51 Shakti Peeth List: Names, Places, Body Parts & the Story of Sati
५१ शक्तिपीठWherever Sati fell, the Goddess stayed.
The 51 Shakti Peeth list with places, states and body parts as per tradition — plus the 18 Maha Shakti Peethas, the peethas beyond India’s borders, the legend of Sati, and why different texts count 4, 18, 51, 52 or 108.
- 51 seats of the Goddess
- 18 Maha Shakti Peethas
- 6 countries in the lists
- Navratri from 7 Apr 2027
What are the 51 Shakti Peeths?
The 51 Shakti Peeths are shrines of the Goddess where, by tradition, parts or ornaments of Sati fell after Vishnu’s Sudarshan Chakra divided her body to end Shiva’s grief. Each has its Devi and a guardian Bhairava. The best-known list of 51 comes from the Pithanirnaya; other texts count 4, 18, 52 or 108. See the full list.
Most peethas are in India, but the lists follow the old map of the subcontinent — there are seven in Bangladesh, several in Nepal, two in Pakistan and one each in Tibet and Sri Lanka. In South India the same shrines are often called Shakti Peetha or Shakthi Peetham.
Three of the peethas are in Himachal — Naina Devi, Jwala Ji and Kangra Devi — and Suzu Travels is based in Bilaspur, Naina Devi’s own district. Start with the legend, then the list.
The story of the Shakti Peeths
It begins with a father’s pride and ends with the Goddess present all across the land.
- Daksha's sacrificeDaksha held a great yajna and invited every god — except his daughter Sati and her husband Shiva.
- Sati's choiceSati went anyway, was humiliated before the gathering, and gave up her body. The texts tell it differently: by fire, by yogic power, or through a shadow form in the Mahabhagavata.
- Shiva's griefFrom Shiva’s grief and anger came Virabhadra, who wrecked the sacrifice; Daksha was later restored with a goat’s head. Shiva then wandered the worlds carrying Sati.
- The Peethas ariseTo end his grief, Vishnu’s Sudarshan Chakra divided her body. Wherever a part or an ornament fell, a Shakti Peeth arose.
It is believed that at every peetha the Devi is worshipped in her own form, and Shiva stands guard as a Bhairava — so many pilgrims visit both shrines.
This is a sacred tradition, retold here in our own words from the Shiva Purana, Devi Bhagavata and Kalika Purana retellings — not a historical record.
51 Shakti Peeth list: names, places and body parts
This table brings together the Indian peethas named in the 51 list (the Pithanirnaya, as compiled on Wikipedia), the 18 Maha Peethas and the four Adi Peethas — so it has more than 51 rows. The body part in each row is as per tradition, from one widely used list; other lists name different places or parts, and we note the best-known variants.
Showing 54 of 54
| # | Peetha (Devi) | Place & state | Body part or ornament (as per tradition) | Named in |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kamakhya | Guwahati Assam |
Yoni | Adi · 18 · 51 |
| 2 | Kalighat | Kolkata West Bengal |
Right toes | Adi · 51 |
| 3 | Vimala | Puri Odisha |
Feet | Adi |
| 4 | Tara Tarini | Brahmapur Odisha |
Breast | Adi |
| 5 | Biraja (Girija) | Jajpur Odisha |
Navel | 18 · 51 |
| 6 | Vishalakshi | Varanasi Uttar Pradesh |
Earring | 18 · 51 · first in the 108 |
| 7 | Alopi Devi (Madhaveshwari) | Prayagraj Uttar Pradesh |
Finger | 18 |
| 8 | Katyayani | Vrindavan Uttar Pradesh |
Ringlets of hair | Compiled lists |
| 9 | Jwalamukhi (Jwala Ji) | Kangra Himachal Pradesh |
Tongue | 18 · 51 |
| 10 | Bajreshwari (Kangra Devi) | Kangra Himachal Pradesh |
Left breast | Compiled lists |
| 11 | Naina Devi | Bilaspur Himachal Pradesh |
