Sati
Shiva's First Consort
Daksha's daughter who loved and married Shiva against her father's wishes. Her story ends in fire - and begins again as Parvati.
- Sanskrit/Telugu name: సతీ దేవి
- Also known as: Dakshayani
- Symbols: Sacred fire
Story
Sati was Daksha's youngest and most devoted daughter, and from childhood her heart belonged to Shiva. Daksha disapproved - he thought the ash-covered, snake-wearing yogi of the mountains was no match for a princess - but Sati married Shiva anyway. Then came the terrible yajna. Daksha held a grand fire ceremony and deliberately left Shiva out. Sati went uninvited, hoping a daughter would always be welcome, but Daksha insulted her husband in front of everyone. Burning with sorrow and shame, Sati gave up her body in the yajna fire itself. Shiva's grief was so vast that he carried her body across the universe while dancing the tandava, and Vishnu's chakra scattered it into pieces - each spot where a piece fell became a Shakti Peetham, holy places worshipped to this day, including ones Telugu families visit on pilgrimage. But love that true never ends: Sati was reborn as Parvati, daughter of the mountains, and won Shiva back all over again.
Fun fact
The Shakti Peethams - some count 18, some count 51 - are all said to mark where pieces of Sati's body fell, and Srisailam's Bhramaramba in Andhra Pradesh is counted among them.