Danteshwari Temple

Danteshwari Temple in Dantewada is one of the 51 Shakti Peethas of Hinduism, marking the spot where, according to legend, the goddess Sati's tooth fell — giving both the temple and the district their name. As the presiding deity of the former Bastar royal family, the temple holds particular ceremonial importance during the region's famously distinct Bastar Dussehra festival.

Set on the banks of the Shankhini and Dankini rivers, the temple's relatively modest scale belies its deep religious significance to the wider Bastar tribal and Hindu community, drawing devotees especially during major festival periods when the temple becomes the focal point of the region's most important annual celebrations.

Long the patron deity of the Bastar royal dynasty, Danteshwari's temple and worship traditions are deeply interwoven with Bastar's unique regional Dussehra festival, which blends tribal and Hindu ritual in a form found nowhere else in India.

About 85km from Jagdalpur, roughly 2 hours by road.