Eyes (some lists: the right eye) | Compiled lists |
| 12 | Chintpurni (Chhinnamastika) | Una Himachal Pradesh |
Disputed: foot in the tables, forehead in popular belief | Compiled lists |
| 13 | Devi Talab Mandir | Jalandhar Punjab |
Left breast (another tradition — Kangra claims the same) | Compiled lists |
| 14 | Bhadrakali | Kurukshetra (Thanesar) Haryana |
Ankle | Compiled lists |
| 15 | Mahamaya, Amarnath cave | Kashmir Jammu & Kashmir |
Throat (in some lists) | Compiled lists |
| 16 | Panchsagar | Champawat Uttarakhand |
Lower teeth or navel (lists differ) | Compiled lists |
| 17 | Manibandh | Pushkar Rajasthan |
Wrists | Compiled lists |
| 18 | Ambika | Bharatpur area Rajasthan |
Toes of the left foot | Compiled lists |
| 19 | Ambaji | Banaskantha Gujarat |
Heart | Compiled lists |
| 20 | Prabhas | Near Somnath, Gir Somnath Gujarat |
Stomach | Compiled lists |
| 21 | Harsiddhi (Avanti) | Ujjain Madhya Pradesh |
Elbow | 51 (Ujjain is also the 18-list seat of Mahakali — identification disputed) |
| 22 | Sharada (Maihar Devi) | Maihar Madhya Pradesh |
Necklace | Compiled lists |
| 23 | Narmada (Shon) | Amarkantak Madhya Pradesh |
Right buttock | Compiled lists |
| 24 | Danteshwari | Dantewada Chhattisgarh |
Tooth | Compiled lists |
| 25 | Jaya Durga | Deoghar (Baidyanath Dham) Jharkhand |
Heart | Compiled lists |
| 26 | Ugratara | Saharsa Bihar |
Left eye | Compiled lists |
| 27 | Mangala Gauri | Gaya Bihar |
— | 18 |
| 28 | Attahas | West Bengal | Lips | Compiled lists |
| 29 | Bahula | West Bengal | Left arm | Compiled lists |
| 30 | Bakreshwar | West Bengal | Between the eyebrows | Compiled lists |
| 31 | Kankalitala | West Bengal | Waist | Compiled lists |
| 32 | Kiriteswari | West Bengal | Crown | Compiled lists |
| 33 | Nandikeshwari | West Bengal | Necklace | Compiled lists |
| 34 | Nalhateswari | West Bengal | Stomach | Compiled lists |
| 35 | Tarapith | West Bengal | Third eye (some lists call it a siddha peetha) | Compiled lists |
| 36 | Ujaani | West Bengal | Right wrist | Compiled lists |
| 37 | Vibhash | West Bengal | Left ankle | Compiled lists |
| 38 | Bhramari | West Bengal | Left leg | Compiled lists |
| 39 | Ratnavali | West Bengal | Right shoulder | Compiled lists |
| 40 | Jogadya | West Bengal | Big toe | Compiled lists |
| 41 | Shrinkhala | Pandua West Bengal |
— | 18 |
| 42 | Jayanti | Nartiang Meghalaya |
Left thigh | Compiled lists |
| 43 | Tripura Sundari | Udaipur Tripura |
Right foot | Compiled lists |
| 44 | Saptashrungi | Nashik Maharashtra |
Chin | Compiled lists |
| 45 | Mahalakshmi | Kolhapur Maharashtra |
Eyes | 18 |
| 46 | Renuka (Ekaveera) | Mahur Maharashtra |
— | 18 |
| 47 | Bhramaramba | Srisailam Andhra Pradesh |
Neck | 18 · 51 |
| 48 | Manikyamba | Draksharamam Andhra Pradesh |
— | 18 |
| 49 | Puruhutika | Pithapuram Andhra Pradesh |
— | 18 |
| 50 | Jogulamba | Alampur Telangana |
— | 18 |
| 51 | Kanyakumari (Bhagavathy) | Kanyakumari Tamil Nadu |
Back | Compiled lists |
| 52 | Narayani | Suchindram Tamil Nadu |
Upper teeth | Compiled lists |
| 53 | Kamakshi | Kanchipuram Tamil Nadu |
Navel or abdomen | 18 |
| 54 | Chamundeshwari | Mysuru Karnataka |
Hair | 18 (not in the 51) |
“Adi” = the four Adi Peethas · “18” = the Ashtadasha (18 Maha) list · “51” = the Pithanirnaya list · “Compiled lists” = rows from the compiled table of textual and local traditions. Bhairava names differ even more between lists, so we leave them out. Each live guide linked in the table has darshan timings and how to reach.
4, 18, 51, 52 or 108 — how many Shakti Peeths are there?
