Shakra
An epithet of the god Indra. See Indra.
Shakta
Worshiper of the Goddessin any of her
myriad forms. The name itself is
derived from shakti, the divine femi-
nine “power” that gives the Goddess
her vitality. Among the most famous
forms of the Goddess are Durgaand
Kali, who are both powerful and dan-
gerous goddesses. Aside from these,
there are a host of other goddesses,
who are often the presiding deitiesof a
particular place. See also Lakshmi,
Nirriti, Parvati, Prithvi, Sati, Shiwalik
goddesses, and Ushas.
Shakti
(“power”) In Hindu iconography, the
name of the spear carried by the god
Skanda. The spear’s head is shaped
either like a leaf or a diamond, and it is
fitted with a wooden shaft.
Shakti
(2) Epithet of the Goddess. Shakti
is believed to be a divine feminine
power that is present in each person
as the kundalini. See also Goddess
and kundalini.
Shakti Pithas
(“benches” or “seats” of Shakti)
General term for a network of sites
connected with the worship of the
Mother Goddess. Although their num-
ber differs from source to source—
some list fifty-one, and others 108—in
both cases the sites are spread
throughout the subcontinent, from
Baluchistan (in modern Pakistan) to
Assamto the deep south. According to
the charter myth, each of these places
marks the site where a body part of the
dismembered goddess Sati fell to
earth, taking form as a different god-
dess in each place. This myth provides
a way to connect the myriad local
Hindu goddesses by conceiving them
as differing manifestations of a single
primordial Goddess. It also connects
the subcontinent into a single concep-
tual unit, knit together by this network
of sites as the body is connected by its
members. One should also note that
different places may claim the same
body part in the drive to enhance the
religious prestige of any particular
site. As but one example, according to
most “official” lists Sati’s vulva, the
most powerfully charged part of the
female body, fell at the temple of
Kamakhya in Assam, but the same
claim is made at Kalimath in the
Himalayas. Suffice it to say that there
is no single authoritative list of sites,
and competing claims are not unusu-
al. See also pitha.Shakumbhari Devi
Presiding deityof the Shakumbhari Devi
temple in the district of Saharanpur in
Uttar Pradesh, and one of the nine
Shiwalik goddesses. This site is one of
the Shakti Pithas, a network of sites
sacred to the Goddess that spreads
throughout the subcontinent. Each
Shakti Pitha marks the site where a body
part of the dismembered goddess Sati
fell to earth, taking form there as a dif-
ferent goddess; in the case of Shakum-
bhari Devi, the body part is said to have
been Sati’s head. The temple is in a thin-
ly settled region, and the major time of
yearthat pilgrims come to visit is during
the Navaratrifestivals.
Although Hindiliterature identifies
Shakumbhari Devi as a form of Durga,
the site’s charter myth shows the nur-
turing capacities of the Goddess as
well as the warrior aspect more com-
monly associated with Durga.
According to the story, a demon
named Durgam gains the boon that he
cannot be conquered by any of the
gods. After subduing all the gods,
Durgam prevents the storm-god Indra
from sending rain to the earth for one
hundred years. Seeing the earth’s dis-
tress, the gods approach the Goddess
and beg for her help. The Goddess,Shakra