Jyotiba Temple

The beautiful temple of Kolhapur, known as the Jyotiba Temple lies near the village of Ratnagiri in Maharashtra. The temple is constantly laden with 'rang which translates to color, implying the color used to play Holi. This is because the gulal is offered to Lord Jyotiba as a token of sincerity by the pilgrims. The glorious temple is built for Lord Jyotiba as its name suggests, who was believed to be an embodiment of three different deities. It is believed that this temple should be visited after visiting the Mahalaxmi Temple. Standing 3124 feet above sea level, the view from the temple is breathtaking. The serene environment along with the divinity of the structure gives a feeling of peace and calm to all the pilgrims and visitors.

The most prominent festival of this magnificent temple is celebrated in the Hindu months of Chaitra and Vaisakha. They occur on the full moon night during this month, thereby being named Chaitra Poornima. This is the annual festival when all the devotees throw and play with gulal. The entire hill of the Jyotiba Temple is then covered with gulal, making it a beautiful sight and a great festival to experience.

History

According to the legends, Bhairav was brought from North India and installed at Wada Ratnagiri by the goddess Mahalakshmi to kill Ratnasura, a demon. Though the temple is quite ancient time and again it has been renovated. The current structure of the temple was built by the Scindia family of Gwalior. The main deity of the temple is the form of ‘Shivlinga,’ also known as Kedareshwar. Besides, there is an idol of Yamai and Chopadai.

Architecture

The Jyotiba temple was made in three different stages. The original temple was established by Navji Saya while the main temple that stands today was built by Ranoji Shinde in 1730 in the place of the original. It is 55 feet in length, 37 feet in width and 77 feet in height. The second part of the temple was built by Daulatrao Shinde in the year 1808 which is approximately 44 feet in length, 22 feet in width and 89 feet in height. The third temple was built before the second temple. The exact date isn't known, but it is circa 1780. This part of the temple was built by Malji Nilam Panhalkar and is 13 feet in length, 13 feet in width and 40 feet in height.
The entire temple has an ancient interior. A few changes have been made recently to make the temple more pilgrim friendly and accessible. The triangular domes of the temples are painted in shades of yellow while the main body and walls are still in the same stone that they were made of.