Near the bank of the Bhagirathi at Kiritkona in the Murshidabad district — close to the old capital of Bengal — stands Kiriteswari, revered as one of the oldest and holiest shrines of the region. In the tradition of the Peethas, the crown (kirit or mukut) of Sati fell here, and so the Goddess is worshipped as Kiriteswari, also called Mukuteshwari, with Samvarta as her Bhairava.
As at several other Bengal Peethas, the Mother is honoured not in bodily image but as a sacred stone kept veiled. Long the family deity of the ruling house of Murshidabad, her temple was patronised by its kings. Kiriteswari — celebrated in recent years as a model heritage village — remains among the most venerable Shakti seats of the Bengal heartland.
