The eighteen Maha Shakti Peethas
When Sati gave up her body in the fire of her father Daksha’s yajna, Mahadev carried it across the worlds in grief, and Shri Vishnu’s Sudarshana chakra divided it so that the universe would not be destroyed.
Wherever a part fell, Devi stays as a Shakti Peetha, guarded by a form of Shiva as Bhairava. The Devi Bhagavata, Kalika Purana and the Tantra texts tell the katha. How many peethas there are depends on the text: the Pithanirnaya (Tantra Chudamani) counts 51, Bengali almanacs 52, the Devi Bhagavata gives 108 seats of Devi, and the short Ashtadasha Shakti Peetha Stotra, attributed to Adi Shankaracharya, names eighteen, the Maha Shakti Peethas. Those eighteen are given here in the order of the stotra. The site of Shrinkhala Devi at Pradyumna is no longer known, and the shrine at Lanka is now identified with Trincomalee.
Temples in this circuit
RebuiltKoneswaram, Trincomalee
The Shiva temple on Swami Rock at Trincomalee, sung by the Nayanars, razed by the Portuguese in 1622 and rebuilt on the same cliff between 1952 and 1963.
StandingKamakshi Amman Temple, Kanchipuram
The seat of Devi Kamakshi, seated in padmasana, and in Kanchi the only shrine of the Devi, for all other temples in the town are said to have none of their own. Adi Shankaracharya installed the Shri Chakra before her.
DestroyedShrinkhala Devi, Pandua (lost Maha Shakti Peetha)
Shrinkhala Devi of Pradyumna is one of the eighteen Maha Shakti Peethas, but her shrine is lost. Bengal tradition places it at Pandua in Hooghly district, where a Sultanate-era minar now stands.
StandingChamundeshwari Temple, Chamundi Hill
The family goddess of the Wodeyars on the hill above Mysuru, the city named after the buffalo-demon she killed. On Vijayadashami her murti rides through the city on the golden howdah of the Dasara elephant.
RebuiltJogulamba and the Nava Brahma Temples, Alampur
On the Tungabhadra near its meeting with the Krishna, nine Chalukya Shiva temples and the Shakti Peetha of Jogulamba, whose temple was destroyed in 1390 and raised again on its old site 615 years later.
StandingMallikarjuna Jyotirlinga, Srisailam
The second of the twelve Jyotirlingas in the Shiva Purana’s list, on a forested ridge above the Krishna. Shiva and Shakti are worshipped here together, Mallikarjuna and Bhramaramba.
StandingMahalakshmi (Ambabai) Temple, Kolhapur
The Shakti Peetha of Karavira, where Mahalakshmi is worshipped as Ambabai. Twice a year the setting sun walks into the sanctum and lights her face.
StandingRenuka Devi Temple, Mahur (Ekaveerika)
Mahurye Ekaveerika: the Ashtadasha Shakti Peetha stotra names the Devi of Mahur among its eighteen. On the same hills stand the shrines of Sati Anasuya and the Datta Shikhar, held to be the birthplace of Bhagwan Dattatreya.
StandingGarhkalika Temple, Ujjain
Ujjayinyam Mahakali: many identify the Mahakali of the eighteen Shakti Peethas with Garhkalika, on the old fort mound of Avantika. Ujjain remembers it as the Devi who gave Kalidasa his speech.
StandingPuruhutika Devi and Kukkuteswara Temple, Pithapuram
Pithikayam Puruhutika: one of the eighteen Maha Shakti Peethas, inside the temple of Shiva as Kukkuteswara. Pithapuram is also Pada Gaya, the feet of the three Gayas, and the birthplace of Sripada Srivallabha of the Datta tradition.
StandingMaa Biraja Temple, Jajpur
Biraja Kshetra on the Vaitarani, one of the Shakti Peethas, where the Devi stands as a two-armed Mahishamardini. Jajpur is also Nabhi Gaya, where pinda is offered for the ancestors as at Gaya.
