Shakti Peeths are the important shrines and pilgrimage destinations for the people following Hinduism or Hindu Religion. There are 51 Shakti Peeths in total but only 18 Shakti Peeths are known as the major ones according to the Hindu texts.
The story behind the creation of Shakti Peeths relates to the sacrifice of Goddess Sati by throwing herself into the fire of Yajna after her father King Daksha insulted her husband, Lord Shiva. Lord Shiva was furious and full of rage when Lord Vishnu had to cut the body of Goddess Sati into 51 parts. Each body part that fell on the earth became a sacred spot for the Hindus which were later known as Shakti Peeths.
Most of the Shakti Peeths are in India but seven Shakti Peeths are in Bangladesh, three are in Pakistan, three in Nepal, one in Tibet, and one in Sri Lanka. These sacred spots are mentioned in ancient and modern texts of Hindu Scriptures.
The main legend behind the creation of Shakti Peeths are:
Brahma has a son named Daksha who wanted Goddess Shakti as her daughter. After performing various yajnas, he was successful in getting Goddess Shakti as her daughter Sati who was destined to get married to Lord Shiva. But when Daksha knew that due to a curse by Lord Shiva to his father Brahma, his father's fifth head was cut off, Daksha started hating Lord Shiva and decided not to get Sati married to Lord Shiva. But Goddess Sati fell in love with Lord Shiva and they got married. This increased Daksha's hatred for Lord Shiva.
Daksha once performed a yajna to please all the gods and to take revenge on Lord Shiva. In the Yajna, Daksha invited all the gods and deities except Sati and Shiva. When Sati came to know about the Yajna, he requested Lord Shiva that she wanted to attend the yajna and Lord Shiva tried his best to stop Sati from going to the yajna and he failed.
When Goddess Sati reached the yajna, she wasn't properly welcomed by Daksha, and also Daksha also insulted her and her husband Lord Shiva. When he couldn't bear the insults of Lord Shiva, she cursed Daksha and self-immolated herself into the fire of Yajna.
When Lord Shiva came to know about the death of his spouse Sati, he raged and became furious. He took the form of his Virbhadra Avatar and went to Daksha's yajna and destroyed his whole yajna and his palace. He chopped off Daksha's head and killed him. But his rage and anger were unstoppable. Lord Shiva then picked up Sati's burnt corpse and started doing Tandava, the dance of destruction across the entire universe.
This dance of destruction scared the rest of the gods and they requested Lord Vishnu to help them stop Lord Shiva. Lord Vishnu used his Sudarshan Chakra to cut off Sati's corpse into 51 pieces and calmed Lord Shiva down. This made the pieces of the corpse fall in different parts of the world.
According to the greatest religious texts like the Shiva Purana, Devi Bhagavata, and Kalika Purana, the 4 major Shakti Peeths in the world is the Bimala Temple where Sati's foot fell, the Tara Tarini Temple where Sati's breasts fell, the Kamakhya Temple where Sati's genitals fell and the Dakshina Kali Temple where Sati's head fell.
The Bimala Temple is located inside the Jagannath Temple of Puri in Odisha. The Tara Tarini Temple is also located in Odisha, the Kamakhya Temple located in Guwahati Assam the Dakshina Kali temple is located in Kolkata West Bengal.
Apart from these 4 major Shakti Peethas, 48 other famous Shakti Peethas are mentioned in ancient religious texts. All the 51 Shakti Peethas are scattered all over the present-day countries like India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Nepal, Tibet, Pakistan, and Bhutan.
