The Shakti Pithas

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Goddess worship occurred in India since deepest antiquity and certainly predates

both the Aryan incurions (1800BC) and the Indus Valley Harappan civilization

(3000 BC). Worship of the goddess in her many froms occurs all over the

sub-continent and in many places she is more popular than the gods Shiva or

Vishnu. All the goddesses of Hinduism are considered to be manifestations of the

multi-faceted personality of the one great Mother Goddess of creation.

 

According to certain Hindu myths, the goddess is the combined energy of all the

gods, who created and then equipped her with weapons so that she might destroy a

demon whose power was greater than theirs. Different temples will enshrine

different images of the goddess, from her peaceful aspects of Parvati, Lakshmi,

and Saraswati, to her fearful aspects of Durga, Chamunda and Kali; she is both

the gentle giver of life and the terrible mistress of death.

 

Worshipped by particular sects of Hinduism known as Tantric, the goddess

encourages meditation on yantras (visual mantras and magic diagrams), erotic

sexual practices, and the ritual slaughter of animals. Before her shrines at

many Shakti Pitha sites are large, two-pronged forks for securing the heads of

animals being sacrificed. In the active Shakti Pitha shrines at least one goat

will be sacrificed daily and on major festival days several hundred goats and

many buffaloes will be slaughtered. Pilgrims passing the place of sacrifice will

dip a finger in the blood and touch it to their lips and foreheads. The

background idea here is not that the goddess is cruel, but that she is looked

upon as the protectress from all evil, ailment, danger and death. She should

frighten away the demons and sorcerers of misfortune. In her terrible aspects

she also confronts the pilgrim with the transience of life and death, and

thereby encourages them to seek eternal wisdom and enlightenment.

 

The primary sacred places of the goddess are the Shakti Pithas and they are

variously described in different texts as being 18, 51, 52 or 108 in number,

each of these sites being associated with a particular part of Shakti's body.

 

A fascinating legend (recounted from Pilgrimage in the Hindu Tradition, by

Morinis) gives insight into the miraculous healing powers of the Shakti Pithas.

Shakti is the daughter of Daksa and Prasuti, and the wife of Shiva. Daksa

decided to hold a great sacrifice to which he invited neither his daughter nor

son-in-law. Shakti was offended by this slight and attended the sacrifice

uninvited. There she was insulted by Daksa and, thus humiliated, she took her

life. On hearing this news, her husband Shiva hastened to the house of Daksa,

disrupted the sacrifice, killed Daksa, and claimed the body of his wife.

 

Inconsolable at his loss, he placed Shakti's body on his shoulder and began a

mad dance through the three universes. His dance threatened to destroy all

creation and the gods became distraught at this prospect. One version of the

story has it that the gods approached Vishnu to restrain Shiva. Vishnu sent

arrows or his discus to dismember the body of Shakti limb by limb. An

alternative version states that Brahma, Vishnu and Sani entered Shakti's body

and caused it to disintegrate. When Shiva was thereby deprived of the body, he

ceased his mad dance. The parts of Shakti's body fell from Shiva's shoulders to

the earth, and the places where they landed became the sacred Shakti Pithas.

 

For countless centuries these sites have been visited by women having ailments

in certain parts of their bodies - the temple enshrining a particular part of

Shakti's body is believed to have the miraculous capacity to heal that exact

part of a woman's body. Some of the Shakti Pithas are also called Siddha-Pithas

because they are considered highly effective for the acquisition of spiritual

powers; At these sites, Srisailam being one of them, the goddess is known to

confer wisdom, bliss and enlightenment. The names and locations of the Shakti

Pithas are too long to list here, readers interested in studying and visiting

these places should consult the works by Bagchi, Housden, Morinis, Sastri, and

Sircar. A particularly good listing of the 51 Shakti Pithas is given in

Housden's excellent book, Travels Through Sacred India.