Geographical list of Pīṭhas

[Note: this page is extracted from a footnote at chapter 44]

Geographically the list of Pīṭhas of the goddess is important. Some could not be traced and perhaps might be fictitious. These Pīṭhas are to be placed in the position of letters per mental Nyāsa. The Pīṭhas with their modern names are given where necessary on the authority of N.L. De’s Geographical Dictionary of Ancient and Mediaeval India. If old names are current they are retained as such but if a new name is substituted in the course of time the new name is given in Brackets.

The following are the Pīṭhas of the goddess;

1. Vārāṇasī, 2 Kāmarūpa (Assam), 3 Nepāl, 4 Pauṇḍravardhana (or Puṇḍra variously identified with Pāṇḍuā in Malda Dist. and with Birbhum, Santal Paraganas), 5 Varasthira (?), 6. Kānyakubja (Kanauj, u.p.), 7. Pūrṇaśaila (?), 8. Arbuda (mt. Abu), 9. Āmrātakeśvara (?), 10. Ekāmra (Bhubaneśvara, Orissa), 11. Trisrotas (Gaṅgā?), 12. Kāmākoṣṭha (Kāñcī: De doubts its identification with Kumbhakoṇam in Tamilnād), 13. Kailāsa. 14. Bhṛgunagara (Bharoach, Gujarat) 15. Kedāra?) 16. Candra, Puṣkara (Pushkar near Ajmer?), 17. Śrī-Pīṭha (Śrī-Śaila? Madhya Pradesh), 18. Ekavīra (?), 19. Jālandhara (Jalandhar, Punjab) 20. Mālava, 21. Kulānna (?), 22. Devīkoṭa (the same as Śoṇitapura or Tejapur Assam or probably the town on the Kāverī), 23. Gokarṇa, 24. Māruteśvara (?) 25. Aṭṭahāsa (Eastern Labhpur, Bīrbhum Dist., Satī’s lips fell here and the goddess is called Phullarā), 26. Virajā (the country round Jaipur in Orissa, also known as Gadā-Kṣetra), 27. Rājaveśman (?), 28. Mahāpatha (?), 29. Kolapur (Kolhapur), 30. Kailāpura (?), 31. Kāleśvara (?) 32. Jayantikā (Prāg. Jyotisa in Assam: If identified with Vaijayantika may be Banavari (N. Kanara Karnatak), 33. Ujjayinī (Madhya Pradesh), 34. Citrā (?), 35. Kṣīraka (Khiragrāma near Burdwan, Bengal, a Śakti Pīṭha) 36. Hastināpura, 37. Uḍīra (?), 38. Prayāga 39. Ṣaṣṭimāyāpura (near Bombay? 40. Gaurīśa (?), 41. Salaya (?). 42. Śrīśaila 43. Maṛu (Marvar), 44. Girivara (?), 45 Mahendra-Giri (Orissa, Paraśurāma’s abode) 46. Vāmanagiri (?), 47. Hiraṇyapura (near Jaipur Rajasthan), 48 Mahā-Lakṣmīpura (?), 49. Purodyāna (?) 60. Chāyākṣetra (Porbunder in Gujarat?)

This list is given in extense to show that (i) the author gives only 50 places instead of 51; (ii) the author sometimes gives the name of the country instead of a specific place, (iii) the author differs from the lists of Śakti Pīṭhas as given in the Devī Bhāgavata, uttarārdha vii. 30.54-84 where 108 Pīṭhas are enumerated. P.K. Desai’s Devī Kośa Vol. I, pp. 272- 293 gives two different lists of the Pīṭhas.