Why None of the 51 Shakti Peeths Are in Kerala - A Different Path of Devi Worship
Shakti Peeths are spread across Bharatavarsha, from the
northwest to the north, west, east and central parts. The most popular list has
51 Peeths. There is also a list of 108 Sidh Peeths and another of 18 Ashtadasha
Shaktipeeths. Some of them are in Andhra Pradesh also. But a question comes to
many devotees. Kerala has one of the oldest and strongest traditions of Shakti
worship in India, and Devi is worshipped as Bhadrakali in almost every part of
the state. Still, not a single one of the 51 Peeths is found there. Why is it
so?
The Story Behind the Shakti Peeths
The Peeth tradition comes from the Puranic account of Sati.
When Sati gave up her body in the yajna of her father Daksha, Shiva carried her
body in grief. Bhagavan Vishnu then used his Sudarshana Chakra and the body
parts fell at different places. Each place became a Shakti Peeth. So the whole
idea of the Peeths is rooted in the Puranas, especially the Devi Bhagavata
Purana and the Kalika Purana. A region where the Puranic stories did not travel
much would naturally not become part of this list.
Reasons Why Kerala Is Not in the List
- Bhadrakali
worship in Kerala is based on the Darika Vadha, the killing of the asura
Darika, and not on the story of Sati or Mahishasura. It is an independent
line of worship.
- Shakti
in Kerala comes directly from nature worship. The Devi is seen as the
power of the land, the forest and the village itself.
- The
coastal areas of Kerala followed a different style of worship in which
Tantra was dominant.
- The
Shaiva and Shakta Puranas had little or no influence in ancient Kerala,
though the worship traces its roots to Tantra.
- Kerala’s
concept of Shakti is closely connected with Tantric practice and less with
Puranic stories.
- The
geography of Kerala, with the Western Ghats on one side and the sea on the
other, limited contact with Puranic Hinduism.
- Puranic
teachers were less adventurous in travelling to such regions, but Tantra
teachers were adventurous and found ways to reach Kerala and exchange
ideas.
Darika Vadha and Bhadrakali
According to the Devi Mahatmya tradition and the later
Kerala accounts, Darika was an asura who became very powerful and troubled the
devas and the people. Shiva created Bhadrakali from his anger to destroy him.
In Kerala this story is told in songs and rituals like Mudiyettu and Theyyam,
which are still performed today. This shows how the worship lives in the daily
life of the people and not only in temples. The Mahishasura story, which is
told widely in north and east India and is the base of Durga Puja, is not the
central story here.
Tantra and the Philosophy of Shakti
In Hindu philosophy, Shakti is not a separate being outside
Brahman. Shakti is the power of Brahman itself. The Shvetashvatara Upanishad
(Chapter 4, Verse 10) says that Maya is Prakriti and the one who controls Maya
is Maheshvara. This means that power and the Supreme cannot be divided. Tantra
puts this idea into practice through direct sadhana, mantra and yantra. Because
of this, Kerala devotees did not need a Peeth story to feel the presence of
Devi. For them she was already present in the soil, in the village and in the
kavu, the sacred grove.
Kerala's Unique Temple System
Kerala's temple system is a major reason why 51 Shaktipeeths went missing here. Instead of depending on scriptures, Kerala’s Shakti worship is rooted in crude nature – the deity first worshipped by man in the forest followed him to his agriculture field and later into his home and temples. In fact almost all the Kerala Shakti temples are based on accidently finding a murti in nature or arrived with a devotee in his olakkuda or umbrella from Kodungallur.
Kerala
developed a very distinctive ritual and architectural culture. Its temple
tantra was highly systematized, and this affected how deities were installed
and worshipped. The fact that Kerala had its own highly developed ritual
institutions may actually help explain why its Goddess traditions didn't need
to express their sacred legitimacy through the North Indian/ pan-Indian Shakti Peetha
framework.
Kerala’s Own Sacred Centres
Though Kerala has no Peeth from the 51, it has many powerful Devi temples. Kodungallur Bhagavathy Temple, Chottanikkara, Attukal etc are examples. Kodungallur is considered by many as the most important Bhadrakali centre. In fact her presence can be felt in several other Shakti temples in Kerala. Many believe that Tantric worship has been followed here from very old times. So the absence of a Peeth does not mean the absence of Shakti. It only means a different tradition, with a different history.
Influence of a Far Ancient Culture
Tamilakam had an independent tradition of Goddess worship. Ancient Kerala cannot
really be studied in isolation from the wider Tamil cultural world. The
Korravai/Kottravai-type warrior/mother-goddess traditions of ancient South
India are relevant background for understanding the later South Indian forms of
Durga/Kali/Bhagavati. The cultural boundary between ancient Kerala and
Tamilakam was also very different from the modern Kerala–Tamil Nadu boundary.
The list of Peeths is one way of understanding Devi in Bharatavarsha, and it comes from the Puranic tradition. Kerala followed another way, which is older in many respects, more local and more Tantric. Both ways lead to the same truth, that Shakti is one and is worshipped in many forms. Kerala’s example shows how Hinduism is not one single stream but many streams that meet in the same ocean.