facing the north, east and the south are The devakoshtas houses Venkatesha, Katyayani and Gowri Shankar. The three shrines have rather simple shikharas of brick and mortar age-old back from the 19th century.Ībove the Mahalakshmi temple, there is a temple with Shivalingam and a Nandi.
A rich display of sculpture of figurines in dancing poses, artistes, gods and goddesses are also seen in this temple.
Also here are the horizontal mouldings and the perpendicular equalizers which generate a rich light and shade decoration. The temple complex displays mortarless structure echoing the elegance of the early Deccan temples. It is surrounded with shrines on either side is of Mahakali and Mahasaraswathi. Following thems is the third mandap with three monuments facing west. This mandap is very old as it belongs to the 18th century.Īn image of garuda and another stone mandap also faces the temple on a raised platform enshrining Ganesh. These are usually the basic characteristic of Maratha temples. Then you will enter the Garuda mandap with square pillars and foliated curvatures of wood. After you enter the Mahadwara you will be confronted with several deepamaalas on either side. The main entrance is called as Mahadwara of the temple is in the west. You will see a mesmerizing statue of a lion made of stone that is the vahana of the goddess, There is a Shri yantra engraved on one of the walls inside the temple. The shrine of Mahalakshmi is engraved in black stone with 3 feet height. It is mounted on a stone platform with an appearance having four arms and crown. The shrine of the goddess is constructed of gemstone with a weight of 40 kilograms. The architecture of Mahalakshmi Temple, KolhapurĪrchitecturally, this temple belongs to the Kannada Chalukya Empire. This temple takes has taken its name from Mahalakshmi, the spouse of Vishnu, and is assumed that the heavenly couple to be present in the area. It is known as one of the six places where it is supposed to obtain either salvation from desires or fulfil them. This is the Kolhapur shakti peetha which is of special spiritual significance. Puranas are the sacred writings which tell us about the stories of Deities and as per these writings, a shakti peetha is a place related to Shakti, the goddess of power.
It is the Shakti Peetha which is also called Dakshin Kashi and is listed in various Puranas of Hinduism. It is well known among all other temples across India. The Shri Mahalakshmi Temple of Kolhapur is in Maharashtra, India.