Daksha yajna
The legend forms the liturgical basis of the establishment of the Shakti Pithas, the temples of Mahadevi, the supreme deity of Shaktism.
Variations of the legend may be observed in later Puranas, each text lending a superior account to their supreme deity (depending on Vaishnava, Shaiva, and Shakta traditions) in their literature.
He lived among the downtrodden, wore tiger skin, smeared ashes on his body, had thick locks of matted hair, and was full of purity.
Once, Brahma conducted a huge yajna (ritual sacrifice), where all the Prajapatis, deities, and kings of the world were invited.
Sati was of the notion that there was no need for them to receive an invitation in order to attend, as she was Daksha’s favourite daughter, and no formality existed between them.
She constantly pleaded with Shiva to let her attend the ceremony, and turned a deaf ear to her husband's reasoning.
Relenting, Shiva allowed Sati to go to her parents' home, along with his followers, including Nandi, to attend the ceremony, but refused to accompany her.
Because of Sati’s persistence in trying to meet him, Daksha reacted vehemently, insulting her in front of all the other guests at the ceremony, to which she had not been invited.
[5][13] She cursed Daksha for acting so atrociously toward her and Shiva, reminding him that his haughty behaviour had blinded his intellect.
Other versions of the legend state that Sati, losing all control over her anger, takes upon the form of Adi Shakti or Durga, and curses Daksha to fall to ruin.
His grief grew into a terrible anger when he realised how Daksha's actions had contributed to his own daughter's demise.
Shiva's rage became so intense that he plucked a lock of hair from his head and smashed it on the ground, breaking it into two with his leg.
Sage Bhrigu created an army with his divine penance powers to resist Shiva’s attack and protect the yajna.
[12] There are three differing accounts of the conclusion of this conflict, two of which leading to an intervention by Parabrahman or Vishnu, and one of which ends with Daksha's decapitation.
[12] Daksha was caught and decapitated, and the attack culminated when the Bhutaganas started plucking out Bhrigu’s white beard as a victory souvenir.
[5][9] The Vayu Purana states that Daksha and Yajneshvara, the personification of yajna, took the form of an antelope, and jumped towards the sky.
In the Kurma Purana, Vishnu engages in combat with Virabhadra upon Garuda, employing his Sudarshana Chakra.
Virabhadra is able to fend off the attacks of the deity, and Brahma finally intervenes to put an end to the violence, by brokering a peace between Shiva and Daksha.
[14][12] According to the Bhagavata Purana, since the obstruction of the yajna are held to create havoc upon all of nature, Brahma and Vishnu went to the grief-stricken Shiva.
The Shaiva Puranas say that her body disintegrated on its own, and the parts fell while Shiva was carrying Sati's corpse to various places.
[15] Shiva went into isolation, and wandered all around the world, until Sati reincarnated as Parvati, the daughter of the King Himavana.
[5][15] The legend of the Daksha Yajna is considered to be the reason behind the origin of Shakti Pithas, Shiva walked in remorse with sati's corpse, as he walked her organs rot and fall off creating the Shakti Pithas, which are the sacred abodes of Devi in Shaktism.
There are 54 Shakti Pithas as per the Puranas, denoting the 54 alphabets of Shiva sukta, the maximum number of sounds the larynx can produce according to Hinduism.
They are: Various sites like Kottiyoor, Kerala; the Aami Mandir of Chhapra in Bihar the Daksheswara Mahadev Temple of Kankhal in Uttarakhand, and Draksharama, in Andhra Pradesh claim to be the location of Daksha yajna and the self-immolation of Sati.
