Narayan Ravi - Mumbai

Aadi Story

The Sharada Peetham is located in the village of Sharada in PoK, at a height of 11000 ft above sea level. This temple is now in ruins, due to lack of attention and care. It was also severely damaged in the 2005 earthquake. It is revered as a Shakti Peetha, where the right hand of Devi Sati is believed to have fallen. The original sandalwood image of Sharada Devi here is believed to have been taken away by Sri Adi Sankara(this could very well be the very same sandalwood image now present at the Vidyasankara temple in Sringeri - shared earlier along with the story of Sringeri Sharadamba). This temple is the place where Sri Adi Sankara sat on the 'Sarvajna Peetha' or 'Sarva Jnana Peetha'- the ancient throne of wisdom, by defeating scholars from all four directions in debate. This seat is now seen as a simple stone slab, along with a Sri Chakra and some other figures. In ancient times, it used to be covered with a mixture of saffron and ghee on special occasions. Sharada Devi is addressed as 'Namaste Sharade Devi, Kashmirapura Vasini' in Sankara's Sharada Stotram and as 'Kashmire tu Saraswati' in Sankara's Ashtadasha(18) Shakti Peetha Stotram. May Sri Sharadamba bless us all

Om Shakti