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28-763: Aami Mandir , also known as Ambika Bhawani Temple is considered as a Shakti Peetha . It is a Hindu temple of the Goddess Sati , located at Ami, a prominent village in Dighwara of Saran District in Bihar, India . A very strange speciality is that this temple is situated at a place from where Lord Shiva’s Pashupatinath temple in Kathmandu, Vishwanath temple in Varanasi and Baidyanath Dham in Deoghar are at an equal distance. The nearest airport

56-456: Is Jayprakash Narayan Airport patna at a distance of about 57 km from the temple. The Aami Village lies on the roadside of NH 19 . It connects with the major cities of Uttar Pradesh, and Bihar. Dighwara is the nearest railway station from Aami, which is about 2.5 km from the village. Shakti Peetha Various legends explain how the Shakta pithas came into existence. The most popular

84-613: Is Tripura Sundari herself. Many legends are associated with Vindhyavasini, she is also called Mahadurga . She is the combined form of all 108 Shakta pithas as mentioned in the Devi Bhagavata Purana text. This is because it is the place where the goddess chose to reside after her birth in Dvapara Yuga . At the time of the birth of Krishna to Devaki and Vasudeva , Vindhyavasini took birth in Gokula to Nanda and Yashoda as per

112-413: Is based on the story of the death of the goddess Sati . Out of grief and sorrow, Shiva carried Sati's body, reminiscing about their moments as a couple, and roamed around the universe with it. Vishnu had 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 massively long task, Shiva took

140-634: Is currently in a ruined state. Only ruins are found in these places. Its ruins are near the Line of Control (LOC) 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

168-458: Is no evidence. The Vindhyavasini Shakta pitha is considered a Shakta pitha even though any body parts of Sati did not fall there. Vindhyavasini is the ultimate and the highest form of the goddess, she is called Adi Parashakti . Goddess Vindhyavasini is considered the embodiment of all of the Mahavidyas , Navadurgas , Matrikas , Yoginis and all the other goddesses present in this universe, she

196-692: Is situated in Jaintiapur Upazila, Bangladesh , which was previously the capital of the Jaintia Hills tribe kingdom, which became the Jaintia hills district of Meghalaya, India, excluding Jaintiapur. However, some people say that it is the Nartiang Durga temple which is the real Jayanti Temple, though there is a shortage of evidence. Some other people argue the actual shrine is at Amta in West Bengal, where

224-580: The ASI . The Hindus claims that the temple was destroyed and the minar was built there. It is claimed that Shrinkhala Mata Murti was taken to Shringeri Karnataka but no such temple exits there till date. At present in Hooghly district only one Ratnabali Shaktipeeth is present (Third mahavidya) (main form of Parvati ) Currently in Kumartoli Kolkata , West Bengal Other Shakipeeths:- These are not recognised as

252-513: The Bengal region, 14 of these are located in what is now West Bengal , India, 1 in Baster (Chhattisgarh), while 7 are in what is now Bangladesh . According to legend, lord Brahma once conducted a huge yajna (ritual sacrifice), 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

280-596: 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 (c. 1690–1720 CE), there are 52 such places. Among them, 23 are located in

308-496: 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

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336-454: The Bengal region. During partition the numbers were West Bengal (18, 1 disputed as Shrinkhala Devi Temple ) and Bangladesh (7). After the secret transfer of Dhakeshwari Shaktipeeth to Kolkata the numbers stand as West Bengal (19,1 disputed Shrinkhala Devi Temple) and Bangladesh (6). The Brahmanda Purana , one of the major eighteen Puranas mentions 64 Shakta pithas of the goddess Parvati in

364-624: 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 mainland India. As per Sankara Samhita of Skanda Purana , In the listings below: More details on this are available in

392-571: The Shakta pithas, but still claimed by the followers, for various reasons. 1. Jwala Devi Jobner 2. Jayanti Kali Temple 3. Asamai Devi Temple in Kabul, Afghanistan 4. Juranpur Kali Temple , West Bengal 5. Sarbamangala Temple Burdwan West Bengal ( it is said that Devi Shakti's part fell here as claimed by the pujaris and local legends) There are disputes about the location of the Jayanti Shakta pitha. Based on most presented manuscripts and facts it

420-566: The Temple. The main gem of Goddess Sati is lost long before (the factual date is unknown). So for actual Darshan visit the Kumartoli kolkata West Bengal one. 2) The Shrinkhala Shaktipeeth (one of 18 Maha Shakta pitha) in West Bengal Hooghly is a disputed site and today only an Islamic Minar is seen there and a door claimed by the locals as the door to the garbagriha of the temple is closed by

448-476: The beginning of Shiva's house-holder ( grihastāshramī ) life from an ascetic. This event is ahead of the emergence of both of the couple's children, Kartikeya and Ganesha . Each temple has shrines for Shakti and Kalabhairava , and most Shakti and Kalabhairava in different Shakta pithas have different names. The scriptures, which include the Kalika Purana , recognize four Shakta pithas as sites where most of

476-501: 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

504-447: 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 due to the fact that he considered himself superior in stature to Daksha, remained seated. Daksha misunderstood Shiva's gesture, and considered this act an insult. Daksha vowed to take revenge on

532-501: The culture of India. Each of the places on Earth where Sati's body parts were known to have fell 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

560-465: The energy is. Vimala where the feet fell (Pada Khanda), Tara Tarini housing the breasts (Stana Khanda), Kamakhya , where the genitals fell ( Yoni Khanda) and Dakshina Kalika , where the toes of right foot fell. These four temples originated from the lifeless body of Sati. Apart from these 4 there are 48 other famous pithas recognized by religious texts. According to the Pithanirnaya Tantra

588-751: The form of Bhairava . Most of these historic places of goddess worship are in India, but there are seven in Bangladesh, four in Nepal, 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. Maximum number of Shaktipeeths are present in

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616-748: The goddess is worshiped as Maa Melai Chandi in Melai Chandi Mandir . But this fact can not be corroborated with any evidence. Moreover, refuting most texts, in Melai Chandi Mandir, the Bhairava is Durgeshwar rather than Kramadishwar . Some also identify the Jayanti shrine with the Mahakal cave temple situated in the village Jayanti of Alipurduar, where many statues were created by Stalagmites and Stalactites (combination of limestone and water), but there

644-495: The instruction of Lord Vishnu . Vasudeva replaced his son Krishna with this girl child of Yashoda so that Krishna could escape his demon uncle Kamsa , whom he would kill later according to a prophecy. When Kamsa tried to kill the girl, she slipped from his hands, assumed her true form and warned Kamsa that his killer (Krishna) still lived on. She left Mathura and the goddess chose the Vindhya Mountains as her abode to live on

672-419: 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

700-563: 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

728-618: The site for a 2nd-century temple. 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 (Kamarupa Devi), Nourishment (Sarvamangala Devi/Mangalagauri), and Annihilation (Mahakali Devi). Modern location Sharadha pitha

756-601: The text 'Tantrachūḍamanī' where Parvati tells these details to her son Skanda . Important : 1) The main vigraha of Dhakeshwari Shaktipeeth in Bangladesh is currently relocated in Kumartuli Dhakeshwari Temple in Kolkata West Bengal. The temple pujari came with the main murti during the Bengal violence during partition via a special chartered plane. While in Dhaka Bangladesh a replica is placed in

784-458: 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 ,

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