Shakta pithas

The Shakta pithas, also called Shakti pithas or Sati pithas, 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 and 4 are named as Chatasrah Aadi in medieval Hindu texts.
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. The greatest number of Shakta pithas are present in the Bengal region. During partition the numbers were West Bengal and Bangladesh. After the secret transfer of Dhakeshwari Shakta pitha from Dhaka to Kolkata the numbers stand as West Bengal and Bangladesh.

Hinduism

Hindu literature

The Brahmanda Purana, one of the major eighteen Puranas mentions 64 Shakta pithas of the 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. Another text which gives a listing of these shrines is the Shakta pitha stotram, written by Adi Shankara, the 9th-century Hindu philosopher.
According to the manuscript Mahapithapurana, 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, while 7 are in what is now Bangladesh.

Daksha yajna

According to legend, lord Brahma once conducted a huge yajna, where all the prajapatis, deities, and kings of the world were invited. Shiva and Sati were also called on to participate in the yajna. All of them came for the yajna, and sat in the ceremonial place. Daksha came last. When he arrived, everyone in the yajna, with the exception of Brahma and Shiva, stood up, showing their reverence for him. Brahma, being Daksha's father, did not rise. Shiva, being Daksha's son-in-law, and also because he is superior in stature to Daksha, remained seated. Daksha misunderstood Shiva's gesture, and considered this act an insult. Daksha vowed to take revenge on the insult in the same manner.
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 life from an ascetic. This event is ahead of the emergence of both of the couple's children, Kartikeya and Ganesha.

Shakta pithas

Each temple has shrines for Shakti and Kalabhairava, and most Shakti and Kalabhairava in different Shakta pithas have different names.

Map of India's Shakta pithas

List of 4 Adi Shakta pithas

The scriptures, which include the Kalika Purana, recognize four Shakta pithas as sites where most of the energy is. The first pitha is Odra where the pair of feet fell along with pair of thighs, the second pitha is Jalasaila where the pair of breasts fell, the third pitha is Purnagiri where the arms along with the neck fell, and the fourth is Kamrupa where the yoni fell. These four places originated from the lifeless body of Devi Sati.
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. In South India, Srisailam in Andhra Pradesh became the site for a 2nd-century temple.

List of 18 Ashtadasha Maha Shakta pithas

There are believed to be 64 locations. Adi Shankara's Ashtadasha Shakta pitha stotram mentions 18 locations known as the Maha Shakta pithas. Among these, the Shakta pithas at Kamakhya, Gaya and Ujjain are regarded as the most sacred as they symbolize the three most important aspects of the Mother Goddess viz. Creation, Nourishment, and Annihilation.

Sr. No.	Temple	Place	State in India/Country	Appellation	Part of the body fallen	Shakti	Image
1	Historically unknown Recent claims : Koneswaram Temple	Lanka Historically undetermined Recent claims : Trincomalee	Sri Lanka	Shankari Pitham	Groin	Goddess Shankari
2	Kamakshi Amman Temple	Kanchipuram	Tamil Nadu	Kamakoti Pitham	Navel	Goddess Kamakshi
3	Shrinkala Temple	Pradmunyee	West Bengal	Bhavatārini Pitham	Part of stomach	Goddess Shrinkhala
4	Chamundeshwari Temple	Mysuru	Karnataka	Krouncha Pitham	Hair	Goddess Chamundeshwari
5	Jogulamba Devi	Alampuram	Telangana	Yogini Pitham	Teeth	Goddess Jogulamba
6	Bhramaramba Mallikarjuna Temple	Srisailam	Andhra Pradesh	Srisaila Pitham	Neck	Goddess Bhramarambika
7	Mahalakshmi Temple	Kolhapur	Maharashtra	Shri Pitham	eye	Goddess Mahalakshmi
8	Renuka	Mahur	Maharashtra	Moola Pitham	Left hand	Goddess Renuka
9	Mahakaleswar Temple	Ujjain	Madhya Pradesh	Ujjaini Pitham	Upper lip	Goddess Mahakali
10	Kukkuteswara Swamy Temple	Pithapuram	Andhra Pradesh	Pushkarini Pitham	Back	Goddess Puruhutika
11	Biraja Temple	Jajpur	Odisha	Oddyana Pitham	Part of abdomen	Goddess Biraja
12	Bhimeswara Temple	Draksharamam	Andhra Pradesh	Daksharama Pitham	Left cheek	Goddess Manikyamba
13	Kamakhya Temple	Guwahati	Assam	Kamarupa Pitham	Genitals	Goddess Kamakhya
14	Alopi Devi Mandir	Prayagraj	Uttar Pradesh	Prayaga Pitham	Fingers	Goddess Madhaveshwari
15	Jwalamukhi Temple	Jwalamukhi	Himachal Pradesh	Jwalamukhi Pitham	Tongue	Goddess Jwala
16	Mangla Gauri Temple	Gaya	Bihar	Gaya Pitham	Breast	Goddess Sarvamangala
17	Vishalakshi Temple	Varanasi	Uttar Pradesh	Varanasi Pitham	Earrings	Goddess Vishalakshi
18	Sharada Peeth	Sharda	Pakistan	Sharada Pitham	Right hand	Goddess Sharada

Sharadha pitha is currently in a ruined state. Only ruins are found in these places. Its ruins are near the Line of Control between the Indian and Pakistani-controlled portions of the former princely state of Kashmir and Jammu. Instead, Sringeri Sharada pitham, Sringeri in Karnataka even though not a Shakta pithas, is this aspect of the goddess. It is believed that Goddess Sharada moved from her ruined temple in Kashmir to live in the new temple in Sringeri. Requests have been made by the Hindu community in Pakistan to the Pakistani government to renovate the temple, the issue being raised by former Indian Home minister L. K. Advani to the Pakistan authorities as a confidence-building measure, by increasing the people-to-people cross-border interaction.
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.