Which represent respectively the parts ( Khandas) foot ( Pada), breasts ( Stana), genitals ( Yoni), and face ( Mukha) of the body of Maata Sati. Kalighat Kali Temple ( Mukha Khanda) in Kolkata, West Bengal,.Kamakhya Temple ( Yoni Khanda), in Guwahati, Assam and.Tara Tarini ( Stana Khanda), near Berhampur, Odisha.Bimala Temple ( Pada Khanda) inside the Jagannath Temple of Puri, Odisha.Some of the great religious texts like the Shiva Purana, the Devi Bhagavata, the Kalika Purana, the AshtaShakti, and Pithanirnaya Tantra recognize four major shakti Peethas (centers) / Ādī Śaktī Pīṭhas, Shakti Pithas Įach temple has shrines for Shakti and Kalabhairava, and most Shakti and Kalabhairava in different Shakti Peeth have different names.
This event is ahead of the emergence of both of the couple's children, Kartikeya and Ganesha. 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. Several stories in the Puranas and other Hindu religious books refer to the Daksha yajna. Each of the places on Earth where Sati's body parts were known to have fell were then considered as Sakti Peethas and were deemed places of great spiritual import. 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. This caused various parts of Sati's body to fall at several spots across the world. As a recourse, Vishnu used the Sudarshana Chakra on Sati's corpse. Frightened, the other Gods requested Vishnu to intervene to stop this destruction. 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. Anguished, Sati cursed her father and self-immolated.Įnraged at the insult and death of his spouse, Shiva in his Virabhadra avatar destroyed Daksha's yajna and cut off his head. However, Sati was not given her due respect at the yajna, and had to bear witness to Daksha's insults aimed at Shiva. He relented at her continued insistence, Sati went to her father's yajna. She expressed her desire to Shiva, who tried his best to dissuade her from going. The fact that she was not invited did not deter Sati's desire to attend the yajna. Daksha invited all the deities to the yajna, except Shiva and Sati. In time, Brahma's son Daksha performed several yajnas to obtain Shakti as his daughter in the form of Sati, with the motive of marrying her to Lord Vishnu.ĭaksha performed a yajna with a desire to take revenge on Lord Shiva. Once her purpose was fulfilled, Shakti had to be returned to Shiva. As a result, Goddess Shakti separated from Shiva and emerged to help Brahma. This Shaktipeeth is called Tarapith in Birbhum district West bengal, India.Īccording to legend, Lord Brahma had performed a yagna ( Vedic ritual of fire sacrifice) to please Shakti and Shiva to aid in the creation of the universe. Here Mata Sati is called Chandi Bhagwai Ugra Tara and Bhairav is called Chandrachur. This is on the bank of the north-flowing Dwarka river in the east of Baidyanath. The third eye of Mata Sati fell below a tree in a mortuary in the Ishan corner of Vakreshwar. The Saptashati or the "Durga Stuti" forms an integral part in the Vedic form of Shakti worship. The idol is also leaning a little to the left to listen to the sage's composition. Rishi Markandeya composed the 'Devi Saptashati' or the seven hundred hymns extolling the virtues of the Divine Goddess at the shaktipeetha in Nashik. 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. Īccording to the manuscript Mahapithapurana (c. Another text which gives a listing of these shrines, is the Shakti Peetha Stotram, written by Adi Shankara, the 9th-century Hindu philosopher. History Mention in Hindu scriptures įirst relating to Brahmanda Purana, one of the major eighteen Puranas, it mentions 64 Shakti Peetha of 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. 2.3 List of 18 Astadasha Maha Shakti Peethas.