This small book
aims at presenting to the reader a picture of one of the important aspects of the culture
of the Marathi people and that aspect is the religious centres of the region. A good deal of material, historical and legendary, is available from both the
medieval and modern times. A good deal of material historical and legendary, is available
from both the medieval and modern times. A number of scholars have recently devoted
attention to the various kshetras of the area.
A bibliography is attached at the
end of the book to indicate
the work previously done and also as a guidance to anybody who might wish to undertake a
detailsed study, To all htose students who have trekked the path before me and more
especially to Prof. G.H.Khare who has pioneered and more especially to PRof.
G.H.Khare who has pioneered large scale investigations in this field, I owe a great debt.
However, all this work is mainly devoted to individual
kshetras, and it is mostly in Marathi. As such when the
Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, the
sponsors of the series suggested that I undertake the task of preparing this work I
welcomed the ieda at once as it would enable me to present before the non-Marathi-speaking
public a comprehensive account of one of the important aspects of the cultural life of the
Marathi People. I htank the authorities of the Bhavan for giving me an opportunity of
studying this problem, particularly Shri S.G.Tolat of the same institute for the
kind co-operation he has extended during the
preparation of the book.
Lastly i owe my thanks to Prof . H . D .Sankalia my teacher and Head
of the Department of Archaeilogy, university of poona,for his
guidance and
valuable suggestions while preparing the next.
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