The 18 Shakti Peethas: A Pilgrim's Guide Through the Ashtadasha Stotram

Just as Shiva devotees remember the twelve Jyotirlingas in four short verses, devotees of the Divine Mother remember her eighteen great seats in a single hymn. The Ashtadasha Shakti Peetha Stotram names eighteen shrines of the Goddess, from Sri Lanka to Kashmir and from Maharashtra to Assam. For Telugu devotees it holds a special joy: four of the eighteen stand in the Telugu lands. This guide follows the hymn: the story behind the Shakti Peethas, the verse itself, each of the eighteen seats, and how pilgrims from Andhra Pradesh and Telangana can begin close to home.

The story of the Shakti Peethas

The Shakti Peethas grow out of one of the most moving stories of the Puranas. Daksha Prajapati held a great sacrifice and invited every god except his son-in-law, Lord Shiva. His daughter Sati, Shiva's wife, went to the sacrifice uninvited, and when she heard her father insult her husband, she gave up her body in the sacred fire. Overwhelmed with grief, Shiva lifted her body and wandered across the worlds. To bring the universe back to balance, the body of Sati was divided, and wherever a part of it fell, the Goddess came to dwell. Each such place is a Shakti Peetha – a "seat of power" of the Mother – where she is worshipped together with a form of Shiva as her guardian.

Different texts count the Shakti Peethas differently: some speak of four primary seats, others of fifty-one or fifty-two, and some of one hundred and eight. The eighteen named in this hymn are honoured as the Ashtadasha Maha Shakti Peethas, the eighteen great seats. Traditions also differ on which part of Sati's body fell at each place, so this guide does not list them; each temple keeps its own account.

The hymn of the eighteen seats

The Ashtadasha Shakti Peetha Stotram is traditionally attributed to Adi Shankaracharya:

लङ्कायां शाङ्करी देवी कामाक्षी काञ्चिकापुरे ।
प्रद्युम्ने शृङ्खलादेवी चामुण्डी क्रौञ्चपट्टणे ॥
अलम्पुरे जोगुलाम्बा श्रीशैले भ्रमराम्बिका ।
कोल्हापुरे महालक्ष्मी माहूर्ये एकवीरिका ॥
उज्जयिन्यां महाकाली पीठिक्यां पुरुहूतिका ।
ओढ्यायां गिरिजादेवी माणिक्या दक्षवाटके ॥
हरिक्षेत्रे कामरूपा प्रयागे माधवेश्वरी ।
ज्वालायां वैष्णवी देवी गया माङ्गल्यगौरिका ॥
वारणस्यां विशालाक्षी काश्मीरेषु सरस्वती ।
अष्टादश सुपीठानि योगिनामपि दुर्लभम् ॥

లంకాయాం శాంకరీ దేవీ కామాక్షీ కాంచికాపురే ।
ప్రద్యుమ్నే శృంఖలాదేవీ చాముండీ క్రౌంచపట్టణే ॥
అలంపురే జోగులాంబా శ్రీశైలే భ్రమరాంబికా ।
కొల్హాపురే మహాలక్ష్మీ మాహుర్యే ఏకవీరికా ॥
ఉజ్జయిన్యాం మహాకాళీ పీఠిక్యాం పురుహూతికా ।
ఓఢ్యాయాం గిరిజాదేవీ మాణిక్యా దక్షవాటకే ॥
హరిక్షేత్రే కామరూపా ప్రయాగే మాధవేశ్వరీ ।
జ్వాలాయాం వైష్ణవీ దేవీ గయా మాంగళ్యగౌరికా ॥
వారణస్యాం విశాలాక్షీ కాశ్మీరేషు సరస్వతీ ।
అష్టాదశ సుపీఠాని యోగినామపి దుర్లభమ్ ॥

"Shankari in Lanka, Kamakshi in Kanchipuram, Shrinkhala Devi at Pradyumna, Chamundi at Kraunchapattana; Jogulamba at Alampur, Bhramarambika at Srishaila, Mahalakshmi at Kolhapur, Ekaveerika at Mahur; Mahakali in Ujjayini, Puruhutika at Pithika, Girija Devi at Odhya, Manikya at Dakshavataka; Kamarupa at Harikshetra, Madhaveshwari at Prayaga, Vaishnavi Devi at Jwala, Mangalya Gaurika at Gaya; Vishalakshi in Varanasi and Saraswati in Kashmir – these eighteen sacred seats are hard to reach even for yogis."