StandingBhimeswara Temple, Draksharamam
Daksha’s aramam, where Daksha Prajapati held the yajna that Sati entered: one of the five Pancharama shrines and a Shakti Peetha of Manikyamba, in the Godavari delta.
RebuiltKamakhya Temple
On Nilachal hill above the Brahmaputra stands the most revered of the Shakti Peethas of the east, where the Kalika Purana says the yoni of Mata Sati fell. There is no murti in the garbhagriha, only a cleft in the rock kept wet by a spring.
StandingAlopi Devi (Alop Shankari) Temple, Prayagraj
Prayage Madhaveshwari: the Ashtadasha stotra places a Devi at Prayag, and many identify her with Alopi, where no murti stands and a wooden cradle is worshipped instead. Others identify the Prayag peetha with the Lalita Devi temple in the city.
StandingJwalamukhi Temple
The Shakti Peetha in Kangra where the Devi is worshipped as flames that burn from cracks in the rock, with no murti at all. Tradition says the tongue of Mata Sati fell here.
StandingMangla Gauri Temple, Gaya
Gayayam Mangalya Gauri: on the hill above the Vishnupad temple, the Devi is worshipped in the form of the breast of Sati, the giver of nourishment. Pilgrims who come to Gaya for pinda-daan climb here for her darshan.
StandingVishalakshi Temple, Kashi
Varanasyam Vishalakshi: in the lanes behind Mir Ghat, the Devi of Kashi sits where, by the Peetha Nirnaya, the jewelled earring of Sati fell. Tamil pilgrims to Kashi hold her in special love.
RuinedSharada Peeth
The seat of Devi Sharada on the Kishanganga, once the greatest centre of learning in Kashmir, which gave its name to the Sharada script. Its ruins now lie across the Line of Control.
The full list
- Koneswaram, TrincomaleeSri LankaShankari Devi, Lanka
- Kamakshi Amman Temple, KanchipuramTamil NaduKamakshi, Kanchi
- Shrinkhala Devi, PradyumnaTraditionally placed in Bengal (often at Pandua, Hooghly); the shrine is lost
- Chamundeshwari Temple, Chamundi HillKarnatakaChamundeshwari, Krauncha (Mysuru)
- Jogulamba and the Nava Brahma Temples, AlampurTelanganaJogulamba, Alampur
- Mallikarjuna Jyotirlinga, SrisailamAndhra PradeshBhramarambika, Srisailam
- Mahalakshmi (Ambabai) Temple, KolhapurMaharashtraMahalakshmi, Kolhapur
- Renuka Devi Temple, Mahur (Ekaveerika)Maharashtra (Nanded district, Mahurgad)Ekaveerika, Mahur
- Garhkalika Temple, UjjainMadhya Pradesh (Ujjain, old Avantika near the Shipra)Mahakali, Ujjayini
- Puruhutika Devi and Kukkuteswara Temple, PithapuramAndhra Pradesh (Kakinada district)Puruhutika, Pithapuram
- Maa Biraja Temple, JajpurOdishaGirija (Biraja), Odhra
- Bhimeswara Temple, DraksharamamAndhra PradeshManikyamba, Draksharamam
- Kamakhya TempleAssamKamarupa (Kamakhya), Harikshetra
- Alopi Devi (Alop Shankari) Temple, PrayagrajUttar Pradesh (Prayagraj, Alopibagh near the Sangam)Madhaveshwari, Prayag
- Jwalamukhi TempleHimachal PradeshVaishnavi, Jwalamukhi
- Mangla Gauri Temple, GayaBihar (Gaya, Mangla Gauri hill)Mangalya Gauri, Gaya
- Vishalakshi Temple, KashiUttar Pradesh (Varanasi, near Mir Ghat)Vishalakshi, Varanasi
- Sharada PeethPakistan-occupied KashmirSaraswati, Kashmir