Shakti Peeth
Saptashrungi Shakti Peeth, Vani
Vani (Nanduri), Kalwan taluka, Nashik district, Maharashtra
The goddess of seven peaks — an eighteen-armed, eight-foot image carved into the rock face
At a glance
- Location
- Vani (Nanduri), Kalwan taluka, Nashik district, Maharashtra
- Presiding deity
- Goddess Saptashrungi / Bhadrakali (Bhairava: Vikritaksheshwar)
- Temple type
- Shakti Peeth
- Tradition
- Shakta
- Nearest railway station
- Nashik Road railway station (~65-70 km)
- Nearest airport
- Nashik (Ozar) Airport (~60 km, limited flights); Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport, Mumbai (~230 km)
- Best time to visit
- October to February. Chaitrotsav and Navratri are extraordinary to witness but extremely crowded. The hills are beautiful in the monsoon, though the paths get slippery.
History
The name comes from the seven peaks (*sapta shrunga*) the shrine sits among. The goddess here is not a free-standing idol — she is an **eighteen-armed** (ashta-dasha bhuja) figure roughly eight feet tall, carved directly into the rock inside a cave at the base of a sheer scarp, and appears saffron-coloured under a thick coat of sindoor. In Maharashtra's tradition of three-and-a-half Shakti Peethas, Saptashrungi is counted as the "half" (alongside Mahalakshmi of Kolhapur, Bhavani of Tuljapur and Renuka of Mahur) — although the temple's own administration treats it as a complete peetha. Sources also differ on the body part: the general Shakta-pitha lists give the chin, while accounts tied to the temple give the right arm.
Spiritual significance
Reaching the shrine once meant climbing 510 steps. A funicular trolley opened in July 2018 covers that climb in about three minutes and can carry roughly five thousand people a day, leaving only 20-25 steps from the trolley station up to the temple. **Chaitrotsav**, in the month of Chaitra, is the biggest event here — running from Rama Navami to Chaitra Purnima, it draws around 250,000 people on the final day and close to a million across the last three. Navratri brings nine days of special worship as well.
Plan your visit
Darshan timings
Broadly 5:00 AM to 9:00 PM, extended during festivals. The funicular runs on its own timings, so check before you go.
Timings change on festivals and special occasions. Confirm with the temple's official source before you travel.
The temple is about 60 km from Nashik city, with state transport buses and shared taxis running to Vani-Nanduri. From Mumbai or Pune, take a train or bus to Nashik and continue by road.
Continue your Durga bhakti
Devotional texts for this deity, already on the site.