Shankari Devi Temple

Shankari at Lanka is the first of the eighteen Maha Shakti Peethas, marking where the groin (or, in some accounts, an anklet) of Sati fell. Its position at the very start of the Ashtadasha stotram gives it a place of special honour among all the seats of the Divine Mother. Its dramatic ocean-cliff setting makes it one of the most evocative of the eighteen.

Shankari Devi (Shankari or Shanmukha) is the very first Shakti Peetha invoked in Adi Shankaracharya's stotram — 'Lankayam Shankari Devi'. The shrine stood on the dramatic cliff of Swami Rock at Trincomalee, alongside the great Koneswaram temple overlooking the Indian Ocean. The original temple was largely destroyed during the colonial era, when much of it was cast into the sea, and a small shrine now marks the goddess's place beside the rebuilt Koneswaram complex. Despite its loss, Shankari retains pride of place at the head of the eighteen Maha Peethas. (Located in present-day Sri Lanka, outside India.)