Sugandha Shaktipith (51 shaktipeeth/Divine place)

Sugandha Shaktipith is the temple of the Goddess Sunanda, located in the village of Shikarpur, north of Barisal, Bangladesh. This Hindu temple is one of the 51 Shakti Peethas. The Bhairav is worshipped as Tryambak located in Ponabalia, 5 miles south of Jhalkati Rail station. Ponabalia is under the village Sham rail situated on the bank of the river Sunanda. According to Hindu scripture Nose of Sati fell here. Bhairav is worshipped as Tryambak and Shakti as Sunanda.

According to the Hindu Scripture the mythology of Daksha yajna and Sati's self immolation had played a significant role in shaping the ancient Sanskrit literature and even had impact on the culture of India. It led to the development of the concept of Shakti Peethas and there by strengthening Shaktism. Various mythological stories of puranas made the Dakshayajna as the reason for its origin. It is an important incident in Shaivism resulting in the emergence of Parvati in the place of Sati Devi and making Shiva a Grihastashrami (house holder) leading to the origin of Ganapathy and Subramanian. These are the  places that are believed to have enshrined with the presence of Shakti due to the falling of body parts of the corpse of Sati Devi, when Lord Shiva carried it and wandered throughout the universe in sorrow. Each temple has shrines for Shakti and Kalabhairava and mostly the each temple associates different names to Shakti and Kalabhairava in that temple.

Sati was the daughter of King Daksha and Queen. She committed self-immolation at the sacrificial fire of a yajna performed by her father Daksha as she felt seriously distraught by her father’s insult to her husband and also to her by not inviting both of them for the yajna. Shiva was so grieved after hearing of the death of his wife that carrying Sati's dead body over his shoulders he danced around the universe a Tandav Nritya (“devastating penance” or dance of destruction). In order to bring Shiva to a state of normalcy, it was then Vishnu who decided to use his Sudarshan Chakra (the rotating knife's carried on his finger tip). He dismembered Sati’s body into several pieces and wherever her body fell on the earth, the place was consecrated as a divine shrine on Shakthi Peeth with deities of Sati (Parvati) and Shiva. These locations have become famous pilgrimage places as Shakthi Pithas, and are found all over the subcontinent including Pakistan, Bangladesh, SriLanka and Nepal, besides India. Sati is also known as Devi or Shakti, and with blessings of Vishnu she was reborn as the daughter of Himavat or Himalayas and hence named as Parvati (daughter of mountains). She was born on the 14th day of the bright half of the month of Mrigashirsha, which marks the Shivarathri(Shiva’s night) festival.