Shaktipeethas.org

The four Shaktipeethas of Maharashtra are well described in Devi Bhagavata Purana. Himavanta (Lord of Himalayan mountains), worshiped Jaganmata for a long time to get her as his daughter. Pleased by his devotion, she appeared before him and gave the boon. Himavanta was very happy. But, he was clever. He asked her another boon to give Bhakti and Jnana so that he can take care of her properly. Jaganmata told him that one who wishes Bhakti-Jnanas from her is a real devotee and she will be more interested to bless them than any other. She told Devi Geeta to Himavanta.

In the Devi Geeta she mentioned few important places on the earth which she likes a lot. Out of them the top most priority goes to the four Shakti peethas present in Maharashtra. They are:

• Hingula (Tulja devi) in Tulaja puram (Tuljapur)
• Lakshmi (Amba bai / Maha laksmi) in Kolhapuram (Kolhapur)
• Renuka in Matru pattanam (Mahur)
• Jwalamukhi (Sapta shringi mata) in Saptashringam (Saptashringi)

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Significance of four Shakti peethas:

What does four Shakti peethas resemble? We can't tell why Jaganmata categorized these four shaktipeethas into a group. But many devotees gave explanations for this number four. The number four resembles the four parts of holy AUM. A kara, U kara, Ma kara and Mmm kara (Ardha matra). That is why they are also called as "Three and half Shakti peethas".

Shakti	Part of AUM	Guna	Resembling God
Tulja bhavani	A kara	Rajas	Brahma
Maha lakshmi	U kara	Satwa	Vishnu
Renuka mata	Ma kara	Tamas	Maheshwara
Saptashringi mata	Ardha matra	Trigunateeta	Adi Shakti

Any other explanations?
Yes. There are many.

According to Yoga shastras and Tantra shastras, Shakti is present in our body in the form of Kundalini. It is described as a female serpent which is sleeping in Muladhara Chakra turning it's body into three and half (3 1/2) circles. If it is activated with the help of Spiritual practices, it raises and passes to Sahasrara through Sushumna, a small passage in Spinal cord. The three and half folds of Kundalini are compared with the four forms of Shakti present in this list of Four Shakti peethas of Maharashtra.

I heard another important explanation from a devotee of Shakti. These four Shakti peethas are worshiped in Chandi Upasana. Navakshara Mantra and Chandi Yantra are important for Chandi. In that worship, we come across Nanda, Shakambari and Bheema Shaktis. The physical resemblances for them are:

• Nanda : Tulja bhavani : Maya
• Shakambari: Maha lakshmi : Shakti
• Bheema : Renuka : Jnana and
• Saptashringi mata is considered as the combined power for these three.

All these belong to Brahma prakriti, So Brahma maya, Brahma shakti Brahma ganana and Brahmi sthiti.

I have visited all these four shakti peethas in a tour with my friends. Kolhapur Mahalakshmi, Tulja bhavani and Renuka mata temples are present near by forts. They were worshiped by kings. But, Saptashringi mata temple is far away from human accumulation. Her temple comes after a 20k.m journey from Nasik, and present deep inside the hills.
Another point, Renuka mata temple is present near by Mahur village, may be 3 or 4 k.m, and Ekaveera temple is present in the forest, may be 20k.m away from Mahur.

Hi
Thanks for sharing the information, I would like to visit Mahur from Pune. Kinldy share train routes avilable for the same.

There are no direct trains to Mahur. You have to choose either bus or taxi from Nanded.
See this Mahur travel guide