4 Adi Peethas
Kamakhya (Assam), Vimala (Puri), Kalighat (Kolkata) and Tara Tarini (Odisha) — the “first” four in Devi Bhagavata and Kalika Purana traditions.
18 Maha Peethas
The Ashtadasha Shakti Peetha Stotram (attributed to Adi Shankara) and the Kularnava Tantra.
51 Peethas
The Pithanirnaya (Mahapithanirupana), attributed to the Tantra Chudamani, and the Mahabhagavata Purana. The number is often linked to the 51 letters of the Sanskrit alphabet.
52 Peethas
A Bengal variant; the scholar D.C. Sircar put the extra one down to confusion in copying the lists.
64 and 108
The Brahmanda Purana is said to give 64; the Devi Bhagavata and Matsya Puranas give 108 seats, with Vishalakshi of Varanasi named first.
And others
The Kalika Purana names 7 and the Kubjika Tantra 42. Compiled tables of all these traditions run to about 70 places.
So there is no single “correct” list. When someone says “51 Shakti Peeth”, they usually mean the Pithanirnaya list — but even its compiled tables disagree on some places, body parts and Bhairava names. We print one widely used list and say where traditions differ.
The 18 Maha Shakti Peethas list
The Ashtadasha Shakti Peetha Stotram — a short Sanskrit hymn traditionally attributed to Adi Shankaracharya (the attribution is not certain) — names 18 seats of the Goddess, from Lanka in the south to Kashmir in the north. The Kularnava Tantra also counts eighteen. In the South these are the Ashtadasha (Astadasa) Shakthi Peethas, and many families try to visit all of them over the years.
| # | Devi | Place |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Shankari | Trincomalee, Sri Lanka (identification uncertain) |
| 2 | Kamakshi | Kanchipuram, Tamil Nadu |
| 3 | Shrinkhala | Pandua, West Bengal |
| 4 | Chamundeshwari | Mysuru, Karnataka |
| 5 | Jogulamba | Alampur, Telangana |
| 6 | Bhramaramba | Srisailam, Andhra Pradesh |
| 7 | Mahalakshmi | Kolhapur, Maharashtra |
| 8 | Ekaveera (Renuka) | Mahur, Maharashtra |
| 9 | Mahakali | Ujjain, Madhya Pradesh |
| 10 | Puruhutika | Pithapuram, Andhra Pradesh |
| 11 | Girija (Biraja) | Jajpur, Odisha |
| 12 | Manikyamba | Draksharamam, Andhra Pradesh |
| 13 | Kamarupa (Kamakhya) | Guwahati, Assam |
| 14 | Madhaveshwari (Alopi Devi) | Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh |
| 15 | Jwalamukhi | Kangra, Himachal Pradesh |
| 16 | Mangala Gauri | Gaya, Bihar |
| 17 | Vishalakshi | Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh |
| 18 | Sharada (Saraswati) | Kashmir — the Sharada Peeth ruins, Pakistan-administered Kashmir |
Order as in the stotram. Fifteen of the eighteen are in India, with four in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana alone.
Shakti Peeths outside India
The peethas follow the old map of the subcontinent, not today’s borders. By the Pithanirnaya-based lists:
Bangladesh
Seven peethas — the largest group outside India.
Nepal
Several peethas are in Nepal.
Pakistan
Hinglaj in Balochistan, and the ruins of Sharada Peeth near the Line of Control in Pakistan-administered Kashmir (the latter is in the 18 list).
Tibet
Manasa, near Lake Mansarovar.
Sri Lanka
Shankari at Trincomalee, first in the 18 list — though its identification is recent and uncertain.
Bhutan
One peetha in some lists.
Famous Devi temples that are not in the 51
Many of India’s most loved Devi temples are not in the classical 51 lists. That takes nothing away from their sanctity — they belong to other traditions, such as the broader 64 and 108 counts or a regional circuit:
- Vaishno Devi (Jammu & Kashmir) — counted in the 64/108 traditions; which part of Sati is linked to it is contested.
- Chamunda Devi (Kangra) — one of Himachal’s local five Shakti temples, not a classical peetha.
- Mansa Devi (Panchkula) — the shrine board speaks of Sati’s forehead, but it is not in the standard tables.
- Meenakshi Amman (Madurai) — not in the classical lists.
- Baglamukhi (Kangra) — a Mahavidya siddha peetha rather than one of the 51.
