MAHALAKSHMI Temple Kolhapur
The Shri Mahalakshmi Temple of Kolhapur in Maharashtra, India, is one of the Shakti Peethas also called Dakshin Kashi,
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
Kannada 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. The image of
Mahalakshmi carved in black stone is 3 feet in height. The Shri yantra
is carved on one of the walls in the temple. 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).
History:
Although several parts of the temple are of
the second half of the second millennium CE, epigraphic references place
the deity in the 7th century CE, and the temple in the 10th century CE.
For a period in the interim, this temple had fallen out of worship and
the image of the Goddess was housed elsewhere. Worship was restored in
the year 1715 after the Marathas rose to power.
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