Sati and Shakti peeths

Sati and Shakti Peeths have a significant importance in India. Sati is consort of Lord Shiva and there is a story behind the origin of Shakti peeths. Please read on for details on this interesting mythological story about Sati.

Sati and Shiva
Sati and Shiva

Sati’s Penance

Sati was daughter of Daksh Prajapati who was a ruler. When Sati grew old she performed intense penance to attain Shiva as her husband. She married Lord Shiva against the wish of her father.When Daksha was performing a Yagna, he invited all the deities except Shivji and Sati. Sati was very sad after not receiving an invitation for the yagna. She insisted on attending the function, despite of the disapproval of Lord Shiva.

Daksh insults Shiva and Sati

When Sati entered the palace, king Daksha insulted her. He said that his other daughters were more distinguished and worthy of honour than Shivji and Sati. Sati was unable to bear her father’s disrespect for her husband. Then Goddess Sati approached the sadas (the area of the site of sacrifice where the main priest sits). She thundered: “My husband, the Lord of Lords has been insulted for no good reason. No fault exists in Him. It is claimed in the Scriptures that those who steal knowledge, those who betray a teacher and those who defile the Lord are great sinners and ought to be punished”.After saying these words, Goddess Sati threw herself in glowing sacred fire. Daksha yagna was desecrated.

Shiva and Sati
Shiva and Sati

All the invitees were scared of being avenged, hence disappeared. When Lord Shiva heard this he was enraged. He created a creature Veerbhadra from lock of his hair.Veerbhadra tore off king Daksha head and tossed it in the same sacrificial fire. However it was proclaimed that the yagna should not be left incomplete, so head of goat was placed on Daksha to restore his life.

Lord Vishnu comes to rescue to stop Lord Shiva

Sad Lord Shiva began to wander carrying the dead body of Sati in his arms. He started dance of destruction of universe. In order to save universe and break this attachment of Lord Shiva, Vishnu with his sudarshan chakra and cut Sati’s body into pieces. Sati’s body pieces fell at different places and these are called Shakti Peeths.There are 52 shakti peeths and it is believed that if you worship these places with devotion all desires are fulfilled.
A list of Shakti Peeths as taken from Tantra Chudamani is provided below:

No:Place:Part of the body:Bhirava:Shakti:
1.Hingula (Pakistan)Brahma randhraBhima lochanaKottari
2.Sharkarara (Maha rashtra)TrinetraKrodheeshaMahisha mardini
3.Sugandha (Bangla desh)NasikaTriambakaSunanda
4.Kashmira (Jammu&Kashmir)Kantha deshaTri sandhyeshwaraMaha maya
5.Jwala mukhi (Himachal pradesh)JihwaUnmatta/ VatukeshwaraSiddhida/ Ambica
6.Jalandhara (Punjab)Vama stanaBhishanaTripura malini/ Tripura nashini
7.Vidya natha (Bihar)HridayaVidya nathaJaya durga
8.Nepala (Nepal)Janu dwayaKapaliMaha maya
9.Manasa (Tibet)Dakshina hastaAmara/ HaraDakshaini
10.Utkala/ Viraja (Orissa)NabhiJagannathaVimala/ Vijaya
11.Gandaki (Nepal)Dakshina gandaChakra paniGandaki chandi
12.Bahula (West bebgal)Vama bahuBhiruka/ TivrakaBahula
13.Ujjaini (Madhya pradesh)KurparaKapilambaraMangala chandi
14.Chattala (Bangla desh)Dakshina bahuChandra sekharaBhavani
15.Tripura (Tripura)Dakshina padaTripureshaTripura
16.Trisrota (West bengal)Vama padaAmbara/ EshwaraBhramari
17.Kama giri/ Kama rupa desha (Assam)Maha mudra/ YoniUmanandaKamakhya/ Dasha maha vidya
18.Yugadya/ Ksheera grama (West bengal)Dakshina padangushtaKsheera kantakaBhoota dhatri
19.Kali peetha (West bengal)Dakshina padanguliNakuleeshaKali
20.Prayaga (Uttar pradesh)HastanguliBhavaLalitha
21.Jayanti (Bangladesh)Vama janghaKramadeeshwaraJayanti
22.Kireeta/ Kireeta kona (West bengal)KireetaSamvarta/ Siddha rupaVimala/ Bhuvaneshi
23.Manikarnika/ Varanasi (Uttar pradesh)Karna kundalaKala bhiravaVishalakshi
24.Kanyashrama (Tamil nadu)PrishtaNimishaSharvani
25.Kurukshetra (Haryana)Dakshina gulphaSthanuSavitri
26.Manivedika (Rajasthan)Mani bandhaSarvananda/ SharvanandaGayatri
27.Srisaila/ Sri hatta (Andhra pradesh)GreevaSamvarananda/ ShambaranandaMaha lakshmi
28.Kanchi (Tamil nadu)KankalaRuruDeva garbha/ Veda garbha
29.Kala madhava (Uttar pradesh)Vama nitambaAsitangaKali
30.Shona (Madhya pradesh)Dakshina nitambaBhadra senaNarmada
31.Rama giri/ Raja giri (Uttar pradesh)Dakshina stanaChandaShivani
32.Brindavana (Uttar pradesh)Kesha jalaBhootesha/ Krishna nathaUma/ Katyaini
33.Shuchi/ Anala (Tamil nadu)Oordhwa danta panktiSamhara/ SamkruraNarayani
34.Pancha sagara (Maharashtra)Adho danta panktiMaha rudraVarahi
35.Kara toya tata (Bangladesh)Vama talpaVamanaAparna
36.Sri parvata (Andhra pradesh)Dakshina talpaSundaranandaSundari
37.Vibhasa (West bengal)Vama gulphaSarvanandaKapali/ Bhima rupa
38.Prabhasa (Gujarat)UdaraVakra tundaChandra bhaga
39.Bhirava parvata (Madhya pradesh)OordhvoshtaLamba karnaAvanti
40.Jana sthana (Maharashtra)ChibukaVikritakshaBhramari
41.Godavari teetra (Andhra pradesh)Vama gandaDanda pani/ Vatsa nabhaVishwa matrika/ Rakini
42.Ratnavali (West bengal)Dakshina skandhaShivaKumari
43.Mithila (Nepal)Vama skandhaMahodaraUma devi/ Maha devi
44.Nalahati (West bengal)NalaYogeeshwaraKali
45.Karnata (Karnataka)KaranaAbhiruJaya durga
46.Vakreshwara (West bengal)ManasVakra nathaMahisha mardini
47.Yashora (Bangla desh)Vama hastaChandaYashoreshwari
48.Attahasa (West bengal)AdharoshtaVishweshwaraPullara
49.Nandi pura (West bengal)Kantha haraNandikeshwaraNandini
50.Lanka (Sri lanka)NupuraRakshaseshwaraIndrakshi
51.Virata (Rajasthan)Vama padanguliAmritaAmbika
52.Magadha (Bihar)Dakshina janghaVyoma keshaSarvanandakari

