Among all the pilgrimages in India all the ‘Shakti Peeth’ also holds a significant place in the Hindu religion. There are a total number of 52 Shakti Peeth that are the symbol of immolation and power.

To understand the religious importance of all the Shakti Peeth, we have to know the mythological narration behind it that is mentioned in Hindu ancient scriptures.

What is Shakti Peeth?

According to the legends, Lord Brahma performed a ritual to please Lord Shiva to help him in creating the universe. As a result, Goddess Shakti separated from Shiva and emerged to help Brahma. After her purpose is served, Shakti was supposed to return to Shiva.

During that time, Brahma’s son king Daksha performed many ‘Yagna’ to receive a form of Shakti as his daughter. The reason was he wanted to get his daughter married to Shiva. His wish came true in the form of Goddess Sati, a form of Goddess Shakti.

However, king Daksha started hating Shiva after he cut off Brahma’s 5th head and cursed him. That led him to decide not to marry his daughter with Shiva. Though destiny had other plans, Sati got attracted to Shiva and finally, both of them got married. That increased Daksha’s hater towards Shiva.

One day, Daksha held a Yagna and invited all the Gods and Goddesses. But, he purposefully didn’t invite his daughter Sati and her husband Shiva. Sati ended up visiting her father at the time of Yagna, but Daksha didn’t give her any respect and also insulted Shiva.

The whole incident left Sati distressful and she couldn’t bear Shiva’s insult. Because of the whole episode, she cursed her father and jumped into the fire for self-immolation. Thus, Sati died on the spot.

Shiva was in great pain and was enraged when he got to know about his wife’s death. He carried Sati’s corpse and performed ‘Tandava’, a celestial dance of destruction out of grief and anger. Now, that could destroy the whole universe.

All the deities were afraid and they sought the help of Lord Vishnu. Hence, Vishnu used ‘Sudarshana Chakra’ that cut off Sati’s body. The body parts of Sati fell on different locations of the universe.

‘Shakti Peeth’ is the name of each location with Sati’s body part on Earth. In the form of ‘Kala Bhairava’, Shiva guards each location of ‘Shakti Peeth’ in different avatars. Now due to such reasons, all the Shakti Peeths of India are considered spiritual spots.  

Where are 52 Shakti Peeths in the world?

Shakti Peeths are scattered in many Asian countries of India like India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, China, Bhutan and Nepal. All the Shakti Peeths have a temple of Shakti and Kala Bhairava with different names.

Yet according to different ancient scriptures like ‘Shiva Charitra’, ‘Kalika Puran’, ‘Devi Bhagwat Puran’ and ‘Tantra Chudamani & Durga Saptasati,’ there are respectively 51, 26, 108 and 52 Shakti Peeth.

List of some of 52 Shakti Peeths

There are prime 4 Shakti Peeths known as ‘Adi Shakti Peeth’ with 18 main Shakti Peeths.

1. Bimala/Vimala temple one of the Shakti Peeth of India:

• Location: Inside the complex area of Jagannath Puri Temple in Puri,   Odisha

• Body Part: Foot

• Names of deities: ‘Devi’ & ‘Bhairava’

2. Tara Tarini one of the Shakti Peeth of India:

• Location: Berhampur, Odisha

• Body Part: Sthan (Breast)

• Names of deities: ‘Maa Taratarini’ & ‘Tubeswar’

3. Kamakhya temple one of the Shakti Peeth of India:

• Location: Guwahati, Assam

• Body Part: Genitals 

• Names of deities: Goddess ‘Kamakhya’ & ‘Umananda/ Bhayaanand’

4. Dakshina Kalika/ Kalighat Kali temple one of the Shakti Peeth of India:

• Location: Kolkata, West Bengal

• Body Part: Right toes

• Names of deities: ‘Kalika’ & ‘Nakuleshwar’

5. Ambaji temple one of the Shakti Peeth of India:

• Location: Ambaji town within Aravali mountains range in Gujarat

• Body Part: Heart

• Names of deities: ‘Amba’ & ‘Batuk Bhairav’

6. Kamakshi Amman temple one of the Shakti Peeth of India:

• Location: Kanchipuram, Tamil Nadu

• Body part: Navel

• Name of deity: ‘Kamashi’

7. Chamundeshwari temple one of the Shakti Peeth of India:

• Location: Top of Chamundi hills in Mysore, Karnataka

• Body part: Hair

• Name of deity: ‘Chamundeshwari’

8. Jogulamba Devi one of the Shakti Peeth of India: 

• Location: Alampur, Telangana

• Body part: Upper Teeth

• Names of deities: ‘Jogulamba’ & ‘Bala Brahmeswara’

