Danteshwari Shakti Peeth, Dantewada

At a glance

Location

Dantewada, Bastar region, Chhattisgarh

Presiding deity

Goddess Danteshwari (Bhairava: Kapala Bhairava)

Temple type

Shakti Peeth

Tradition

Shakta

Nearest railway station

Dantewada station on the Kirandul-Visakhapatnam line; the larger railhead is Jagdalpur (~80 km)

Nearest airport

Jagdalpur Airport (~85 km, limited flights); Swami Vivekananda Airport, Raipur (~370 km)

Best time to visit

October to February. Bastar Dussehra (September-October) and Navratri are when the place is most alive.

History

Tradition holds that Sati's **tooth** fell here, giving the place its name — Dantewada. The present temple is dated to the fourteenth century, and the goddess was earlier the presiding deity of the **Kakatiya rulers**. She later became the **kuladevi** of the Bastar royal line, and that connection to Bastar's royal tradition holds to this day. The structure is laid out in four parts — garbha griha, maha mandap, mukhya mandap and sabha mandap — with a Garuda pillar at the entrance and a black stone image of the goddess in the sanctum.

Spiritual significance

Danteshwari is at the centre of the largest goddess tradition in Chhattisgarh's tribal belt. **Bastar Dussehra** is the biggest event here — counted among the longest-running Dussehra festivals in the country, it brings thousands of tribal devotees in from surrounding villages and forest settlements, and the goddess is carried through the town in a large procession.

Plan your visit

Dantewada is about 80 km from Jagdalpur, with regular buses and taxis between the two. The usual route is Raipur to Jagdalpur by bus or flight, then onward by road. Coming by the Kirandul-Visakhapatnam line, Dantewada station is the closest.