Kolhapur and Mahalaksmi Mandir

Kolhapur is in the province of Maharashtra. After leaving Tirupathi this was our first stop.

The temple architecture was very different from what I have seen in other parts of India. This style is known as ‘Hemandpanthi’ in ancient India. Even though some call it South Indian Temple style, to me it was very different.There were five towers and a main hall. The idol, we were told weighs 40kgs and is embedded with precious stones. Mahalakshmi Temple, an ancient temple in Kolhapur, is dedicated to the Goddess of prosperity Mahalakshmi. The temple was constructed in 7th century AD during the reign of King Karandev of Chalukya dynasty.

Kiranotsav, is one of the festivals celebrated for three days from January 31 every year, which we missed by a few days and Navarathri is celebrated during September/October depending upon when Dasara comes.

We had our first darsan on Thursday evening and the second one on Friday. Rao wanted to take a dip in the river panchganga before going to the darsan. Nirmala and I felt that the weather was cold and hence had a hot shower in the hotel before leaving.

We were excited that we happened to be there on a Friday. Went to the administration office to check out special poojas. There were two that caught our eye. One was kumkum pooja for 201 rupees and the other one was panchaamrita pooja for 401 rupees. The second one sounded good. We purchased the ticket and then we were asked to wait for the priest to take us inside around 8:30 a.m. and he arrived around 10:30 a.m. There were many others waiting for the same. To our surprise (and shock) we were told that only men are allowed to do the actual abhishekam. Nirmala, who is single and who also sponsored the same pooja,paid 401 rs. was very disapponted. I commented, 'how come they took money from a woman and would not allow her to touch the idol which was a woman's form?' My comment was either ignored or raised an eye brow or two. To enter the pooja area, we were asked to buy some flowers, coconut etc. from the shop and wait inside. Each tiny basket of goods was 51 Rs. We held that in our palm and sat just outside the pooja area specially allocated for us. In a few minutes, people poured in for free darsan and completely blocked our view. They were like a wall in front of us. I tried my best not to get frustrated and was able to successfully meditate. All those that sponsored this expensive pooja were in the same situation. This is not a complaint, but just to let people know what to expect. I was glad that I could atleast see the idol that the priest moved from inside to the abhishekam area when we went to the early morning darsan.

After the panchaamrit pooja, Rao and others came out. Rao looked very pleased and content - but not a word of what happened while they were inside came out of him. That is his nature!!! Just do it, be happy and content!!
Overall, the vibes in the Temple were great. One must visit this Temple in their life time