visit my photos , on august 15th we visited vishalghad,

this was third spot we covered after Jothibha

see this link for all the photos we took,

dont miss any
http://picasaweb.google.com/madhukeshwart/Vishaalghad

Jyotiba,17kms from kolhapur

on august 15th 2007, after finishing the Mahalaxmi darshan ,we visited jothibha ,

this was 2nd spot ,we covered after taking darshan of mahalaxmi temple, kolhapur


Jyotiba is a holy site of hindu's near Wadi Ratnagiri, &Jyotiba is 17 kms, north-west of Kolhapur


The deity of the temple is known by the same name, and is held by the locals to be an incarnation of three gods: Brahma, Vishnu, Mahesha, and Jamadagni.


An annual fair takes place on the full moon night of the Hindu months of Chaitra and Vaishakha.

see this link for all the photos we took,,,
http://picasaweb.google.com/madhukeshwart/Jothibha

Kolhapur ,217 kms from pune, on NH4 ,

It was one of my lifes best trip ,which ever I enjoyed in my life ...

We started at 14th august 2007 ,at midnight 12:00 o'clock,
when whole india was busy in celbrating 60th independence day...
we too started with a slogan in raising voice.....
"Bollloooooooooo Bharath maaaaaaaaaaaaaaataaaki Jai...."
"vvvvvvvvvvvvvanddeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee maataram...."


(At the same time we even started getting SMS's on our cell with wishes
of Independence day , suddenly ,some how it came into our mind
to we should wish all of our friends in different way, one person used to call his friend
and used to say "Bollloooooooooo Bharath maaaaaaaaaaaaaaataaa ki",then all used
support him with high pitch " Jai....""
similarly "vvvvvvvvvvvvvanddeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee maataram...."with big voice,

then every one ,started wishing all of their freinds in similar way ,it continued
till morning 4 am,even we repeated the same thing whole day )


we started our trip from pimpri, pune ....... to satara (94 kms),
from satara to kolhapur (123 kms) on NH4 ,we reached kolhapur at
around 5 am , 15th aug 2007, then we took ladge and took bath and
the reached temple -mahalaximi temple around 6am ...

how to reach kolhapur?

The Shri Mahalakshmi Temple of Kolhapur in Maharashtra, India, is one of the Shakti Peethas, listed in various puranas of Hinduism.

According to these writings, a shakti peetha is a place associated with Shakti, the goddess of power. The Kolhapur peetha is of special religious significance, being one of the six places where it is believed one can either obtain salvation from desires or have them fulfilled. The temple takes its name from Mahalakshmi, the consort of Vishnu, and it is believed that the divine couple reside in the area.

The temple belongs, architecturally, to the Chalukya empire, and may have been first built circa 700 AD. Mounted on a stone platform, the image of the four armed and crowned goddess is made of gemstone and weighs about 40 kilograms.

A stone lion, the vahana of the goddess, stands behind the statue. The crown contains an image of the Sheshnag — the serpent of Vishnu. In Her four hands, the deity of Mahalakshmi holds objects of symbolic value. The lower right hand holds a mhalunga (a citrus fruit), in the upper right, a large mace (kaumodaki) with its head touching the ground, in the upper left a shield (khetaka), and in the lower left, a bowl (panpatra). Unlike most Hindu sacred images, which face north or east, the image of this deity looks west (Pashchim).

There is a small open window on the western wall, through which the light of the setting sun falls on the face of the image for three days around the 21st of each March and September

Kolhapur Mahalaxmi

(collected from google images,as we can't take photos of goddess,Mahalaxmi)

see some of the pics we took in temple campus

visit my photos , on august 15th we visited mahalaxmi-temple of kolhapur_maharastra

see this link to see all the photos ,which we took at kolhapur

http://picasaweb.google.com/madhukeshwart/Kolhapur_mahalaxmi_temple