— Ashtadasha Shakti Peetha Stotram

The hymn closes with a verse recommending its recitation every evening.

The eighteen, in the order of the hymn

1. Shankari, Lanka – the seat in Sri Lanka. Its exact location is uncertain; some traditions associate it with Trincomalee.
2. Kamakshi, Kanchipuram, Tamil Nadu – one of the great Goddess temples of the South; see our page on the Kamakshi Amman Temple.
3. Shrinkhala Devi, Pradyumna – traditionally placed in Bengal; its identification is uncertain.
4. Chamundeshwari, Krauncha-pattana – identified with Mysuru, Karnataka; see our page on the Chamundeshwari Temple, Chamundi Hills.
5. Jogulamba, Alampur, Telangana – the only Shakti Peetha in Telangana, beside the Tungabhadra; see the Sri Jogulamba Temple and our heritage article on Alampur's Nava Brahma temples.
6. Bhramarambika, Srisailam, Andhra Pradesh – where the Goddess dwells beside the Jyotirlinga of Mallikarjuna; see Srisailam.
7. Mahalakshmi, Kolhapur, Maharashtra – the great temple of Ambabai.
8. Ekaveerika, Mahur, Maharashtra – in the hills of Nanded district, where the Goddess is worshipped as Renuka.
9. Mahakali, Ujjain, Madhya Pradesh – in the city of the Mahakaleshwar Jyotirlinga.
10. Puruhutika, Pithapuram, Andhra Pradesh – within the Kukkuteswara Swamy temple at Pithapuram, also honoured as Pada Gaya.
11. Girija Devi, Odhya – identified with Jajpur in Odisha, where she is worshipped as Biraja.
12. Manikyamba, Dakshavataka – Draksharamam, Andhra Pradesh, the "garden of Daksha" itself; see Sri Bhimeswara Swamy Temple, Draksharamam.
13. Kamarupa, Harikshetra – identified with Kamakhya in Assam.
14. Madhaveshwari, Prayaga – at Prayagraj, the confluence of the Ganga and Yamuna.
15. Vaishnavi, Jwala – identified with Jwalamukhi in Himachal Pradesh, where the Goddess is worshipped as natural flames.
16. Mangala Gauri, Gaya, Bihar.
17. Vishalakshi, Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh – in Kashi, near the Vishwanath Jyotirlinga; see our Kashi Vishwanath page.
18. Saraswati, Kashmir – the ancient Sharada Peetha, whose historic site now lies in ruins near the Line of Control and is largely inaccessible.

Four seats in the Telugu lands

Telugu devotees can visit four of the eighteen without leaving Andhra Pradesh and Telangana:

• Alampur (Jogulamba), near Kurnool, and Srisailam (Bhramaramba), in the Nallamala hills, are often visited on the same journey; tradition honours Alampur as the western gateway of Srisailam.
• Draksharamam (Manikyamba) and Pithapuram (Puruhutika) in the Godavari region are only about 48 km apart by road and make a natural pair. Draksharamam is also one of the five Pancharamas, so this pair fits well with our Pancharama yatra route guide.

Dasara Navaratri, when the Goddess is adorned in special alankarams, is the great season at all four; see our article on the nine forms of Durga and our Dasara / Devi Navaratri page.

Planning the wider pilgrimage

As with the Jyotirlingas, few pilgrims visit all eighteen in one journey. Several of the Goddess's seats lie in the same towns as Jyotirlingas – Srisailam, Ujjain and Varanasi – and many pilgrims combine the two pilgrimages; see our guide to the 12 Jyotirlingas. Two of the eighteen, Lanka and Kashmir, have uncertain or inaccessible sites, and devotees honour them through the hymn itself. Please check each temple's timings and arrangements before you travel, especially during Navaratri.

A closing thought

The story of the Shakti Peethas begins in grief: a Goddess who gave up her body, and a Lord who could not let her go. But it ends in presence. Wherever she fell, she stayed, and the land itself became her seat. To recite the eighteen names at dusk is to remember that the Mother is not far away in one heaven, but rooted in many places across the land – four of them within a day's journey of most Telugu homes.