shakti peethas in andhra pradesh

shakti peethas of andhra pradesh

out of 18 Shaktipeethas there are 4 in AP

Jai Matadi

Lankayam Shankari devi, Kamakshi Kanchika pure /Pradyumne Shrinkhala devi, Chamunda Krouncha pattane // Alampure Jogulamba,

Sri shaile Bhramarambika /Kolha pure Maha lakshmi, Mahurye Ekaveerika //
Ujjainyam Maha kali, Peethikayam Puruhutika /Odhyane Girija devi, Manikya Daksha vatike //
Hari kshetre Kama rupi, Prayage Madhaveshwari /Jwalayam Vaishnavi devi, Gaya Mangalya gourika //
Varanasyam Vishalakshi, Kashmire tu Saraswati /
Ashtadasha Shakti peethani, Yoginamapi durlabham //

Sayamkale pathennityam, Sarva shatri vinashanam /
Sarva roga haram divyam, Sarva sampatkaram shubham //

The background of the story is like this: There was a great king called Daksha Prajapati who was son of Lord Brahma. He had 27 daughters and Sati devi is one among them. Sati devi got married to Lord Shiva. When Dashka entered the arena of a yaga performed by Agni, every one except Lord Shiva stood up as a mark of respect. Daksha felt insulted by Lord Shiva's behaviour. Later when Daksha conducted a yaga him self , he did not invite his daughter and his son in law.Though Sati felt bad because of the non invitation, she wanted to attend the yaga against the wish of Lord Shiva.When Sati, attended the yaga no body has cared for her and she felt insulted by the actions of her sisters and parents. Then when her father started abusing her husband she could not control her feelings and sacrified herself at the place of yagna by creating agni from earth with her right thumb of her foot.Knowing this Lord Shiva removed one bunch of Jhatha from his head and hit it on the earth. From that Lord Veerabhadra has born and rushed to yaga spot and killed Daksha by cutting his head. Later Shiva went to the spot and taken the body of sati from the fire and started dancing with it. The world was terrorized from this Tandava Nritya and to stop this Nritya, Vishnu used his Sudarshan chakra and completely cut the Sati's body in to pieces. These body parts have fallen at various places in India and Srilanka. Where ever these parts have fallen the places are called Shaktipeethas. There are 18 such places and they are called Ashta ( 8) Dasa (10 ) Shaktipeethas

But some people say there are 51 shakti peethas and some say there are 108 shakti peethas. But this blog is designed based on the above shloka of Adi shankaracharya.
Out of the above 18 shakti peethas only the shakti peethas in AP are given below.

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Goddess Jogulamba

1)Alampure Jogulamba :The temple is 24 Km from Kurnool in Andhra pradesh.Old temple of Jogulamba was destroyed by Bahamani sultans in the 14th century. The idols of Jogulamba and her two shaktis Chandi, Mundi were protected from them and placed in Bala brahmeswara swamy temple untill 2005. Now, a new temple was constructed in the same place and the godess was shifted in to it. New temple of Jogulamba is very much beautiful to see with a nice granite flooring. It is surrounded by a water pool. Villagers of Alampur tell an interesting reason for it: "Jogulamba is an Ugra rupa (highly energetic and hard to worship) and this water pool makes the atmosphere cool so that we can easily worship her".Idol of Jogulamba is typical. She is in sitting position. She has huge amount of hair with lizard, scorpion, bat and a human scull in it. Idols of Saptamatrikas, Vighneswara and Veenapani veerabhadra are also present in the temple. Original Chandi Mundi idols were left in Bala brahmeswara swamy temple and new idols are made and placed in Jogulamba temple. Alampur is called as "City of Temples". All of them are very old and famous for their sculpture. The entire temple campus was built on the bank of river Tungabhadra. Out of them, temples of Nava brahmas and the temple of Kanchi kamakshi are most important.

Body part : Devi's upper teeth row has fallen here.

Near by Places: Srisailam Jyotirlinga is 214 Km from Alampur.

Goddess Bhramarambhika

2) Sri shaile Bhramarambika : It is in Andhra Pradesh and it is well connected by road than train. One can go by bus or taxi to Srisailam from Hyderabad. The distance is nearly 232 Km .Nearest railway stations are Vinukonda(120Km), Markapur(85Km) and Kurnool(190Km). Markapur is in Guntur -Hubli route. It is said that Adi Shankaracharya has visited this temple and composed Sivananda Lahari here. The goddess is Bhramarambika Devi and the main deity is called Lord Mallikarjuna.

Body part :Devi's neck part has fallen here.

