Navratri special: The origin and existence of the 51 Shaktipeethas

The festival of Navratri is going on and people across the nation are busy worshipping Goddess Durga. The nine-day festival began on October 10 this year. Shaktipeethas are places of worship dedicated to Maa Durga and are spread throughout India, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. If you are wondering about how these Shaktipeethas came into existence, there is a popular legend that describes the origins of the various Shaktipeethas.

The Legend:

According to a legend, King Daksha, who was one of the sons of Brahma, performed Vrihaspati Yagna with

the intention of taking revenge against Lord Shiva who had married his daughter Sati against his wishes. The

Yagna took place in Satya Yuga with all dieties invited except Shiva and Sati.

Sati wasn't invited to the Yagna yet she had a strong desire to attend it. Lord Shiva tried his best to stop her from going but eventually had to give in to his wife's desire and he allowed her to go along with his 'ganas' ( followers).

When she reached her parent's house, Sati wasn't given the treatment a daughter would expect. She was instead rebuked and insulted for having been married to a 'yogi'. The way her father insulted Shiva, her husband, was too much for Sati and she set herself ablaze by jumping into the pyre.

Lord Shiva was furious when he learnt about Sati's death and destroyed the place where the Yagna was held. King Daksha's head was severed off his body by the Ganas. After Daksha apologized for his foolish act, Lord Shiva replaced his head with that of a goat.

But the lord was struck by grief with his wife's death and he took Sati's body with him and started performing the dance of destruction, also known as Rudra Tandav.

Looking at Lord Shiva, other Gods requested Lord Vishnu to do something to stop this dance. Lord Vishnu, known as 'the preserver' cut Sati's body into 51 pieces with his Sudarshan Chakra to bring Lord Shiva back to his sanity.

The 51 parts of Sati's body fell at different places which are today known as Shaktipeethas.

At all Shaktipeethas, Goddess Shakti is accompanied by Lord Bhairava (a manifestation of Lord Shiva).

The 51 Shaktipeethas are as follows:

