This temple is situated in the Chowk area of Patna City and once was considered as the main presiding deity of Patna. Over the years it has slipped to the second position of eminence, after the Bari Patan Devi temple, as city’s presiding deity, with epithet ‘Choti’ (smaller) to the more popular one, the Bari (bigger) Patan Devi. But a historian called Buchanan was very specific in stating that it was this very temple (Choti Patan Devi) which held the primary position as the city’s presiding deity during 18th and early 19th century. According to the Hindu mythology, once Prajapati Daksha celebrated Brihaspati Yajna and had invited every god to his Yajna but left out Shiva, his own son-in-law. Sati, the wife of Lord Shiva, on learning that her husband had not been invited to her father’s Yajna, went to her father’s home. When Sati found no seat allotted to her husband there, she felt mortified and put an end to her life. Lord Shiva at once came to know of this and in his great anger and sorrow took her dead body on his shoulder and began to perform tandava dance around the Triloka (three worlds). The Gods were horror-struck and requested Lord Vishnu to intervene. Vishnu cleverly followed the dancing Shiva and started cutting the dead body of Sati to pieces with his Chakra. Wherever the major limbs of the body of Sati fell the places became Mahapithas. The places where the minor limbs fell came to be known as Upapithas. There is a tradition fondly believed that some portion of the right thigh of Devi Sati fell in Magadh and it is said that the part of the body of Sati fell in both Maharajganj and Chowk areas in Old Patna city. At these places, the Badi Patan Devi temple and the Chhoti Patan Devi temple were built.