Shakti Peethas are sacred places associated with Goddess
Shakti in Hinduism. There are 51 Shakti Peeth (please note that as per some texts there are
52 Shakti Peethas) and majority of them are located in India . A couple
of them are located in Pakistan
and Bangladesh .
Here is the story of the Shakti Peethas along with reason for its origin.
According to ancient Hindu scriptures, Daksha Prajapati did
not approve of the marriage between his daughter Sati and Mahadev Shiva.
After Sati got married to Shiva, he organized a 'yajna', a
great sacrifice, and invited all the deities, heavenly creations and
dignitaries, except Sati and Shiva.
Sati wanted to find out why her husband was not invited to
the yajna. Shiva warned Sati that the sole aim of the yajna was to insult him
and she should not go there as she will be insulted.In spite of Shiva’s warning
Sati went to enquire about it with her father, and as predicted by Shiva she
was insulted by Daksha.
As Sati confronted her father, she was ridiculed by the king
and the guests.
Angry and insulted, Sati decided to break all ties with her
father, and even sacrificed her body that was given to her by her father.
Shiva who came to know about the death of Sati arrived at
the scene and destroyed the entire palace of Daksha
As a result of the Tandava, there was chaos in the universe.
There was total imbalance. The gods saw and early end to the cycle of creation.
To control this destructive dance, Vishnu dissected Sati's
body into 51 pieces and dispersed them all over the world. Wherever her body
parts fell, temples called Peetha or Shakti Peethas were established.