A Serendipitous Journey Through the Three Shaktipeeths of Northeast India

Some journeys are not meant to end. They simply pause until the goddess calls you back again.

 During my time studying in Northeast India, I had only one temple on my spiritual travel list — the revered Kamakhya Temple.

The temple is widely known across India for its unique rituals, tantric traditions, and powerful origin stories rooted in the legend of Goddess Sati. Perched on the Nilachal Hills of Guwahati, Kamakhya is one of the most significant Shaktipeeths in the country.

According to Hindu mythology, when Goddess Sati self-immolated and Lord Shiva carried her body in grief across the universe, Lord Vishnu used his Sudarshan Chakra to dismember the body to restore cosmic balance. The places where the body parts fell became sacred Shaktipeeths. At Kamakhya, it is believed that the yoni (symbol of feminine creative power) of the Goddess fell, making the temple a powerful symbol of fertility, creation, and divine feminine energy.

Unlike most temples where a deity is worshipped in idol form, Kamakhya is unique because the goddess is worshipped as a natural rock formation inside a cave-like sanctum, continuously fed by an underground spring. The temple is also famous for the Ambubachi festival, when the goddess is believed to undergo her annual menstruation — a rare celebration of feminine biological power in spiritual tradition.

When I first moved to the Northeast for my studies, visiting Kamakhya was the only Shaktipeeth pilgrimage I had planned.

But life in the Northeast had other plans for me.

Discovering the Hidden Shaktipeeth of Meghalaya

One fine morning in our institute canteen, while I was preparing coffee with my batchmate Dr. Mridul, I happened to overhear our director-in-charge discussing a temple visit with his mother.

They were planning to visit another Shaktipeeth — the ancient Maa Nartiang Durga Temple — located in the Jaintia Hills of Meghalaya, just about 90 minutes from our hostel in Shillong.

Until that moment, I had no idea that such an important Shaktipeeth existed so close to where I was living.

They casually invited me to join them.

Interestingly, that morning I had originally planned to go on a batch trip to a natural infinity pool nearby, but due to personal reasons I had cancelled it at the last moment. When this temple invitation came, it genuinely felt like a spontaneous calling from the Goddess herself.

There was hardly any time to prepare. Within fifteen minutes I had taken a quick bath, skipped the shampoo, and rushed out to join them.

The journey turned out to be one of the most beautiful and fulfilling days during my stay in the Northeast.

At the temple we participated in puja and path, and we also spent time distributing food like puri, halwa, and biscuits to local children and villagers. The simplicity and warmth of the place made the experience deeply special. On our way back we enjoyed local fruits from roadside vendors, soaking in the scenic beauty of the hills.

That day planted a seed of curiosity in me.

If there were two Shaktipeeths in the Northeast that I had now visited or discovered — was there a third?

Completing the Spiritual Triangle

My curiosity soon led me to research another powerful Shaktipeeth: the sacred Tripura Sundari Temple.

The temple is located near Agartala in the town of Udaipur and is dedicated to Goddess Tripura Sundari, one of the ten Mahavidyas of Shakti worship. According to tradition, the right foot of Goddess Sati is believed to have fallen here.

The idea of completing the darshan of all three Shaktipeeths in the region felt deeply meaningful to me.

So after finishing my examinations, I booked a ticket and travelled to Tripura before returning to Maharashtra.

The experience at Tripura Sundari temple was very different from Kamakhya.

While Kamakhya is often crowded with devotees and carries an intense spiritual energy, Tripura Sundari felt peaceful, calm, and meditative. The darshan was unhurried and serene.

Right beside the temple lies the beautiful Kalyan Sagar lake, which adds to the tranquil atmosphere of the place.

I also enjoyed tasting some local delicacies around the temple — baigun bhaja, til bhaja, and aloo bhaja, simple fried snacks that somehow tasted perfect after the temple visit.

What stayed most vividly in my memory, however, was the natural beauty of the region. I often describe Tripura as a land of butterflies — I remember seeing butterflies fluttering everywhere, sometimes even resting on the pathways where we walked.

Closing the Northeast Chapter

With this visit, I realised that I had unknowingly completed the darshan of three sacred Shaktipeeths across Northeast India.

What began as a simple wish to visit Kamakhya during my studies had turned into an unexpected spiritual journey across Assam, Meghalaya, and Tripura.

It felt like a beautiful way to close my chapter in the Northeast before returning to Maharashtra.

Yet one wish still remains in my heart.

One day, I would like to return to Kamakhya Temple again — this time with more time, patience, and devotion — to experience a proper garbhagriha darshan of the powerful Goddess.

Some journeys, after all, are meant to call us back.