The Sahasrakshi Meru Temple is unlike any other Hindu temple in India. Measuring 108 feet square at its base and rising 54 feet high, the three-story structure is built in the shape of a Sri Meru Yantra -- the three-dimensional projection of the Sri Chakra, the sacred geometric diagram central to Srividya worship, an ancient and intricate form of Tantric Shakta devotion. To reach the innermost sanctum, devotees do not simply walk through a door. They circumambulate inward and upward, spiraling past more than one hundred life-sized stone murthis of shaktis and yoginis -- deities that Srividya cosmology says inhabit and energize the Sri Chakra. Each figure was sculpted to Sastry's specifications, physical manifestations of what he described as meditative visions. Two companion shrines, the Kamakhya Peetham and Sivalayam, stand on adjacent hills.

Sastry -- known to his followers as Sri Amritananda Natha Saraswati, or simply Guruji -- was born in 1934 and spent more than two decades in nuclear physics before turning to spiritual life. In 1983, during a Devi Yajna ceremony, members of the Putrevu family approached him with a request to build a temple for the Divine Mother, donating three acres of land near Visakhapatnam. Sastry purchased ten adjoining acres and began looking for a sign. He found it on a nearby hillock: a natural rock formation resembling the sacred yoni of the Kamakhya temple in Assam. Construction of the Sahasrakshi Meru Temple began in 1985. Nine years later, in 1994, the temple was completed and consecrated. It was re-consecrated for its twelfth anniversary in February 2007. Sastry died in 2015, having decreed that no human successor would lead Devipuram -- only the symbolic padukas of the goddess, administered by the Sri Vidya Trust.

Devipuram breaks with convention in a way that draws both admiration and controversy. Any devotee, regardless of caste, creed, or gender, may perform puja to the Devi directly -- no priestly intermediary required. This open-access approach may echo the practices of the Kamakhya temple complex in Assam, but in the context of mainstream Hindu worship, it remains unusual. Many of the temple's murthis are depicted sky-clad -- unclothed -- a feature that has attracted attention over the years but reflects Tantric traditions of the divine feminine. The temple has become particularly significant for women. Through its community, women who have lost the social anchoring of India's traditional multi-generational household find new roles and purpose. A common saying among devotees captures the philosophy: "I am Devi, you are Devi, we are Devi."

Devipuram has grown beyond a place of worship into something closer to a social enterprise. Sastry founded the Sri Vidya Trust, a nonprofit organization headquartered at the complex, which runs developmental programs in non-formal education, women's empowerment, and low-cost housing for the rural poor. A cooperative thrift society called Jagruti provides micro-financing to local villagers. Geodesic dome houses built with fire-retardant materials demonstrate affordable rural construction. Health and hygiene workshops, family planning programs, and literacy drives extend into the surrounding countryside. The trust also produces precision-made Meru yantras and educational materials for spiritual practitioners worldwide. In 2010, the Sri Villa guest house opened with rooms, a cafeteria, event halls, and family suites, positioning Devipuram as a pilgrimage destination that can accommodate the growing number of visitors drawn to its singular combination of sacred geometry, open worship, and social mission.