Temples of India: Shri Aadya Katyayani Shakti Peeth

The Shri Aadya Katyayani Shakti Peeth holds immense spiritual significance in Hinduism. It is considered to be one of the Shakti Peeths. This particular temple is dedicated to Goddess Katyayani, one of the nine forms of Goddess Durga.

Shakti Peethas are holy places of worship that are dedicated to Sati Mata or Goddess Shakti. According to Hindu mythology, these are the locations where parts of Goddess Sati fell on Earth when Lord Shiva, her husband carried her lifeless body and performed the ‘Rudra Tandava’ dance or the dance of destruction. However, to save the world, Lord Vishnu used the ‘Sudarshan Chakra’ to cut the body of Sati and each part fell into different parts of the Indian subcontinent which eventually came to be known as Shakti Peeth.

There are 51 Shakti Peeths scattered across the Indian subcontinent, each corresponding to a part of Sati’s body. These Shakti Peeths hold immense significance and each of these are pilgrimage destinations for devotees of Lord Shiva and Goddess Sati or Shakti.

According to Shree Adya Katyayani Shaktipeeth Mandir says that there was a Rishi named Katyayan who worshipped Durga Devi and asked her for a boon that she be born as his daughter. “Devi fulfilled the wish of the Rishi and was born as his daughter. In this Avtaar, she killed Mahishasur, the demon. She is depicted as golden-complexioned and carrying various weapons in her hands for the destruction of evil.

“Devotion to her makes a man free from all troubles and worries. It gives him wealth, satisfaction of desires, and finally moksha or liberation from the endless cycles of birth and death.”