The Shakta pithas, also called Shakti pithas or Sati pithas (, , seats of Devi Sati), are significant shrines and pilgrimage destinations in Shaktism, the mother goddess denomination in Hinduism. 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 Shakta pithas of which 18 are named as Astadasha Maha (major) and 4 are named as Chatasrah Aadi (first) in medieval Hindu texts. (Devanagari: à ¤Âà ¤¤à ¤¸à ¥Âà ¤°à ¤ à ¤Âà ¤¦à ¤¿)
Legends abound about how the Shakta pithas came into existence. The most popular is based on the story of the death of Sati, a deity according to Hinduism. Shiva carried Sati's body, reminiscing about their moments as a couple, and roamed around the universe with it. Vishnu 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 task, Shiva took the form of Bhairava.
Most of these historic places of goddess worship are in India, but there are some in Nepal, seven in Bangladesh, two 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. The greatest number of Shakta pithas are present in the Bengal region. During partition the numbers were West Bengal (19) and Bangladesh (7). After the secret transfer of Dhakeshwari Shakta pitha from Dhaka to Kolkata the numbers stand as West Bengal (20) and Bangladesh (6).
The Brahmanda Purana, one of the major eighteen Puranas mentions 64 Shakta 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 Shakta pitha stotram, written by Adi Shankara, the 9th-century Hindu philosopher.
According to the manuscript Mahapithapurana (c. 1690âÂÂ1720 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.
According to legend, lord 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 because he is 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 fallen were then considered as Shakta pithas and were deemed places of great spiritual importance. 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 (grihastÃÂshramë) life from an ascetic. This event is ahead of the emergence of both of the couple's children, Kartikeya and Ganesha.
Each temple has shrines for Shakti and Kalabhairava, and most Shakti and Kalabhairava in different Shakta pithas have different names.
The scriptures, which include the Devi Bhagvatam Purana, Kalika Purana, recognize four Shakti pithas as sites where most of the energy is. The first pitha is Kamakhya (Assam, Yoni Khanda - genitals), Vimala (Puri, Pada Khanda - feet/lower limbs), Kalighat (West Bengal, Dakshin Padanguli - toes of right foot) and Tara Tarini (Berhampur, Stana Khanda - breasts).
Apart from these 4 there are 48 other famous pithas recognized by religious texts. According to the Pithanirnaya Tantra the 51 pithas are in the present day countries of India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Nepal, Tibet, Bhutan and Pakistan. The Shivacharita besides listing 51 maha-pithas, speaks about 26 more upa-pithas. The Bengali almanac, Vishuddha Siddhanta Panjika too describes the 51 pithas 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.
There are believed to be 64 locations. Adi Shankara's Ashtadasha Shakti Pitha stotram mentions 18 locations known as the Maha Shakti Pithas. Among these, the Shakti Pithas at Guwahati, Gaya and Ujjain are regarded as the most sacred as they symbolize the three most important duties of the Mother Goddess viz. Creation (Kamakhya Devi), Nourishment (Sarvamangala Devi), and Annihilation (Mahakali Devi).
Sharadha pitha 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 Shakta pithas, 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.
Currently, a new Sharada pitha temple has been inaugurated and consecrated by the Indian Government and the Sringeri Sharada Peetham in 2023, in Kupwara district, Jammu and Kashmir, on the other side of the LOC and much farther from the original temple. The Indian Government is planning an international corridor between the old Sharada pitha and India.
As per Sankara Samhita of Skanda Purana,
In the listings below:
More details on this are available in the text 'Tantrachà «á¸Âamanë' where Parvati tells these details to her son Skanda.
Important notes:
Other Shakipeeths:-
The following shrines are not recognised as the Shakta pithas, but are still claimed by the devotees and priests, for various reasons.
1. Jwala Devi Temple in Jobner, Rajasthan, India
2. Jayanti Kali Temple (location disputed)
3. Asamai Devi Temple in Kabul, Afghanistan
4. Juranpur Kali Temple in West Bengal, India
5. Ambika Bhawani, Saran, Bihar (Yagyashala of Daksh)
5. Sarbamangala Temple in Burdwan, West Bengal (the temple priests claim that Goddess Sati's body part fell here)
6. Jogamaya Shakta pitha in Kalahandi, Odisha, India
There are disputes about the location of the Jayanti Shakta pitha. Based on most presented manuscripts and facts it is situated in the namesake Jaintiapur Upazila town, Bangladesh, which was previously the capital of the Jaintia Hills tribe kingdom, in the Jaintia Hills district of Meghalaya, India, excluding Jaintiapur. However, some believe that the Nartiang Durga Temple is the true Jayanti Shakta pitha, although historical evidence supporting this claim is limited. However there is a temple in near baligaon, kanaighat sylhet which claim to be the true jayanti devi temple, named bam jhangha Kali mandir.
Some other people argue the actual shrine is at Amta in West Bengal, where the goddess is worshiped as Maa Melai Chandi in . 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 in India, where many statues were created by Stalagmites and Stalactites (natural rock formations), but there is no evidence.
The Vindhyavasini Shakta pitha is considered a Shakta 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 Shakta pithas 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.