Local traditions add others too, such as Tuljabhavani and Pavagadh.
The Shakti Peeths of Himachal Pradesh
Three Himachal temples are named in the Shakti Peeth tables — Naina Devi in Bilaspur (the eyes), Jwala Ji (the tongue) and Kangra’s Bajreshwari Devi (the left breast) — and Chintpurni in Una is counted in some lists. With Chamunda they form the five Shakti Peeths of Himachal, an easy loop of a few days.
Naina Devi is in our own home district of Bilaspur. Suzu Travels plans this loop all year, and the longer Nau Devi yatra to Vaishno Devi.
Navratri and festival dates at the Shakti Peeths
| What | Date | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Chaitra Navratri 2027 | From 7 Apr 2027 | Every peetha is at its busiest |
| Sharad Navratri 2026 | 11–19 Oct 2026 (held) | Vijayadashami was on 20 Oct |
| Ambubachi Mela, Kamakhya | 2026: 23–25 Jun · 2027: not announced yet | Kamakhya closes for about three days in June — not in Navratri |
Visiting a Shakti Peeth: what pilgrims should know
- Visit the Bhairava tooTradition says Shiva guards every peetha as a Bhairava, and many pilgrims visit his shrine to complete the darshan.
- Check timings locallyEach temple sets its own hours and aarti times, and they change on festivals. Our temple guides list what is published; otherwise confirm with the temple.
- Plan around NavratriQueues at every Devi temple are longest in Chaitra and Sharad Navratri — go early in the day or pick the days just before.
- Kamakhya and AmbubachiKamakhya closes for about three days in June for Ambubachi; time an Assam trip around it.
- Respect local customsModest clothes, shoes off at the gate, and follow each shrine’s photography rules.
Plan a Shakti Peeth yatra with Suzu
Tell us which peethas you want to visit — the five of Himachal, the Nau Devi route or a wider Devi yatra — and we will plan the cars, stays and timings around Navratri crowds. Price: Get Quote.
Questions pilgrims ask
What are the 51 Shakti Peeths?
Shrines where, by tradition, parts or ornaments of Sati fell when Vishnu’s Sudarshan Chakra divided her body. Each peetha has its own Devi and a guardian Bhairava.
Are there 51 or 52 Shakti Peeths?
51 is the most quoted count, from the Pithanirnaya. 52 is a Bengal variant — the scholar D.C. Sircar explained it as a copying confusion — and other texts give 4, 18, 64 or 108.
Which are the 18 Maha Shakti Peethas?
The seats named in the Ashtadasha Shakti Peetha Stotram, from Shankari (Sri Lanka) and Kamakshi (Kanchipuram) to Kamakhya, Jwalamukhi, Vishalakshi and Sharada in Kashmir. The full list of 18 is on this page.
Which Shakti Peeths are in Himachal Pradesh?
Naina Devi (Bilaspur), Jwalamukhi and Bajreshwari (Kangra Devi) are in the tables; Chintpurni is counted in some lists. Chamunda belongs to Himachal’s local five-temple circuit.
Is Vaishno Devi in the 51 Shakti Peeth list?
No. Vaishno Devi is not in the classical 51 lists; it is counted in the broader 64 and 108 traditions.
Which Shakti Peeths are outside India?
Hinglaj and Sharada Peeth (Pakistan), seven in Bangladesh, several in Nepal, Manasa near Lake Mansarovar (Tibet) and Shankari at Trincomalee (Sri Lanka), whose identification is uncertain.
Which is the most important Shakti Peeth?
Traditions differ. Kamakhya in Assam is one of the four Adi Peethas and is especially revered in Tantric practice.
Why is a Bhairava worshipped at each Shakti Peeth?
Tradition holds that Shiva guards every peetha as a Bhairava. Pilgrims often visit his shrine as well to complete the darshan.
Keep exploring
Yatras & circuits
Seasonal yatras
Temple guides
Planning guides
Sources
- Shri Naina Devi Ji temple trust
- HP Kangra district — Shri Jawalamukhi Mata temple
- Kangra temples (HP government)
- Maa Kamakhya Devalaya
- Mata Shri Chintpurni — history and mythology
- Mata Mansa Devi Shrine Board
- Wikipedia — Shakta pithas (lists, counts and tables)
- Wikipedia — Vaishno Devi Temple
Legends are retold in our own words as traditions. Animations are original artwork by Suzu Travels.
