sylhet, Bangladesh	Neck	Mahalakshmi	Sambaranandeshwar
65	Dhakeshwari Temple (now relocated at Dhakeswari Mata Temple)	Dhaka, Bangladesh	Gem of Sati's Crown	Dhakeshwari (a form of Katyani Mahishasurmardini Durga)	Shiva
66	Tarapith Rampurhat	West Bengal	Third eye	Maa Tara (second mahavidya) (main form of Parvati)	Chandrachuda Bhairava
67	Lalta Maata Mandir Neemsaar, Sitapur	Uttar Pradesh	heart	Lalita Devi	Kameshwar
68	Chhinnamastika Shakti Pitha at Chintpurni, in Ramgarh District of Jharkhand	Jharkhand	Foot	Chhinnamastika Devi	Rudra Mahadeva
69	Dirgheswari Mandir at North Guwahati, in the Sitachal hills in Guwahati	Assam	Femur	Dirgheswari Devi	Manikarneshwar
70	Bhairabkunda Shiva Mandir	Bhutan
71	Devi Patan Mandir at Balrampur distt, Uttar Pradesh, near indo Nepal border Balrampur	Uttar Pradesh	Patt	Pateshwari Devi	Kala Bhairava
72	Kaali Mandir at Pavagarh hill in Panchmahal district with in Champaner Pavagadh Archaeological Park.	Gujarat	Right leg toe	Mahakali Devi	Batuka Bhairava
73	Aranya Devi Mandir at Badi Devisthan Shish Mahal Chowk in Arrah.	Bihar	Right thigh	Aranyani	Bhuma Bhairava
74	Bageshwori Temple at the center of Nepalgunj, Lumbini Province.	Nepal	Tongue	Durga	Junge Mahadeva
75	Yogeshwari Mandir at Ambejogai, Beed district	Maharashtra		Parvati	Vaidyanatha
75	Tuljabhavani Temple at Tuljapur, Dharashiv district	Maharashtra		Tuljabhavani Devi	Bhairava
76	Asamai Devi Temple	Kabul, Afghanistan		Asamai Devi	Shiva

Other claimed Shakti Pithas

These are not recognised as the Shakti Pithas, but still claimed by the followers, for various reasons.

1. Jwala Devi Jobner

2. Jayanti Kali Temple

3. Asamai Devi Temple in Kabul, Afghanistan

There are disputes about the location of the Jayanti Shakti Pitha. Based on most presented manuscripts and facts it is situated in Jaintiapur Upazila, Bangladesh, which was previously the capital of the Jaintia Hills tribe kingdom, which became the Jaintia hills district of Meghalaya, India, excluding Jaintiapur. However, some people say that it is the Nartiang Durga temple which is the real Jayanti Temple, though there is a shortage of evidence. Some other people argue the actual shrine is at Amta in West Bengal, where the goddess is worshiped as Maa Melai Chandi in Melai Chandi Mandir. But this fact can not be corroborated with any evidence. Moreover, refuting most texts, in Melai Chandi Mandir, the Bhairava is Durgeshwar rather than Kramadishwar. Some also identify the Jayanti shrine with the Mahakal cave temple situated in the village Jayanti of Alipurduar, where many statues were created by Stalagmites and Stalactites (combination of limestone and water), but there is no evidence.

Vindhyavasini Shakti Pitha

The Vindhyavasini Shakti Pitha is considered a Shakti Pitha even though any body parts of Sati did not fall there. Vindhyavasini is the ultimate and the highest form of the goddess, she is called Adi Parashakti. Goddess Vindhyavasini is considered the embodiment of all of the Mahavidyas, Navadurgas, Matrikas, Yoginis and all the other goddesses present in this universe, she is Tripura Sundari herself. Many legends are associated with Vindhyavasini, she is also called Mahadurga. She is the combined form of all 108 Shakti Peethas as mentioned in the Devi Bhagavata Purana text. This is because it is the place where the goddess chose to reside after her birth in Dvapara Yuga. At the time of the birth of Krishna to Devaki and Vasudeva, Vindhyavasini took birth in Gokula to Nanda and Yashoda as per the instruction of Lord Vishnu. Vasudeva replaced his son Krishna with this girl child of Yashoda so that Krishna could escape his demon uncle Kamsa, whom he would kill later according to a prophecy. When Kamsa tried to kill the girl, she slipped from his hands, assumed her true form and warned Kamsa that his killer (Krishna) still lived on. She left Mathura and the goddess chose the Vindhya Mountains as her abode to live on the earth. It is also believed that Vindhyavasini is the sister of Krishna and Subhadra was her only incarnation.

Notes

Shakti Pitha

Hinduism

Hindu literature

Daksha yajna

Shakti Pithas

Map of Shakti Pithas

List of 4 Adi Shakti Pithas

List of 18 Astadasha Maha Shakti Pithas

In Skanda Purana

List of all Shakti Pithas

Other claimed Shakti Pithas

Vindhyavasini Shakti Pitha

See also

Further reading

Notes

References

External links

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