The Shakta Pithas, also called Shakti pithas or Sati pithas (, , seats of Shakti), 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: चतस्रः आदि)
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., Uttar Pradesh. Shakambhari Devi is one of the 108 Siddha pithas of Brahma Purana and one of the oldest temples of Devi Shakambhari. Around ten million people visit the temple annually.]] 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).
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 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 ( grihastāshramī) life from an ascetic. This event is ahead of the emergence of both of the couple's children, Kartikeya and Ganesha.
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. 51 Pithas of Parvati – From Hindunet In South India, Srisailam in Andhra Pradesh became the site for a 2nd-century temple.
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.
More details on this are available in the text 'Tantrachūḍamanī' where Parvati tells these details to her son Kartikeya.
Important: 1) The main idol of the Dhakeshwari Shaktipeeth in Bangladesh is currently relocated to the Kumartuli Dhakeshwari Temple in Kolkata, West Bengal. The temple priest fled to India with the main idol during the partition via a specially chartered train. While in the original shrine, a replica is placed. The original holy gem of Goddess Sati was lost long before (the factual date is unknown). So for the actual idol, visit the Kumortuli shrine.
2) The Shrinkhala Shaktipeeth (one of 18 Maha Shakti Peethas) in Hooghly district, West Bengal, is a disputed site. The original shrine was destroyed during the partition of India in 1947 and an Islamic Minaret was built there by the Muslims. Years later, a door claimed by the locals as the door to the sanctum of the temple is closed by the ASI. The Hindus claim that the temple was destroyed and the minar was built there. It is claimed that the idol of Goddess Shrinkhala was taken to Sringeri in Karnataka but no such evidence exists there to date because a different Sharada Devi Temple was built there by Adi Shankaracharya. At present in the Hooghly district, only the Ratnabali Shaktipeeth is present.
3) Confusion about Hingalaj Bhawani Temple: it is said the main deity was secretly shifted to Talcher, Odisha in the medieval era by the then Maharajah of Talcher State, where she is in the form of Hingula Debi.
The following shrines are not recognised as the Shakti Peethas, 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 Bardhaman, West Bengal (the temple priests claim that Goddess Sati's body part fell here)
6. Jogamaya Shaktipeeth in Kalahandi, Odisha, India
There are disputes about the location of the Jayanti Shakti 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 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 . 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 Mahakala cave temple situated in the village Jayanti of Alipurduar in India, where many statues were created by and (natural rock formations), but there is no evidence.
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