Godavari Tir (Kotilingeswara)

Godavari Tir, with the Kotilingeswara reference, is placed at Kotipalli in the East Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh. Tradition says that the left cheek of Sati fell on the bank of the Godavari. The goddess is Vishweshwari and the Bhairava is Dandapani. Some old lists simply say Godavari Tira, the bank of the Godavari, without naming a village, and Kotipalli is the identification offered by local tradition.

The Godavari is often called the Ganga of the south and has a long history as a pilgrimage river, with Rajahmundry, Nashik and Bhadrachalam among the places on its course. Kotipalli is known in tradition for a shrine of Shiva as Kotilingeswara, meaning the lord of ten million lingas, which sets the Shakta peeth next to a strong Shaiva presence. Dandapani, a name that means he who holds the staff, is the guardian role assigned in tradition.

Vishweshwari is the feminine counterpart to Vishweshwara, the lord of the universe, and the name appears in Kashi as well. This leads some to treat the Godavari goddess as a southern echo of the Varanasi pair. The Tantra Chudamani and Pithanirnaya differ on whether the cheek is left or right and where, which is why Mahur, Muktinath and this site each claim a cheek. The Daksha yajna story provides the single mythic origin for them all.