During my last visit to Mahabaleshwar, a famous hill station in Maharashtra, which is very close from my city Pune, we went first time to this archeological site of escavated Krishna Devi Temple also known as Krishnabai Mandir. It is located in Old Mahabaleshwar town and very close to Mahabaleshwar Temple area. It has a very scenic view of the Krishna valley in the front of it.
The local say that is supposed to be the source of River Krishna.
The temple has shiva lingam and beneath that they found the source of Krishna. It has a nandi statue at the entrance and a small stream of water flowing from the cow-face (gomukh) which falls into a kund (pond).
They informed that it was excavated in or around 2006-07 and opened to the public in around 2015.
From the old Mahabaleshwar temple parking lot, a small trail takes you to this beautiful site. A must visit as most of the visitors miss it.
Sign boards around mentioning restrictions on photography inside and Acheological survey dept still holds the control of the site.
How to reach here:
It is 6 Km (approx 3.7 miles) drive from Mahabaleshwar Bus stand.
Mahabaleshwar is 120 km (approx. 74.5 miles) away from Pune, which has nearest airport to reach here.
Nearest railway station is Satara (around 65 km/40 miles). But normally people travel via Pune.
There are local taxes to be paid while entering mahabaleshwar and Panchgani area.
Some important spots around: Old Mahabaleshwar ( includes Mahableshwar temple, panchganaga temple)
Yes @TusharSuradkar , normally people tends to ignore the signboards erected in the parking area but you will definitely spend more time than you thought of once reaching there.
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It’s walkable distance from Old Mahabaleshwar Temple (05-10 mins max) and it’s not a huge site, just once temple and beautiful surroundings. We spent almost 30 mins there. Since it is not so much crowded (we were there on Sunday, still not much crowd at this location), it allowed us to be a bit relaxed there.
there is story attached to Shivaji Maharaj too, beside that the table land top ground and a Pond is there have you done Boating there kindly share.as there lot of Movies shoots there.
I would like to know the story about Chhatrapati Shivaji Mharaj attached to it.
For the boating, there is Venna lake in Mahabaleshwar, we avoided going there as it was very crowded that time. We had been there during earlier visit and enjoyed that.
Thanks for your interesting post @AjitThite . I love the photos, especially the cover photo and would love to visit Krishnabai Mandir. You mentioned that it was excavated around 2006-07 but has it been dated. I mean when is it estimated that it was built? Also, why do you think photography or video shooting is prohibited? It reminds me of an incident I experienced in an archaeological site with similar rules which I must one day post about.
They said that it was built in 18th century but some said it is older than that. No so sure about it.
In terms of ban on photography and shooting at archeological sites, I believe it was primarily due to the crowd. Photos and shoots draw crowds to a location, making it difficult to clear the area, especially if it is a small region with fragile artefacts that require frequent maintenance.
First of all let me thank you once for asking However I am exited to see @AdamGT is taking interest in the detail information about it so I thought let me add some thing to this post.
As this temple you have mention the origin of Krishna river is true and appreciate however the fact is that this temple older than 4000 to 5000 year s or even more that too of Pandavas .
secondly there is not only Krishna However 5 rivers UDGAM (means origin It has origin of 5 rivers -Krishna , Koyna, Venna, Savitri and Gayatri.) over a period of time this rivers lost and people forget their name and story.
it said in history from the local old man story that once Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj was going with their few honest body guard that time they have came and do he worship on this Shivalinga that time temple was not glorified as it is today.
Hope this information can be liked by @TusharSuradkar and @user_not_found as they love the culture and has genuine interest in it Yes if you ask for the Proof I dont as I have stayed their for one month in that Panchgani centre of Moral rearmament for World summit during that period i gather this information so found worth of sharing here only for those who believe in it
Thanks for jumping in @Anil6969 and for adding the detail information. I was actually surprised when @AjitThite mentioned that it was built in the 18th century given that it was “excavated” around 2006-07. It’s hard to tell from just looking at photos but I thought surely if the temple needed to be excavated it must have been much more historical but Agit did say he wasn’t sure. I love visiting archeological sites and seeing how “man” developed at different times and in different places around the world and Krishnabai Mandir certainly sounds like a place that I would love to visit!
Which is full of such mental and eye food for Hobby appetite,
Even in south we have so many similar HUMPI and all where @TravellerG can help you with details of South .
However I am Travel lover across India Hope you must have seen KASHI in Uttar Pradesh,Rajasthan and much more I sure will feed your Taste and like thereafter for old monuments of India.
. It’s beautiful. 
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