| Temples & Legends Of
Maharashtra |
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| Temples & Legends Of
India |
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KOLHAPUR-MAHALAKSHMI |
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| Tuljapur or
Turajapur and Kolhapur or Karvirnagar are selected here for a detailed description, the
latter be cause of its great antiquity and the vast number of devotees the goddess
commands-, the former because of the immense popularity it enjoys as the guardian of the
great Shivaji. Historically and culturally these two easily stand out as the most
prominent shakti-piths of Maharashtra. Kolhapur, the headquarters of the district of the
same name is an important political centre for a very long time. In the twelfth century it
was the capital of the Shilahars; during Islamic rule Panhala, the fort that commands this
city was an administrative centre; in the eighteenth century the Junior branch of the
Bhosales, that of Tarabai established a 'gadi’- an independent kingdom, at Kolhapur.
The city has road, rail and air approaches. Kolhapur lies some hundred and fifty miles
south of Poona on the Poona-Bangalore national highway, State buses constantly ply between
the two cities. Direct bus connections exist between Bombay and Kolhapur, and the tatter
is similarly linked with all the surrounding district places. A route branches Off due
north-east from Miraj on the Poona-Bangalore section of the Southern railway. There is no
regular air-service, although a good airport exists at this place. |
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