Katyayani Shakti Peeth (Vrindavan)

The story

According to the Shakti Peeth tradition, after King Daksha's yagya Shiv ji wandered in grief carrying the body of Devi Sati. Vishnu ji's Sudarshan chakra then divided the body, and wherever a part or an ornament fell, a Shakti Peeth arose. Her locks of hair are believed to have fallen at Vrindavan. The tenth canto of the Shrimad Bhagavat tells that the young gopis of Braj kept a vrat to Katyayani Devi for the whole month of Margashirsha (Agahan). Every morning they bathed in the Yamuna, shaped an image of the Devi from the earth of the riverbank and worshipped her with flowers, incense and lamps, praying that Shri Krishna, son of Nand baba, would become their husband. Devotees believe this Katyayani Peeth is the place of their worship, and one belief says Radha Rani too worshipped Maa Katyayani here. Over time the old peeth was forgotten. Swami Keshavanand Brahmachari, a yogi and disciple of Shri Shyamacharan Lahiri, is said to have restored it at the Devi's bidding after long sadhana in the Himalayas, and the temple was consecrated on Magh Purnima, 1 February 1923.