The festival of Sharadiya Navratri is starting on Sunday, October 15. Everyone waits for these nine days of worship of Mother Shakti. According to religious beliefs, worshiping the nine forms of Goddess Durga during these nine days gives special benefits. Mother's darshan also has special significance during Navratri, so why not plan a visit to Mother's Shaktipeeths this time? If you live in Uttar Pradesh, then there are five Shaktipeeths of Mother Goddess here, whose darshan you can plan during Navratri this time.
According to theology, there are 51 Shaktipeeths of the Goddess but in some texts, there is mention of 52 Shaktipeeths. Mother Sati had reached the yagya meeting of King Daksh without her father's invitation. King Daksh insulted her husband a lot in front of Mother Sati. In anger, the mother sacrificed her life by jumping into the fire pit. After this, angry Lord Shiva reached there and took the dead body of Sati and started performing Shiva Tandav. Doomsday started coming upon the universe, upon which Lord Vishnu cut the body of Mata Sati into pieces with Sudarshan Chakra to stop it. Mother's body parts and jewelry fell in 52 pieces at different places on the earth, which are known as Shaktipeeths.
Let us know which are the Shaktipeeths in Uttar Pradesh which can be visited.
Devi Patan Temple
There is a Shaktipeeth of Mata in Balrampur district which has a lot of beliefs – it is known as Devi Patan Shaktipeeth. According to beliefs, the left shoulder of Mother Sati had fallen here. Mother is present in this Shaktipeeth in the form of Mateshwari. There is a lot of crowd here during Navratri days. You can easily reach here from Tulsipur Railway Station.
Ramgiri Shaktipeeth
Ramgiri Shaktipeeth located in Chitrakoot, Uttar Pradesh is also quite famous. Here the right breast of Mata Sati had fallen. Mother is present at this place in the form of Shivani. Situated on the Ramgiri mountain, you can easily reach here from 'Chitrakootdham Karvi' railway station. This has been a very important place from the point of view of tourism, where lakhs of devotees come every year for darshan.
Vindhyachal Shaktipeeth
Mother is present in the form of Vindhyavasini in Vindhyachal Shaktipeeth, it is situated in the Mirzapur district. Mythological beliefs say that Shaktipeeth is the place where the body parts of Sati had fallen but no body part had fallen in Vindhyachal. Here the Goddess resides physically, it is believed that she had chosen this place for her stay. There are temples of three goddesses near the temple, by visiting which you can earn virtue.
Manikarnika Ghat
Located in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, this Shaktipeeth is very supernatural and has many beliefs, Manikarnika of Mata Sati had fallen here. Here Vishalakshi and Manikarni forms of Mother are worshipped. Manikarnika Ghat is considered as Muktidham, where one attains heaven after performing the last rites. This temple can be visited at a short distance from Varanasi Railway Station.
Mata Lalita Devi Shaktipeeth
After Varanasi, you can go to Prayagraj to visit the next Shaktipeeth, here is Lalita Devi Shaktipeeth where the finger of Mata Sati's hand had fallen. Here the mother is known as Lalita. During Navratri days, a large crowd of people gathered here to have the darshan of the Mother Goddess.
(PC: Pixabay, iStock)
