Significance of Puruhutika Temple, Pithapuram Shakti Peetham

Pithapuram Puruhutika

Puruhutika Devi temple is located in Pithapuram village in the district of East Godavari in Andhra Pradesh in South India. It is situated in the outskirts of Kakinada city.

Locally, the goddess is known as Pithapuram Puruhutika, Puruhuta, Puruhutamba, Puruhutika or Puruhuthika. It is regarded as one of the 18 Shakti peethas.

According to the ancient Hindu religious holy text this goddess is regarded as the Shakti of Kukkuteswara swamy.

In the holy text, there is a mention of this temple as

Puruhuti sati mata pithikapurasamsthita |

Putravatpalita devi bhaktanugrahadayini ||

In Puranas and Tantras, Pithapuram was previously known as Pithikapuram or Pushkara kshetram. It is to be noted that in the premises of Kukkuteswara swamy temple is located the temple of Puruhutika devi at the North-East corner. It is a large temple. It has a large pond known as Padagaya sarovaram (Pada Gaya Sarovar). The temple is facing the South. There is a good carving of the images of Ashtadasa Shakti peethas on its temple walls.

The idol of Puruhuthika devi is seen with four hands. The hands are having a dish known as Madhu patra, a lotus, an axe and a bag containing seeds. It is believed that the original idol of this temple is buried under the ground. This temple is a holy campus dotted with many other ancient temples like Hunkruthi Durga or Humkruthi Durga temple, Rajarajeswari temple, Sripada Srivallabha Dattatreya temple and Kunthi madhava temple. The annual festival of this temple is celebrated in a grand scale by the local devotees. A large number of Hindu devotees visit this temple.

Address – Puruhutika devi temple, Pithapuram, East Godavari District, Andhra Pradesh.