Sr. No.	Place	Organ or Ornament	Shakti	Bhairava
1.	Hingula (Or Hinglaj), about 125 Km towards North-East from Karachi, Pakistan	Bramharandhra (Part of the head)	Kottari	Bhimlochan
2.	Sharkrare, a little distance from Sukkar Station from Karachi, Pakistan	Eyes	Mahishmardini	Krodhish
3.	Sugandha, about 20 Km from Barisal, Bangladesh at Shikarpur on banks of Sondh river	Nose	Sunanda	Trayambak
4.	Amarnath in Kashmir, India from Srinagar through Pahalgaon 94 km by Bus, Chandanbari 16 Km by walk	Throat	Mahamaya	Trisandhyeshwar
5.	Jwalamukhi, Kangra, India from Pathankot alight at Jwalamukhi Road Station from there 20 Km	Tongue	Siddhida (Ambika)	Unmatta Bhairav
6.	Jalandhar, India from Jalandhar Cantonment Station to Devi Talab	Left Breast	Tripurmalini	Bhishan
7.	Baidyanathdham, at Deoghar, Jharkhand, India	Heart	Jaya Durga	Baidyanath
8.	Nepal, near Pashupatinath Temple at Gujyeshwari Temple	Both Knees	Mahashira	Kapali
9.	Manas, under Tibet at the feet of Mount Kailash in Lake Mansarovar, a piece of Stone	Right Hand	Dakshayani	Amar
10.	Biraja in Utkal present Orissa, India	Navel	Vimla	Jagannath
11.	Gandaki from Pokhara, Nepal about 125 Km on the banks of Gandaki river where Muktinath temple is situated	Temple	Gandaki Chandi	Chakrapani
12.	Bahula, on the banks of Ajay river, at Ketugram 8 Km from Katua, Burdwan, West Bengal, India	Left Arm	Goddess Bahula	Bhiruk
13.	Ujaani, 16 Km from Guskura Station under Burdwan district of West Bengal, India	Right Wrist	Mangal Chandika	Kapilambar
14.	Udaipur, Tripura, at the top of the hills known as Matabari near Radhakishorepur village, a little distance away from Udaipur town of Tripura, India	Right Leg	Tripur Sundari	Tripuresh
15.	Chatral or Chôţţogram at the top of Chandranath hills near Sitakunda station of Chittagong district, Bangladesh	Right Arm	Bhawani	Chandrashekhar
16.	Trisrota, at Salbari village under Boda division of Jalpaiguri district, West Bengal, India	Left Leg	Bhraamari	Ambar
17.	Kamgiri, Kamakhya, at the Neelachal hills near Guwahati, capital of Assam, India	Genital Organ	Kamakhya	Umanand
18.	Jugaadya at Khirgram under Burdwan district, West Bengal, India	Great Toe (Right)	Jugaadya	Ksheer Khandak
19.	Kalipeeth, (Kalighat, Kolkata), India	Right Toe	Kalika	Nakuleesh
20.	Prayag near Sangam of Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh, India	Finger (Hand)	Lalita	Bhava
21.	Jayanti at Kalajore Bourbhog village of Khasi hills under Jayantia Parganas of Sylhet district, Bangladesh	Left Thigh	Jayanti	Kramadishwar
22.	Kireet at Kireetkona village, 3 Km from Lalbag Court Road station under district Murshidabad, West Bengal, India	Crown	Vimla	Sanwart
23.	Varanasi at Manikarnika Ghat on banks of Ganga at Kashi, Uttar Pradesh, India	Earring	Vishalakshi & Manikarni	Kalbhairav
24.	Kanyashram, Kanyakumari the Bhadrakali temple within the precincts of Kumari temple, Tamil Nadu, India	Back	Sarvani	Nimish
25.	Kurukshetra, at Haryana, India	Ankle Bone	Savitri	Sthanu
26.	Manibandh, at Gayatri hills near Pushkar 11 Km towards north-west from Ajmer, Rajasthan, India	Two Bracelets	Gayatri	Sarvanand
27.	Shri Shail, at Jainpur village towards north-east 3 Km from Sylhet town, Bangladesh	Neck	Mahalaxmi	Sambaranand
28.	Kanchi, on the banks of Kopai river 4 Km towards north-east from Bolpur station of district Birbhum, West Bengal, India	Bone	Devgarbha	Ruru
29.	Kalmadhav on the banks of Shon river in a cave over hills near to Amarkantak, Madhya Pradesh, India	Buttock (Left)	Kali	Asitang
30.	Shondesh, at the source point of Narmada river in Amarkantak, Madhya Pradesh, India	Buttock (Right)	Narmada	Bhadrasen
31.	Ramgiri, at Chitrakuta on the Jhansi Manikpur Railway line in Uttar Pradesh, India	Right Breast	Shivani	Chanda
32.	Vrindavan, near new bus stand on Bhuteshwar road within Bhuteshwar Mahadev Temple, Vrindavan, Uttar Pradesh, India	Ringlets of Hair	Uma	Bhutesh
33.	Shuchi, in a Shiva temple at Shuchitirtham 11 Km on Kanyakumari Trivandrum road, Tamil Nadu, India	Teeth (Upper Jaw)	Narayani	Sanhar
34.	Panchsagar place not known	Teeth (Lower Jaw)	Varahi	Maharudra
35.	Kartoyatat, at Bhawanipur village 28 Km distance from interior Serpur. Alight at Bagura station under district Bagura, Bangladesh	Left Anklet (Ornament)	Arpana	Vaman
36.	Shri Parvat, near Ladak, Kashmir, India. Another belief: at Srisailam in Shriparvat hills under Guntur district, Andhra Pradesh, India	Right Anklet (Ornament)	Shrisundari	Sundaranand
37.	Vibhash, at Tamluk under district East Medinipur, West Bengal, India	Left Ankle	Kapalini (Bhimarupa)	Sarvanand
38.	Prabhas, 4 Km distance from Veraval station near Somnath temple in Junagadh district of Gujarat, India	Stomach	Chandrabhaga	Vakratund
39.	Bhairavparvat, at Bhairav hills on the banks of Shipra river a little distance from Ujjaini town, Madhya Pradesh, India	Upper Lips	Avanti	Lambkarna
40.	Jansthan, at Godavari river valley near Nasik, Maharasthra, India	Chin (Two Parts)	Bhramari	Vikritaksh
41.	Sarvashail or Godavaritir, at Kotilingeswar temple on the banks of Godavari river near Rajamundry, Andhra Pradesh, India	Cheeks	Rakini or Vishweshwari	Vatsnabh or Dandpani
42.	Birat, near Bharatpur, Rajasthan, India	Left Feet Fingers	Ambika	Amriteshwar
43.	Ratnavali, on the banks of Ratnakar river at Khanakul-Krishnanagar, district Hooghly, West Bengal, India	Right Shoulder	Kumari	Shiva
44.	Mithila, near Janakpur Railway station on the boarder of India-Nepal	Left Shoulder	Uma	Mahodar
45.	Nalhati, on a hillock near Nalhati station of Birbhum district, West Bengal, India	Tubular Bones of the Feet	Kalika Devi	Yogesh
46.	Karnat place not known	Both Ears	Jayadurga	Abhiru
47.	Vakreshwar, on the banks of Paaphara river, 7 Km distance from Dubrajpur station, district Birbhum, West Bengal, India	Portion between the eyebrows	Mahishmardini	Vakranath
48.	Yashor, at Ishwaripur, district Khulna, Bangladesh	Hands & Feet	Yashoreshwari	Chanda
49.	Attahas, 2 Km distance from Labhpur station district Birbhum, West Bengal, India	Lips	Phullara	Vishvesh
50.	Nandipur under a Banyan tree within a boundary wall near Sainthia Railway station, district Birbhum, West Bengal, India	Necklace	Nandini	Nandikeshwar
51.	Lanka place not known (One opinion is this temple is in Trincomalee, but destroyed during portuguese shelling. Only a pillar remains. This temple is near to the more famous Trikoneshwara temple)	Anklets	Indrakshi	Rakshaseshwar