9. Bhramaramba Mallikarjuna temple one of the Shakti Peeth of India:

• Location: Srisailam, Andhra Pradesh

• Body part: Neck

• Names of deities: ‘Bhramaramba’ & ‘Mallikarjuna’

10. Biraja temple one of the Shakti Peeth of India:

• Location: Jajpur, Odisha

• Body part: Navel

• Names of deities: ‘Biraja/ Girija’ & ‘Varaha/Baraha’

11. Alopi Devi Mandir one of the Shakti Peeth of India:

• Location: Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh

• Body part: Fell on the location and disappeared

• Names of deities: ‘Alopi Shankari’  

12. Mangla Gauri temple one of the Shakti Peeth of India:

• Location: Gaya, Bihar

• Body part: Breast

• Name of deity: ‘Mangalagauri’

13. Vishalakshi Temple one of the Shakti Peeth of India:

• Location: Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh

• Part: Earring/ face / Eye

• Name of deity: ‘Vishalakshi/ Manikarnika’ & ‘Kal Bhairav’ 

14. Sharada Peeth one of the Shakti Peeth: 

• Location: Azad Kashmir

• Body Part: Right hand

• Names of Deities: ‘Sharda’ & ‘Chanda’

15. Shrinkhala the Shakti Peeth of India:

• Location: Hoogly, West Bengal

• Body Part: Stomach

• Name of deity: ‘Shrinkhala Devi’

16. Shakambhari one of the Shakti Peeth of India:

• Location: Saharanpur, Uttar Pradesh

• Names of deities: ‘Shakambhari Devi’ & ‘Bhura Dev’

17. Amarnath temple one of the Shakti Peeth of India:

• Location: Srinagar, Jammu & Kashmir

• Body part: Throat & anklet

• Names of Deities: ‘Mahamaya’ & ‘Trisandhyeshwar’

18. Danteshwari temple one of the Shakti Peeth of India:

• Location: Jagdalpur, Chattisgarh

• Body part: Tooth

• Names of deities: ‘Danteshwari’

19. Jwalamukhi temple one of the Shakti Peeth of India:

• Location: Jawalamukhi, Himachal Pradesh

• Body part: Tongue

• Names of deities: ‘Ambika/ Siddhida’ & ‘Unmatta Bhairava’

20. Shankari Devi Temple one of the Shakti Peeth:

• Location: Trincomalee, Sri Lanka

• Body part: Anklet

• Names of deities: ‘Indrakshi/ Nagapooshani / Bhuvaneswari’ &    ‘Rakshaseshwar/ Nayanair’

21. Attahas temple one of the Shakti Peeth of India:

• Location: Labpur, West Bengal

• Body part: Lips

• Names of deities: ‘Phullara’ & ‘Vishvesh’

22. Bahula one of the Shakti Peeth of India:

• Location: Bahula, West Bengal

• Body part: Left arm

• Names of deities: ‘Bahula’ & ‘Bhiruk’

23. Mahishmardini one of the Shakti Peeth of India:

• Location: Birbhum, West Bengal

• Body part: Portion between the eyebrows

• Names of deities: ‘Mahishmardini’ & ‘Vakranath’

24. Bhairavparvat one of the Shakti Peeth of India:

• Location: Ujjani, Madhya Pradesh

• Body part: Elbow

• Names of deities: ‘Avanti’ & ‘Lambkarna’

25. Bhabanipur one of the Shakti Peeth:

• Location: Bhabanipur, Bangladesh 

• Body part: Left anklet 

• Names of deities: ‘Aparna’ & ‘Vaman’

26. Chhinnamastika one of the Shakti Peeth of India:

• Location: Rajrappa, Jharkhand

• Body part: foot

• Names of deities: ‘Chhinnamastika’ & ‘Rudra Mahadev’

27. Muktinath temple one of the Shakti Peeth:

• Location: Nepal

• Body part: Forehead 

• Names of deities: ‘Gandaki Chandi’ & ‘Chakrapani’

28. Bhadrakali  one of the Shakti Peeth of India:

• Location: Nasik, Maharashtra 

• Body part: Chin

• Names of deities: ‘Bhadrakali’ & ‘Vikritaksh’

29. Hinglaj Mata Temple one of the Shakti Peeth:

• Location: Pakistan

• Body part: Head (Crown part of head)

• Names of deities: ‘Kottari’ & ‘Bhimlochan’

30. Nartiang Durga Temple one of the Shakti Peeth:

• Location: Jayanti, Meghalaya

• Body part: Left thigh

• Names of deities: ‘Jayanti’ & ‘Kramadishwar’

