The sanctum sanctorum of the Sahasrakshi Meru Temple is reached by circumambulating inward and upward, past more than 100 life-sized murthis of various "shaktis" or "yoginis" (deities expressing essential aspects of the Devi) who are, in Srividya cosmology, said to inhabit and energize the Sri Chakra. Their exact locations are "mapped" in an elaborate ritual called the "Navavarana Puja" ("Worship of the Nine Enclosures"), which was in turn condensed into a mantric composition called the "Sri Devi Khadgamala Stotram" ("Hymn to the Auspicious Goddess's Garland of Swords"), forming the basis of the temple's layout.