History :- There was a great king called Daksha Prajapati who was son of Lord Brahma. He had 27 daughters and Sati devi is one among them. Sati devi got married to Lord Shiva. When Dashka entered the arena of a yaga performed by Agni, every one except Lord Shiva stood up as a mark of respect. Daksha felt insulted by Lord Shiva’s behaviour. Later when Daksha conducted a yaga him self , he did not invite his daughter and his son in law.Though Sati felt bad because of the non invitation, she wanted to attend the yaga against the wish of Lord Shiva.When Sati, attended the yaga no body has cared for her and she felt insulted by the actions of her sisters and parents. Then when her father started abusing her husband she could not control her feelings and scarified herself at the place of yagna by creating agni from earth with her right thumb of her foot.Knowing this Lord Shiva removed one bunch of Jhatha from his head and hit it on the earth. From that Lord Veerabhadra has born and rushed to yaga spot and killed Daksha by cutting his head. Later Shiva went to the spot and taken the body of sati from the fire and started dancing with it. The world was terrorized from this Tandava Nritya and to stop this Nritya, Vishnu used his Sudarshan chakra and completely cut the Sati’s body in to pieces. These body parts have fallen at various places in India and Srilanka. Where ever these parts have fallen the places are called Shaktipeethas. There are 18 such places and they are called Ashta(8) Dasa (10) Shaktipeethas.
Aadi Shankaracharya’s Stotram :-
Lankayam Shankari devi, Kamakshi Kanchika pure /
Pradyumne Shrinkhala devi, Chamunda Krouncha pattane //
Alampure Jogulamba, Sri shaile Bhramarambika /
Kolha pure Maha lakshmi, Mahurye Ekaveerika //
Ujjainyam Maha kali, Peethikayam Puruhutika /
Odhyane Girija devi, Manikya Daksha vatike //
Hari kshetre Kama rupi, Prayage Madhaveshwari /
Jwalayam Vishnavi devi, Gaya Mangalya gourika //
Varanasyam Vishalakshi, Kashmire tu Saraswati /
Ashtadasha Shakti peethani, Yoginamapi durlabham //
Sayamkale pathennityam, Sarva shatri vinashanam /
Sarva roga haram divyam, Sarva sampatkaram shubham //
This list of Ashtadasa Shakti peethas ( 18 Shakti Temples / Temples of Mother Goddess). It is a clear representation of Aadi Shankaracharya’s Astadasha Shakti peeta Stotram:
| Sr. No. | Place | Part of the body fallen | Name of Shakti | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Trincomalee (Sri lanka) | Groin | Shankari devi | ||||
| 2 | Kanchi (Tamil nadu) | Back part | Kamakshi Devi | ||||
| 3 | Praddyumnam (West Bengal) | Stomach part | Sri Srunkhala devi | ||||
| 4 | Mysore (Karnataka) | Hair | Chamundeshwari devi | ||||
| 5 | Alampur (Andhra Pradesh) | Upper teeth | Jogulamba devi | ||||
| 6 | Srisailam (Andhra Pradesh) | Neck part | Bhramaramba devi | ||||
| 7 | Kolhapur (Maharastra) | Eyes | Mahalakshmi devi | ||||
| 8 | Nanded (Maharastra) | Right hand | Eka Veerika devi | ||||
| 9 | Ujjain (Madhya Pradesh) | Upper lip | Mahakali devi | ||||
| 10 | Pithapuram (Andhra Pradesh) | Left hand | Puruhutika devi | ||||
| 11 | Jajpur (Odisha) | Navel | Biraja devi | ||||
| 12 | Draksharamam (Andhra Pradesh) | Left cheek | Manikyamba devi | ||||
| 13 | Guwahati (Assam) | Vulva | Kamarupa devi | ||||
| 14 | Prayaga (Uttar Pradesh) | Fingers | Madhaveswari devi | ||||
| 15 | Jwala (Himachal Pradesh) | Head part | Vaishnavi devi | ||||
| 16 | Gaya (Bihar) | Breast part | Sarvamangala devi | ||||
| 17 | Varanasi (Uttar Pradesh) | Wrist | Vishalakshi devi | ||||
| 18 |
| Kashmir |
| Right hand | Saraswathi devi | ||