Shakti Peeth temples: guides and 360° darshan

Shakti Peethas are shrines of the Devi linked to the story of Sati. Below are our guides to the Shakti Peeth temples we cover. Several of them you can also watch as recorded darshan in the free Divya Darshan 360 app.

Free on the app

Darshan of 56 temples, free on your phone

155 darshan videos, 80 of them in 360°, in Hindi, Marathi, Gujarati and English.

Get the free app

Android · Google Play

What is a Shakti Peeth?

A Shakti Peeth, or Shakta pitha, is a major shrine and place of pilgrimage in the Shakta tradition, which centres on the Devi. The story behind them begins with Sati, the daughter of Daksha and the wife of Shiva.

Daksha held a great yajna and did not invite Shiva. Sati went anyway, was insulted, and gave up her body. In grief, Shiva carried her body across the land. In the best-known telling, Vishnu cut it with his Sudarshana Chakra, and the places where its parts and ornaments fell became Shakti Peethas.

Each Shakti Peeth is linked with a form of the Devi and a matching form of Shiva called Bhairava.

How many Shakti Peethas are there?

The texts do not agree. Different Puranas give 51, 52, 64 or 108. The Pithanirnaya describes 51, and in Bengal a tradition of 52 is followed.

A hymn attributed to Adi Shankara names 18 Maha Shakti Peethas. These include Kamakshi in Kanchipuram, Mahalakshmi in Kolhapur, Chamundeshwari in Mysuru, Kamakhya in Guwahati and Vishalakshi in Varanasi.

In Maharashtra, four temples are counted as the great Shakti Peethas of the state: Mahalakshmi in Kolhapur, Tulja Bhavani in Tuljapur, Renuka in Mahur and Saptashrungi at Vani.

Shakti Peeth temples you can watch in the app

The free app has recorded darshan from these Devi temples. Videos marked 360° can be watched in a VR box, so you can look all around.

• Mahalakshmi Temple, Kolhapur: 8 videos, 7 of them 360°, including the aarti, abhishek, Dasara festival and Nagar Pradakshina. Read the guide.
• Tulja Bhavani Temple, Tuljapur: the aarti and the temple, in normal and 360° video. Read the guide.
• Harsiddhi Mata, Ujjain: MP Tourism calls it one of the two Shakti Peethas of Madhya Pradesh, where Sati's elbow is believed to have fallen. The aarti and a temple tour, in normal and 360° video. Read the guide.
• Mahakali Temple, Pavagadh: at the top of Pavagadh hill in Gujarat, counted among the 51 Shakti Peethas. One 360° video. Read the guide.
• Chamundeshwari Temple, Mysuru: on the list of 18 Maha Shakti Peethas. One darshan video. Read the guide.

The app also has two more Devi temples: Dakshineswar Kali Temple in Kolkata, and Shri Vijayadurga Temple in Goa, which has a 360° video.

All videos are recorded at the temple. To watch in VR you need an Android phone, 4G or Wi-Fi, the app and a VR box. Our VR darshan page explains how it works.

About the guides below

Each guide below covers one Shakti Peeth temple, from Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh down to Tamil Nadu and Sri Lanka. Timings change on festival days such as Navratri, so check the temple's official site before you travel.

Darshan videos in the app

360°Mahalakshmi Temple Aarti360°Mahalakshmi Temple Aarti (Evening)360°Mahalakshmi Temple: Nagar Pradakshina360°Tulja Bhavani Temple (360)360°Tulja Bhavani Aarti (360)Tulja Bhavani Aarti360°Harsiddhi Mata Aarti (360)360°Harsiddhi Shaktipeeth 360 TourHarsiddhi Mata Aarti360°Mahakali Temple, PavagadhChamundeshwari Temple, Mysore360°Vijayadurga Temple, Goa

Cannot make the journey?A Diwali gift for your parents

Do the darshan from home, as if you are standing thereGive your parents darshan at home this Diwali

Put your phone in the Divya Darshan 360 VR box, open the app and look all around the temple. ₹699 paid online, ₹749 cash on delivery. Free delivery in India.

See the VR boxGet the free app

All Shakti Peeth guides

Mahakali Temple, PavagadhIn the appPavagadh Hill, Panchmahal district, GujaratTulja Bhavani Temple, TuljapurIn the appTuljapur, Dharashiv (Osmanabad) district, MaharashtraBhadrakali Shaktipeeth, KurukshetraJhansa Road, Thanesar, Kurukshetra, HaryanaDanteshwari Temple, DantewadaDantewada, Dantewada district, ChhattisgarhDevi Patan Mandir, BalrampurTulsipur, Balrampur district, Uttar PradeshDevi Talab Mandir, JalandharJalandhar, PunjabJogulamba Devi Temple, Alampur, TelanganaAlampur, Jogulamba Gadwal district, TelanganaJwala Ji (Jwalamukhi), Himachal PradeshJawalamukhi, Kangra district, Himachal PradeshKanchi Kamakshi Temple, KanchipuramKanchipuram, Tamil NaduKangra Devi (Vajreshwari Devi), Himachal PradeshKangra town, Kangra district, Himachal PradeshKheer Bhawani Temple, Tulmul, KashmirTulmulla village, Ganderbal district, Jammu and KashmirMaa Raj Rajeshwari Temple, Tehri Garhwal, UttarakhandChoolagarh, near Chhatiyara, Tehri Garhwal, UttarakhandMahakali Shakti Peetha, UjjainUjjain, Madhya PradeshMansa Devi Temple, HaridwarBilwa Parvat, Haridwar, UttarakhandMata Chintpurni Temple, UnaChintpurni, Amb tehsil, Una district, Himachal PradeshMata Vaishno Devi, Jammu and KashmirTrikuta mountain, Katra, Reasi district, Jammu and KashmirNagapooshani Amman Temple, Nainativu, Sri LankaNainativu island, Jaffna District, Northern Province, Sri LankaRenuka Devi (Ekvira) Temple, MahurMahur (Mahurgad), Nanded district, MaharashtraShri Naina Devi Ji Temple, BilaspurNaina Devi, Bilaspur district, Himachal PradeshSri Bhramaramba Devi, SrisailamSrisailam, Nandyal district, Andhra PradeshTara Tarini Temple, Ganjam, OdishaKumari hill, near Purushottampur, Ganjam district, OdishaTripura Sundari Temple, TripuraUdaipur, Gomati district, TripuraVindhyavasini Temple, VindhyachalVindhyachal, Mirzapur district, Uttar Pradesh