Nearest places: The famous Srisailam dam which is 512M length and 270M height and it is a major hydro power station of Andhra Pradesh. Alampur Jogulamba temple is 24 Km from Kurnool. It is one of the 18 shaktipeethas.
Airport : Hyderabad
Stay: Accommodation is available easily like Hotels /dharma salas

Puruhutika Devi (AP)

3) Peethikayam Puruhutika : It is in Pithapurem in East Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh.The temple of Puruhutika devi is located within the temple campus of Kukkuteswara swamy. Kukkuteswara swamy temple is present in the outskirts of the Pithapuram village towards Kakinada. It is a big temple. Just entering in to the temple we will see a pond which is called as Padagaya sarovaram (Pada Gaya Sarovar). Pilgrims will take holy bath in this pond. Main temple of Kukkuteswara swamy is present towards the right side of the pond. Puruhutika devi temple is present in the North-East corner of the Kukkuteswara swamy temple. It is constructed facing South. Puruhutha temple is small but looks very nice with the carvings of Ashtadasa Shakti peethas on it's walls.The idol of Puruhuthika devi has four hands. They contain bag of seeds (Beeja), axe (Parashu), lotus (Kamala) and a dish (Madhu patra) from lower-right to lower-left in order.Previously there were two sects of Upasakas in Pithapuram worshiping Puruhootika devi. The first one calling her as Puruhootha Lakshmi (Meditating on Kamala and Madhu patra) and worshiping in Samayachara and the second one calling her Puruhoothamba (Meditating on Parashu and Beeja) and worshiping in Vamachara. There is also a tale that the original statue of Puruhutika devi was buried under the temple which was worshiped by them. Pithapuram has many important temples: 1). Kukkuteswara swamy temple: It is the main temple in Pithapuram.2). Hunkruthi Durga / Humkruthi Durga: Also called as Humkarini Durga. She is present in the Garbha griha of Kukkuteswara swami towards the left.3). Rajarajeswari: She is the Deveri (wife) of Kukkuteswara swamy. Also present in the same campus.4). Sripada Srivallabha Dattatreya: This temple of Lord Dattatreya is present in the South-West corner of the temple.5). Kunthi madhava: This is an old temple of Lord Sri Krishna located in Pithapuram village.

Body part :Devi's left hand has fallen here.

Mnnikyambha,Draksharamam

4) Manikya Daksha vatike : Drakasharama is located in East Godavari district near Kakinada. Rajahmundry is the nearest airport. Draksharama constitues one of the five Arama kshetras of Andhra Pradesh, sacred to Shiva, the other four being Kumararama, Ksheerarama and Bheemarama and Amararama. Draksharama, Sree Sailam and Kaleshwar together constitute the three sacred Shivalingams of Andhra Pradesh, giving it its ancient name Trilinga Desh. Draksharama is one of the important centers of Shiva worship in Andhra Pradesh.Several legends tie together the five Pancharama temples dedicated to Shiva. Legend also has it that Vyasa installed the Shivalingam at Draksharama. Legend also has it that Draksharama was the site of Daksha yagna. Since it is believed that Sati immolated herself at the site of her father's sacrificial hall, no sacrificial yagna rituals are performed here.The Bhimeswara temple at Draksharama has two prakarams. The outer prakaram is pierced with four entrances each with a gopuram. The gopuram on the west is a five tiered one. The entrance to the inner prakaram is on the south. A pillared two storeyed verandah lines the inner prakaram (tiruchutrumaaligai in the ancient temples of Tamilnadu). The sculptural work in the mukha mandapam depicts clear Chalukyan features.There are shrines to Lakshmi Narayana, Sankaranarayana, Ganapati and the Navagrahas.The sanctum is two storeyed. The walls surrounding both levels are beautified with sculptural work. Two flights of stairs lead to the upper level of the sanctum. Bhimeswara is enshrined in the form of a ten feet high Shivalingam in the sanctum. Shiva's consort here is Manikyamba.Mahashivaratri and Navaratri are some of the festivals celebrated heHistory: This temple was built by the Eastern Chalukyan King of Vengi - Bhima, during very troubled times (9th -10th centuries), when his kingdom was under attack by the Rashtrakootas. Inscriptions reveal that he had to fight as many as 360 battles. Chalukya Bhima also built the Chalukya Bhimeswaram temple at Samalkota nearby. The Draksharamam temple contains as many as 400 inscriptions going back to the 11th century. These inscriptions can be traced back to the Eastern and the Western Chalukyas as well as the Cholas and Kalinga rulers.How to reachAir : The nearest airport to Draskharamam is in Vijayawada and the distance is 185 km .

Rail :The nearest rail head is at Kakinada at a distance of 17 km.

Road : One can easily reach Draskharam by bus from Kakinada or Rajahmundry.

Body part : Devi's left cheek has fallen here.

other blogs of the other
http://12jyothirlingas.blogspot.com/2011/11/dwadasa-jyothirlingas.html