31. Jeshoreshwari Kali Temple one of the Shakti Peeth:

• Location: Bangladesh

• Body part: Palms of hands and soles of the feet

• Names of deities: ‘Jeshoreshwari’ & ‘Chanda’

32. Kankalitala one of the Shakti Peeth of India:

• Location: Birbhum, West Bengal

• Body part: Pelvis

• Names of deities: ‘Devgarbha’ & ‘Ruru’

33. Bajreshwari Temple one of the Shakti Peeth of India:

• Location: Nagarkot, Himachal Pradesh

• Body part: Left breast

• Names of deities: ‘Jayadurga’ & ‘Abhiru’

34. Kiriteswari temple one of the Shakti Peeth of India:

• Location: Kiritkona, West Bengal

• Body part: Crown

• Names of deities: ‘Vimla’ & ‘Sanwart’

35. Sugandha one of the Shakti Peeth:

• Location: Bangladesh

• Body part: Nose

• Names of deities: ‘Sugandha’ & ‘Trayambak’

36. Devi Talab Mandir one of the Shakti Peeth of India:

• Location: Jalandhar, Punjab

• Body part: Right breast

• Names of deities: ‘Tripurmalini’ & ‘Bhishan’

37. Baidyanath Dham one of the Shakti Peeth of India:

• Location: Jharkhand

• Body part: Heart

• Names of deities: ‘Jaya Durga’ & ‘Baidyanath’

38. Guhyeshwari temple one of the Shakti Peeth of India:

• Location: Kathmandu, Nepal

• Body part: Both knees/ Hips

• Names of deities: ‘Mahashira’ & ‘Kapali’

39. Manas one of the Shakti Peeth:

• Location: Tibet, China

• Body part: Right hand

• Names of deities: ‘Dakshayani’ & ‘Amar’

40. Ujaani one of the Shakti Peeth of India:

• Location: Guskara, West Bengal

• Body part: Right wrist

• Names of deities: ‘Mangal Chandika’ & ‘Kapilambar’

41. Tripura Sundari temple  one of the Shakti Peeth of India:

• Location: Udaipur & Tripura

• Body part: Right leg

• Names of deities: ‘Tripura Sundari/ Lalita’ & ‘Tripuresh’

42. Chandranath Temple one of the Shakti Peeth of India:

• Location: Bangladesh

• Body part: Right arm

• Names of deities: ‘Bhawani’ & ‘Chandrashekhar’

43. Malai Chandi Temple & Bhramari Devi one of the Shakti Peeth of India:

• Location: West Bengal

• Body part: Left leg

• Names of deities: ‘Bhraamari’ & ‘Ambar/ Bhairaveshwara’

44. Jogadya one of the Shakti Peeth of India:

• Location: West Bengal

• Body part: Great Toe

• Names of deities: ‘Jogadya’ & ‘Ksheer Kantak’

45. Gourikunda Temple & Kanyashram of Balaambika the Shakti Peeths:

• Location: Uttarakhand & Bangladesh

• Body part: Back

• Names of deities: ‘Sarvani’ & ‘Nimish’

46. Bhadrakali Shaktipeeth one of the Shakti Peeth of India:

• Location: Kurukshetra, Haryana

• Body part: RightAnkle bone

• Names of deities: ‘Savitri/Bhadrakali’ & ‘Sthanu’

47. Manibandh one of the Shakti Peeth of India:

• Location: Pushkar, Rajasthan 

• Body part: Wrists

• Names of deities: ‘Gayatri’ & ‘Sarvanand’

48. Shri Hatta Kali temple one of the Shakti Peeth:

• Location: Bangladesh

• Body part: Neck

• Names of deities: ‘Mahalaxmi’ & ‘Sambaranand’

49. Katyayani one of the Shakti Peeth of India:

• Location: Mathura, Uttar Pradesh

• Body part: Ringlets of hair

• Names of deities: ‘Uma’ & ‘Bhutesh’ 

52. Suchindram (Narayani Shakti Peeth ) one of the Shakti Peeth of India:

• Location: Tamil Nadu

• Body part: Upper teeth

• Names of deities: ‘Narayani’ & ‘Sangharor Samhara’

51. Lalita Devi Mandir one of the Shakti Peeth of India:

• Location: Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh

• Body part: Right hand’s Fingers 

• Names of deities: ‘Lalita’ & ‘Bhava’ 

52. Prabhas one of the Shakti Peeth in India:

• Location: Junagadh, Gujarat

• Body part: Stomach

• Names of deities: ‘Chandrabhaga’ & ‘Vakratunda’ 

Conclusion

Shakti Peeth plays a very important role in Hindu religion just as any other temples.

At Secret Temples, you will learn about many religious places like Shakti Peeth.