The tradition of Shakti

Shakti

Shakti from Sanskrit shak - "to be able," meaning sacred force or empowerment, is the primordial cosmic energy and represents the dynamic forces that are thought to move through the entire universe in Hinduism. Shakti is the concept, or personification, of divine feminine creative power, sometimes...

 worship in India

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

 can be traced back to the period of antiquity. Shakti is the mother of Universe the highest primal power transferred to powerful Goddess representing the creative force, Matrika, later developed to Shakti or Prakriti under various names of Sati

Sati

Sati may refer to:*An alternative name for Hindu goddess Dakshayani, Shiva's first wife*Sati , an ancient Indian tradition of the immolation of a widow on her husband's funeral pyre, now illegal*Mindfulness...

 or Devi

Devi

Devī is the Sanskrit word for Goddess, used mostly in Hinduism, its related masculine term is deva. Devi is synonymous with Shakti, the female aspect of the divine, as conceptualized by the Shakta tradition of Hinduism. She is the female counterpart without whom the male aspect, which represents...

 (Durga

Durga

For the 1985 Hindi Film of Rajesh Khanna see DurgaaIn Hinduism, Durga ; ; meaning "the inaccessible" or "the invincible"; , durga) or Maa Durga "one who can redeem in situations of utmost distress" is a form of Devi, the supremely radiant goddess, depicted as having eighteen arms, riding a lion...

 / Parvati

Parvati

Parvati is a Hindu goddess. Parvati is Shakti, the wife of Shiva and the gentle aspect of Mahadevi, the Great Goddess...

) and depicted in Purana-etihasa and Tantra

Tantra

Tantra , anglicised tantricism or tantrism or tantram, is the name scholars give to an inter-religious spiritual movement that arose in medieval India, expressed in scriptures ....

 literature. Worship of Shakti , as a pan -Indian phenomenon , predates Sanskrit

Sanskrit

Sanskrit , is a historical Indo-Aryan language and the primary liturgical language of Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism.Buddhism: besides Pali, see Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Today, it is listed as one of the 22 scheduled languages of India and is an official language of the state of Uttarakhand...

 influences of every kind. There are a number of important Shakta centers in India Among those Orissa

Orissa

Orissa , officially Odisha since Nov 2011, is a state of India, located on the east coast of India, by the Bay of Bengal. It is the modern name of the ancient nation of Kalinga, which was invaded by the Maurya Emperor Ashoka in 261 BC. The modern state of Orissa was established on 1 April...

 has been considered to be one of the most important Shakti centre and Tara-Tarini at Kumari hills on the bank of River Rushikulya

Rushikulya

Rushikulya river is one of the major rivers of Orissa State , India. It meets the Bay of Bengal at Puruna Bandha, Chhatrapur block of Ganjam district.It originates from the Rushyamala hills of the Eastern Ghats in Phulbani in Kandhamal district. It is 165 km long with 8900 km2 of...

 near Purushottampur in Ganjam district

Ganjam District

Ganjam district is a district in the Indian state of Orissa located on the border of Andhra Pradesh. Ganjam's total area is 8,070 km² . Its population is approximately 2,704,056.Ganjam is known for its beaches bordering the Bay of Bengal, the most famous ones being Gopalpur and Dhavaleshwar...

 is one of the most ancient Shakti pitha

Pitha

Pitha , or pithe is a type of cake or bread common in Bangladesh and India, especially the eastern states of Assam, Orissa, West Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand, and the northeastern region. Pithas are typically made of rice flour, although there are some types of pitha made of wheat flour...

s of Orissa.