The Most Sacred 51 Shakti Peetha Sthala
Hinduism, more correctly called Hindu Dharma is a Universal order or way of life, and it teaches human beings to follow a life of righteousness and Universal brotherhood. Originally known as Sanatan Dharma, meaning that which has no beginning or end, Hindu dharma today has the 3rd largest followers in the world, who are called Hindus.
The true heritage of our culture lies in our religious texts, scripture, traditions and sacred places. These places remind us of the rich culture that we have inherited and act as an ultimate solace and moral compass.
Just like the Jyotirlingas, Shakti Peethas are significant places of worship and are of the highest reverence for believers of Hindu dharma.
Why is Shakti Peeths of so much significance?
The story of Devi Sati is quite known since it is part of our religious history. As per the texts, Devi Sati was the daughter of Prajapati Daksha, who was the son of Brahma Dev and a king. He disliked Shiva ji and was an ardent worshipper of Vishnu ji (Shiva ji, Vishnu ji and Brahma ji form the divine trinity – supreme of all Gods and Goddesses as per Hinduism). However, his favourite daughter fell in love with Shiva ji and married him which provoked Prajapati.
One day when Prajapati was performing a yagna, he invited all the Gods except Mahadev Shiva. Devi Sati thought her father had forgotten to invite Mahadev by mistake. So, she went to the yajna wherein the Prajapati disrespected Shiva ji and did not give him any seat to sit. This angered Devi Sati and she jumped into the yajna fire and left her mortal body.
Bhagwan Shiva got infuriated, and he took Devi Sati’s body on his shoulder and roamed all over the universe. Fearing this would lead to pralay (destruction of the universe) Shri Vishnu, in order to calm down Mahadev, threw his Sudarshan Chakra, cutting Devi Sati’s body in 51 different pieces. The pieces fell on different locations on the earth which are known as Shakti Peethas. –
Locations of Shakti Peethas in Bharat (India):
There are a total of 51 Shakti Peethas and 18 of them are Maha Shakti Peeths.
Most of the Shakti Peethas are located in India, however, few of them are located outside as they belong to the Indian subcontinent i.e., undivided India.
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- Mahamaya Shakti Peeth, located in Amarnath, Jammu & Kashmir
- Shakti Dakshayani, located in Manasarovar
- Kali in Kalmadhav, Amarkantak, located in Madhya Pradesh
- Avanti, Bhairav Parvat Shakti Peethas located in Ujjain, Madhya Pradesh, this one is considered the most sacred among all the Shakti Peethas.
- Mangal Chandika at Ujjain
- Maihar/Shivani, located in Satna, Madhya Pradesh
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- The Narmada Sandesh, Amarkantak, Madhya Pradesh
- Danteshwari which is located in Chattisgarh
- Jwala or Shakti Siddhida, Kangra, Himachal Pradesh
- Fullara Devi Shakti Peethas, located in Attahasa, West Bengal
- Devgarbha/Kankeshwari, located in Birbhum, West Bengal
- Kumara Shakti at Anandamayee Temple of West Bengal
- Nandini or Nandikeshwari, located in Birbhum, West Bengal
- Shakti Bhraamari, Ratnavali, located in West Bengal
- Vimla, Murshidabad, located in West Bengal
- Kalika, Kalighat, located in West Bengal
- Bahula Shakti Peethas is located in Bardhaman, West Bengal
- Kapalini of Vibash, located in Medinipur, West Bengal
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- Mahismardini Shakti Peethas is located in Bakreswar, West Bengal
- Maa Kamakhya, Guwahati, located in Assam
- Maa Jayanti, Meghaklaya
- Maa Tripura Sundari, located in Udaipur in Tripura
- Gandaki Chandi Shakti Peeth located in Chandi River
- Maa Bhramari is located in West Bengal.
- Sravani, Kanyakumari, located in Tamil Nadu
- Sarvashail/Rakini on Godavari River banks at Kotilingeshwara Temple, Andhra Pradesh
- Devi Narayani, located in Suchindram, Tamil Nadu
- Chamudeshwari/Jaya Durga, located in Chamundi Hills, Mysore
- Gayatri Manibandh, located in Pushkar, Rajasthan
- Varahi, Panch Sagar, located in Uttar Pradesh
- Chandrabhaga, located in Junagarh, Gujarat
- Lalita of Prayag
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- Savitri/Bhadra Kali, located in Kurukshetra, Haryana
- Vishalakshi, located in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh
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- Ambika, located in Bharatpur, Rajasthan
- Uma at Vrindavan/Bhooteswar Temple located in Uttar Pradesh
- Tripurmalini, located in Jalandhar, Punjab
- Amba at Ambaji, located in Gujarat
- Jai Durga, Deogarh, located in Jharkhand
- Nabi Gaya, Biraj, Jaipur
Locations of Shakti Peethas outside Bharat (India):
- Shri Aparna, located in Bhavanipur, Bangladesh
- Jayanti Shaktipeeth Temple, Bourbhag Village, Bangladesh
- Bhawani at Chandranath Hills, Bangladesh
- Sundari at Sri Sailam located in Bangladesh
- Maha Lakshmi at Sri Shail located in Bangladesh
- Suganda of Shikarpur located in Bangladesh
- Yogeshwari, Khulna district in Bangladesh
- Kottari, Hinglaj Mata mandir, Karachi, Pakistan
- Mahish Mardini at Shivaharkaray near Karachi Pakistan
- Uma at Mithila, border of Nepal and India
- Indraksh, Nainativu, Manipallavam, Sri Lanka
- Mahashira, Guhyeshwari near Pashupatinath Temple in Nepal
They say, one does not visit God when one wants to, but when God allows it. So, if you are truly lucky, you will get to visit these divine places.
