8. Ekaveenika Devi

As per Sri Adi Shankarachrya’s Shakti Peetha shlokam the 8th Shakti peethas is ‘Mahurye Ekaveerika’ Ekaveerika devi temple is in Mahur, Maharashtra. The deity here is called Ekaveerika mata. The temple is in Yavatmal district in Maharashtra. It is 50 km from Kinwat and 131 km from Nanded. Nagpur is 210 km by road from Mahur. Sati’s Right shoulder has fallen here.

Mahur is famous for Renuka Devi temple and very few people are knowing about Ekaveerika devi temple and mostly they call Renuka devi temple as Shaktipeeth. It is said that Ekaveerika Devi is the elder sister of Renukadevi. Renuka devi temple is 800 years old.

One of the 18 Shakti peethas, it known as ” Mahurye Ekaveerika” Ekaveera Mayura; or Ekaveera Mata, or Goddess Ekaveera Mata temple or Mahur Renuka Devi Temple at Mahur, Nanded district. Also called Mayura Kshetram or Matru Patanam. This temple is 23 kms from Mahur village, on the bank of Pen ganga. The temple is located on a hill surrounded by deep forest, only the head part is the main deity in this temple. Ekavenika devi, is a popular name in then Andhra State now Telangana State than the people of Maharashtra.

The goddess Renuka is associated with the worship of the goddess Yellamma in Karnataka and in certain parts of Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu. The goddess Renuka is considered to be an Avatar of the goddess Durga and is popular in rural culture as the mother goddess and is worshipped as Amma, Yellamma, Duggavva, Dyaamavva and Marikamba. Her name and attributes change from region to region.