Jai Sati Maa.

Patan Devi temple – Sati Shakti Peeth

Sati – Shakti Peeth temple at Patna

Shakti Peeths have been formed when Devi Sati’s body parts fell on earth. Bhagwan Vishnu’s cut the body of Sati into pieces with sudarshan chakra when Lord Shiva was angry and dancing while carrying her. There are total 51 places where Sati’s body parts have fallen, though there is some dispute on the numbers. Patna or Patliputra is one of those places where Sati’s body parts have fallen.

Bari Patan devi

Bari Patan devi


Devi Sati’s right thigh fell in the city of Patna. This place is known as Patan Devi. It is also believed that Patna is named after Patan devi.

The places where parts of Sati have fallen are known as Shakti Peeths. City of Patna used to be known by the name “Magadha” in earlier times. Devi’s right thigh fell here and the idols are Devi as Sarvanandkari and Shiva as Vyomkesha.

There are chhoti(small) Patan devi and bari (big) Patan devi temples.

Bari Patan Devi

The temple of  Bari Patan Devi, Patna faces North, towards the Ganges river. The statues of the temple is in black stone. At the entrance of the temple there is a portico of dimension 1.5′ x 15′. After that there is a room of about 8′ x 8′ for gods namely, Mahakali, Maha Lakshmi  and  Maha Saraswati and Bhairav. All the idols are kept on simhasans (thrones) of about 4 square in cross section and have a height of about 7 feet. The goddesses are attired in sarees.

Idols of Maha Kali, Maha Laxmi and Maha Sarawati

Idols of Maha Kali, Maha Laxmi and Maha Sarawati

In Hindu mythology, these Goddesses protected Putraka, who was the founder of Pataliputra. A strange stone image has been found in a tank near the Bari Patan Devi Temple, Patna. That image has been kept in the eastern veranda of the main temple where this stone is being worshiped regularly.

Devotees can go to the temple at any time of the day. The temple does not distinguish between any caste or creed and hence is open for all religions and castes. Tuesday is a special day for the devotees and a large number of worshipers visit the temple. Promises are being made before the Goddess and on the fulfillment of the wishes devotees offer gifts and sarees in the temple.

Lord Hanumana at Patan Devi

Lord Hanumana at Patan Devi

Chhoti Patan Devi

This temple is situated in the Chowk area of Patna City. Once was considered as the main presiding deity of Patna. Over the years it has slipped to the second position of eminence, after the Bari Patan Devi temple, as city’s presiding deity, with epithet ‘Chhoti’ (smaller) to the more popular one, the Bari (bigger) Patan Devi. But according to a  historian, this very temple (Chhoti Patendevi) which held the primary position as the city’s presiding deity during 18th and early 19th century.

The temple houses a host of intact and severed Brahmanical images, including, Ganesh, Vishnu and Surya. Beyond the temple, but within its precincts, lie in open fragments of door jumbs/lintels and yet other set of images. Of these, an impressive, but broken sun-image is the most prominent. According to many historians, it is very likely that some early medieval temple was built here.

Patna is also famous for other holy places and places of historical importance. Temple of Sikh’s tenth Guru Gobind Singh Ji is also in patna. Golghar is another tourist attraction. Mahavir Mandir just near to Patna railway station is also a must to visit place.
Earlier, Patna was also called Azimabad, as derived from the name of Ajima Sahab. Lots of people suffering from small pox and chicken pox come here for cure. Vijayadashami is the most important festival celebrated here.


Golghar - Patna
Golghar – Patna
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