Kolhapur - located in Maharashtra and very well known for the presence of Mahalaxmi Mandir and other diety and also known for its tasty and Spicy (sp. NON Veg Food)
There are around 10-12places within Kolhapur (hence you need minium of 2days- can be travelled in AUTO too) as they know the places and moving in small roads - ROADS are very well - much much better than MUMBAI...
Above MAP mentions the places in and around KOlhapur ....
Now lets begin 1 by 1 the TOUR Of places in Kolhapur...to begin with from Kolhapur chi Mahalaxmi Mandir...
Once you get the darshan of the diety (first thing to do) then you start your journey ahead at various locations - to being with we started with century old RAM Mandir & NARSOBACHI Wadi
The place is eternal - dont miss out on pedas being available here .......
Post this place we moved further to another intersting location - Rankala lake which has the famous SHALINI Palace - enroute we saw tobacco plantations and the Jaggery making factory....
Belevie me you can buy these Jaggery (they are chemical free) we cherished them back home - Mumbai for 2-3months and they had an excellent flavour - all original.
Our next destination was Jyotiba...though i do not have the photos of them but the road and the journey is excellent - (It has MTDC resort too) the best place in Jyotiba is where they throw (Turmeric with a piece of dry coconut ) on the diety and the mandir from outside too (many newly wed come to take blessing of the diety) - ITs an experience to be there for the darshan
we were done for the 1st day - our 2nd day was the Panhala FORT (it has MTDC Resort too) which has Sayaji Kothi and now you can buy ROW houses there too....then there are HUGE storage places (used during Shivaji Maharaj days) and the famous TEEN Darwaza
Enroute you will also cross the famous "PARWATI Mandir" - the only location where you can find this mandir - there are lots of SHIVA mandir acorss India but this is rare.
At Panhala you can also see the BAJI Prabhu idol - in a war position and the not so famous KASHID - the person almost look alike like Shivaji Maharaj (he was kept there for the reason so that the people from his own and other kingdom would know that he is here and confuse them)
Post this location - we need to move further and reached the Museum - its now a museum earlier it was Ch. Shahu Maharaj Palace - WOW thats what you can say when you reach here...its huge, magnificient with the weapons and the artwork done in the palace with the best part is the sabha hall / (conference room) where all meeting were held - everything from the top where ladies would peep in and the bottom where Maharaja chairs and other people would sit and discuss is created with great care and detailing.
we finally ended our journey to kolhapur by visiting the (BIN KHAMBI GANESH MANDIR) the mandir which does not have any support of pillars and still standing - a class of architecture
Summary:
A good pleasant atmosphere and high quality roads to move with good food and many intersting places to visit makes Kolhapur an ideal destination of visit and stay.
