Where the Fingers Of Her Left Foot came to rest, the land of the Virat kings still bows.
Bharatpur region, Rajasthan Fingers Of Her Left Foot Fell here Worshipped As Maa Ambika Shiva as Amriteshwar Bhairav Navratri, twice each year
Eastern Rajasthan keeps a quiet Seat Of The Mother. The canon tables of the Fifty-One Shakti Peethas name a place called Viraat Nagar, often filed under Bharatpur, where the Fingers Of The Left Foot Of Maa Sati Are Held To Have Fallen. Here The Goddess Is Called Ambika, and Lord Shiva Waits Upon Her as Amriteshwar. The ground itself is old beyond the shrine: tradition holds this for the country of King Virata, where the Pandavas passed their hidden year.
Here Fell the Fingers Of The Left Foot Of Maa Sati when Lord Vishnu divided Her Body into Fifty-One parts. Some accounts count Four Toes Of Her Left Foot, and a few speak of Her Left Leg; every account agrees the Left Foot Of The Goddess Marks this ground.
Maa Is Worshipped here As Ambika, a form of Goddess Durga, and Lord Shiva Stands Beside Her as Amriteshwar, the Bhairava of this Seat. One reckoning counts the Shrine as the forty-first of the Fifty-One Peethas of the Devi Purana.
The Seat is listed at Bharatpur, yet the living temple most widely identified with it is Shree Ambika Shaktipeeth on the Aravalli hills at Viratnagar, the ancient Bairat, about 90 kilometres from Jaipur. This page records the variance plainly.
The story this ground keeps
Sati, daughter of Daksha, Married Lord Shiva against Her father's wish. When Daksha held a great yagna and left Shiva uninvited, then abused him before the assembly, She Could Not Bear it and Gave Up Her Body in the sacrificial fire. Shiva lifted Her Body and walked the worlds in grief, and creation trembled. To save it, Lord Vishnu loosed the Sudarshan Chakra and divided the Body Of The Goddess into Fifty-One parts, and wherever a part Fell, a Shakti Peetha arose.
At this Seat, the pilgrimage accounts hold, the Fingers Of Her Left Foot touched the earth of Viraat Nagar, and Maa Took the name Ambika, with Shiva as Amriteshwar beside Her. The ground already carried epic memory. Viratnagar, the old Bairat, is held by tradition to be the capital of King Virata of the Mahabharata, where the five Pandavas lived unrecognized through their year of hiding, and local memory says Lord Krishna himself once walked this land. Temple tradition names the sage Markandeya, a devotee of Goddess Durga, as the founder of the Ambika Shrine.
What you'll actually see
1
The Peetha of the Left Foot's Fingers
Of the Fifty-One seats born of the Body Of Maa Sati, this is the one where the Fingers Of Her Left Foot Are Held To Have Fallen. Accounts differ on the counting, Four Toes or the Fingers or the Left Leg, but not on the Foot Of The Goddess having Blessed this ground.
2
Ambika and Amriteshwar
The Mother Is Worshipped here As Ambika, and descriptions of the Shrine speak of a black stone murti Of The Goddess kept adorned within a sanctum built in the Rajasthani manner, with a tall shikhar, a yajna shala and a garden in the grounds. Lord Shiva Is Honored as Amriteshwar, the Bhairava of the Seat.
3
One Seat, two placements
Canon tables print Bharatpur; the living Shrine most identified with the Seat stands at Viratnagar near Papdi village, in the Jaipur side of the Aravalli hills. Both grounds belong to the old Matsya country of the epics. Honest pilgrimage begins with knowing this, and the devotion is one either way.
No freely licensed photographs of this Shrine were found on Wikimedia Commons at the time of writing; gallery photographs are pending for this Seat.
When the Seat fills
Navratri at the Shrine Of Ambika
Twice each year, in the spring Chaitra days and the autumn Sharadiya days, the Nine Nights Of The Goddess bring the Shrine its largest gatherings. The sources also record Diwali, Mahashivratri, Makar Sankranti, Teej and Gangaur in its calendar, so the temple keeps festival life through the whole year, but Navratri is when this Seat most fully remembers Whose Foot Touched it.
Festival dates follow the Hindu calendar and shift each year; confirm locally before you travel.
Plan your visit
Where
Listed at Bharatpur, Rajasthan; the temple most identified with the Seat is Shree Ambika Shaktipeeth at Viratnagar, about 90 km from Jaipur.
By rail
Bharatpur Junction is well connected to major cities; Jaipur is the usual railhead for Viratnagar.
By air
Jaipur airport is the nearest, followed by Delhi for wider connections.
Timings
Sources list darshan from about 5:30 am to 8 pm daily; confirm with the temple before you travel.
Best time
Either Navratri, or the cooler months from November to February.
Dress
Modest dress, as at any Devi Shrine; shoulders and knees covered, footwear left outside.
Good to know
One source counts this as the forty-first Peetha of the Fifty-One in the Devi Purana reckoning, under the name Virat or Viraat Nagar.
Viratnagar is the ancient Bairat, held by tradition to be King Virata's capital in the Mahabharata, where the Pandavas passed their year in hiding; the Seat Of The Goddess shares its ground with that epic memory.
Temple tradition names the sage Markandeya as the founder of the Ambika Shrine; no dated record of the founding survives in the sources, so treat the attribution as living tradition rather than history.
Questions pilgrims ask
Which Part Of Maa Sati Fell here?
The Fingers Of Her Left Foot, as the canon tables and pilgrimage accounts hold. Some accounts count Four Toes Of Her Left Foot, and a few speak of Her Left Leg; all place the Left Foot Of The Goddess on this ground.
Who Is The Goddess of this Seat?
Maa Ambika, a form of Goddess Durga. Lord Shiva Is Worshipped beside Her as Amriteshwar, the Bhairava of the Seat.
Is the Seat at Bharatpur or at Viratnagar?
The listings vary, and this page says so plainly. Several canon tables file the Seat under Bharatpur, Rajasthan, while the living temple most widely identified with it is Shree Ambika Shaktipeeth at Viratnagar near Papdi village, about 90 km from Jaipur. Devotees visit the Viratnagar Shrine as the Seat.
Walk the sacred map
This Is one Seat among many. Her Body Fell across the whole of the old world:
Are you a priest, trustee, or sevak of the Ambika Shaktipeeth? Claim this page to add true timings, festival dates, and a way for pilgrims To actually reach you.