Hello to all Local Guide friends!
I hope you all are fine and doing well!
I was inspired after reading several posts on #monthlytopic shared by various fellow Local Guides and I decided to take part in it. Today I am excited to share my post on July’s #monthlytopic ‘Religious buildings or monuments’ initiated by @HiroyukiTakisawa
I strongly believe that God is one and we all are his children. So by this relation, we are each other’s brothers, and we have one Godly father. But the humankind has been divided in different sects and religions. And based on our religion and the path that we opt, based on the experience that we gain from that divine being, we call that one God by several different names. For his prayers and worships we have built different monumental architectural structures like Churches, Temples and Mosques since ancient times. We feel peaceful at these places because of the divine atmosphere that is maintained here. We feel refreshed and gain positive energy.
So, today I am sharing with you one such holy place Shri Mahalaxmi Temple from my native place Kolhapur.
Shree Mahalaxmi Temple of Kolhapur in Maharashtra is considered as one of the Shakti- Peeths of India, and is a very popular pilgrimage site. Shree Mahalaxmi is the goddess of power hence it is called as Shakti- Peeth. The temple takes its name from the name of goddess ‘Shree Mahalaxmi’. The idol of Shree Mahalaxmi is carved in black stone of 3 feet in height.
This is an ancient Indian temple & is also called as ‘Dakshin Kashi’ of India. This temple is the main attraction of the city of Kolhapur.
To enter into the premises of the temple, there are four gates on each side of the temple i.e. East, West, North & South. The entrance gate at west side is called as ‘Mahadwara’ of the temple. We can see a beautiful view of the temple through this gate.
After entering through the ‘Mahadwara’ gate, there are several ‘Deepamaalas’ on either side of the premises. After that there is a ‘Garuda mandap’ with square pillars. The entrance gate at north side is called as ‘Ghati Darwaja’.
While entering inside the Shree Mahalaxmi temple there are two temples of goddesses on either side of the temple, namely Goddess Mahakali and Goddess Mahasaraswathi. Also, we can see decorative, strong and huge pillars of black stone inside the temple. While on the outer part of temple there is a rich display of sculpture in dancing poses, musicians and other deities.
The dome of the each temple is decorative and very attractive.
Every year generally in October month ‘Navaratri’ festival occurs. On these festival days a special ‘Pooja’ of Shree Mahalaxmi is organized on each day for nine days. On these nine days thousands of devotees come to Kolhapur from all parts of the India to take blessings from Shree Mahalaxmi.
Another very special festival ‘Kirnostav’ is celebrated every year. It occurs in November & February every year. During ‘Kirnostav’ the rays of sun falls directly on the idol of Shree Mahalakshmi at the time of sunset. The Goddess idol looks very beautiful and shining during ‘Kirnostav’.
This temple is nicely maintained, it is clean and neat. There are several shops selling things that you need to worship the goddess Shree Mahalaxmi.
The city of Kolhapur lies in the state of Maharashtra, India; the local language of Kolhapur is ‘Marathi’. This is why you will find many Marathi words in this post. I have listed down the meanings of those words for your information below.
- Shakti – Power
- Dakshin Kashi – Southern place of pilgrimage [Kashi originally is a place of pilgrimage in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh]
- Mahadwara – big door
- Deepamaala – a decorative stone pillar on which small lamps are placed
- Garuda mandap – Canopy named ‘Garuda’ where devotees sing prayers and hymns
- Ghati Darwaja – A door which has big bell on the top
- Navaratri – Festival of nine days and nine nights to celebrate and worship the nine Goddesses
- Kirnostav – Festival of light rays
I hope you enjoyed this post.
