In Celebration Of Devi — Sarvam Shakti Mayam

या देवी सर्वभूतेषु शक्ति-रूपेण संस्थिता।

नमस्तस्यै नमस्तस्यै नमस्तस्यै नमो नमः॥

You would have heard and chanted this prayer countless times. Found in the ‘Durga Saptashati’, this Mantra has become popular with every devout Hindu.

In our ancient Sanatana tradition, we have always worshiped the Devi as the ultimate form of cosmic power. She manifests in different energies and Avatars that we celebrate.

I am not going into the story of the Daksha Yagna as everyone knows it. What we have are the primary eighteen places where the limbs of Sati fell. They are called ‘Shakti Peethas’.

A Stotra ascribed to Jagadguru Adi Shankara Bhagavatpadacharya celebrating them in the 8th century goes:

लङ्कायां शाङ्करीदेवी कामाक्षी काञ्चिकापुरे ।

प्रद्युम्ने शृङ्खलादेवी चामुण्डी क्रौञ्चपट्टणे ॥

अलम्पुरे जोगुलाम्बा श्रीशैले भ्रमराम्बिका ।

कॊल्हापुरे महालक्ष्मी मुहुर्ये एकवीरा ॥

उज्जयिन्यां महाकाली पीठिकायां पुरुहूतिका ।

ओढ्यायां गिरिजादेवी माणिक्या दक्षवाटिके ॥

हरिक्षेत्रे कामरूपी प्रयागे माधवेश्वरी ।

ज्वालायां वैष्णवीदेवी गया माङ्गल्यगौरिका ॥

वारणाश्यां विशालाक्षी काश्मीरेतु सरस्वती ।

अष्टादश सुपीठानि योगिनामपि दुर्लभम् ॥

सायङ्काले पठेन्नित्यं सर्वशत्रुविनाशनम् ।

सर्वरोगहरं दिव्यं सर्वसम्पत्करं शुभम् ॥

Lankayam Shankari Devi, Kamakshi Kanchikapure

Pradyumne Shrinkhaladevi Chamundi Kraunchapattane ||

Alampure Jogulamba, Srishaile Bhramarambika

Kolhapure Mahalakshmi, Mahurye Ekaveerika ||

Ujjainyam Mahakali, Peethikam Puruhutika

Odhyam Girijadevi, Manikya Dakshavatika ||

Harikshetre Kamarupa, Prayage Madhaveshwari

Jwalayam Vaishnavi Devi, Gaya Mangalyagaurika ||

Varanasi Vishalakshi, Kashmir Sarvaswati

Ashtadasha Shaktipeethani Yoginamapi Durlabham

sayankale pathe nityam, sarva shatru vinashanam

sarvarogaharam divyam sarvasampatkaram subham ||

Current Geographical Locations Of These Places Are:

(Part of the body fallen — Place Name of Shakthi)

1.Groin — Trincomalee (Srilanka) Sankari devi

2.Back Part — Kanchi (Tamilnadu) Kamakshi devi

3.Stomach part — Praddyumnam (Gujarat) Sri Shrinkala devi

4.Head hairs — Mysore (Karnataka) Chamundeswari devi

5.Upper jaw — Alampur (Andhra Pradesh) Jogulamba devi

6.Neck part — Srisailam (Andhra Pradesh) Bhramrambika devi

7.Eyes — Kholapur (Maharastra) Mahalakshmi devi

8.Right hand — Nanded (Maharastra) Ekavenika devi

9.Upper lip — Ujjain (Madya pradesh) Mahakali devi

10.Left hand — Pithapuram (Andhra) Puruhutika devi

11.Navel — Cuttack (Orissa) Girija devi

12.Left cheek — Draksharamam (Andhra) Manikyamba devi

13.Vulva — Gauhathi (Assam) Kamarupa devi

14.Fingers(hand) — Prayaga (Uttar Pradesh) Madhaveswari devi

15.Head part — Jwala (Himachal) Vaishnao devi

16.Breast part — Gaya (Bihar) Sarvamangala devi

17.Wrist — Varanasi (Uttar Pradesh) Vishalakshi devi

18.Right Hand — Kashmir Saraswathi devi

If you are fortunate to travel to all these places in your life time, you can have the darshan of Devi in various forms and worship her in all these places.

For those who are not yet in a situation to travel to all these holy places, technology has enabled you can have a view sitting in your home.

‘Sarvam Shakti Mayam’, a new TV series being aired online is all set to take you on a new spiritual journey.

‘Sarvam Shakti Mayam’ is a docu-drama show wrapped into a fictitious plot with the core objective to bring you the stories of these ancient Shakti Peethams. Produced by Ankit, Vijaya Chada and Kaumidi Nemani of Anvic Entertainment LLP and Raw Entertainment LLP, this series was launched on the 9 June online.

Directed by Sai Pradeep Maddali and with cinematography by Sajeesh Rajendran, the series has some wonderful music scored by Girish Gopalakrishnan.

The cast of the show is rather small for such an ambitious project. Only six actors. The main being the very underrated Sanjay Suri who we have already seen in numerous mainstream movies. He plays the role of Madhav Suri, a family man with his wife (Priya Vasudev Mani Iyer) and two children (Abhay Simha Reddy and Aslesha Thakur).

Madhav Suri is an unsuccessful businessman who was once supported by his father-in-law. His wife had married him much against her father’s wishes.

Madhav’s failures create enough family tension to which his wife’s guilt adds on. Their children grow up in that chaos. Hope arrives disguised as a childhood friend Deepak who suggest they take a forty-day pilgrimage to all the Shakti Peethams. That it would do them good at that point in their life.

In their journey they meet Ranjith, an atheist writer on a mission to churn out his rational thinking into a book. The story of Madhav’s troubled family and professional life and Ranjith’s rational thoughts meet at the powerful threshold of these ancient Kshetrams.

While the story and the drama in it are fairly simple to understand, it is the core essense of the series that makes it highly interesting for viewers. As they travel to these Shakti Peethams, the audiences get a glimpse of each of them, enough to invoke further curiosity. The idea is not to be preachy.

"Everyone would go through similar challenges that the actors go through in their daily lives, but idea is to see how they came out of the challenges and embrace the energy within themselves”, says producer Vijay Chada. Indeed, the series is not about giving Gyaan. And that is the best part of it.

One can ask what is the use of this series in these times. Does it find any relevance? Faith. In the face of adversities, faith and devotion have remained the strongest weapons throughout our history.

This series highlights that aspect in these troubled times. If you keep aside those ulterior motives, you can still watch this series for the fabulous journey they are going to take you on.

Do you require a reason to worship and celebrate the Devi? We have always done it.

‘Sarvam Shakti Mayam’ is another opportunity laid on a platter for you!

Click on the link here and watch it for free! Bring in Devi’s abundant blessings into your life!