[pawan_pullarwar]

One day, I was thinking to visit Kolhapur during weekend. So, I picked up my mobile and asked my friend Sarang to accompany. We fixed the trip for 2 days. We were total five enthusiastic (so called travel loving people) including my wife, my friend’s wife and my naughty energetic son Neal. We started from Pune at 6.00pm on Friday and reached Kolhapur at 11.00pm. On NH4 highway you will get almost 6, 7 toll posts from Pune to Kolhapur .

Day1:

We woke up early in the morning, got fresh and headed for Mahalaxmi temple. My friend’s friend, who is from Kolhapur joined us and took us to the temple. We reached there at 7.00am.

Mahalaxmi Temple: It was built in 600 AD and it is a Kuldaiwat for most of the people around Kolhapur. Millions of pilgrims from all over India come here to take the blessings of the goddess Mahalaxmi.

After visiting Mahalaxmi temple, we went to famous Fadtare Misal-Pav center to have breakfast (We neither called it as Tapari nor Restaurant). Center was over-crowded by people to enjoy their favorite Misal-Pav. We all were hungry and Misal-Pav’s aroma was raising our appetite. After long waiting period, we all enjoyed Kolhapur’s famous Misal-Pav. If you don’t eat Misal-Pav at this place then you are really missing something good in Kolhapur.

Panhala Fort: It is the historical place, linked with the history of Marathas. It is 20 kms away from Kolhapur city. There are many points to see on this fort but we saw following main points.

AandharBaw: ‘Andhar’ is dark and ‘Baw’ is water well. This well is situated in the dark place so is the name. It was the source of sweet water on the fort, so it was used to be secured by Guards 24 hrs to protect it from being poisoned by enemies. There is a secret path and a room for the messengers for exchanging messages from outsiders.

Teen Darwaja: Where Shivaji Maharaj got a big welcome when he came to this fort. There is a beautiful carving on the middle door showing "Tiger killing elephant" where tiger signifies the Shivaji Maharaj and Elephant signifies the Nijamshahi.[/SIZE]

Storage room: It was used to store arm and ammunition when the fort was ruled by Shivaji Maharaj. Earlier there used to be Masjjit in this place.

Ambarkhana: Design of this building is inspired by the design of Ambarkhana which was used to place on the back of Elephant. Ambarkhana was used to be food storage. There are three storage buildings in a row. Grocery was used to pour from the holes provided on the top of the roof. One small hole at the bottom of the left wall was used as outlet.

Pussati point: This point is on the top of the rock. You can enjoy the good panoramic view between Panhala and Vishalgad (70kms). There is a secret path on the right hand side of this point, from where Shivaji’d escaped from Panhala fort when it was seized by enemy (Siddhi Johhar).

Sajja Kothi: Where Sambhaji (Shivaji’s son) was imprisoned (Najar-kaid) for 6 months by Shivaji Maharaj. Shivaji did it because; Sambhaji left the Shivaji's kingdom for almost one year and joined Aurangzeb's commander, Diler Khan.

After roaming on Panhala fort, we took pure Maharashtrian lunch (Pithal-Bhakri) in the pure Veg dhaba on the fort itself and then started for Jyotirba Temple. Kolhapur is famous for its spicy hot food and almost all preparations are cooked with Lavangi chillies. Local delicacies food includes Kolhapuri mutton/chicken, misal, pandhara rassa, tambada rassa and the very famous rajabhau bhel.

Jyotirba:
It is an ancient temple located on the top of the hill, 25 kms from Panhala fort. It is said that paying visit to this temple is equivalent to paying visit to 12 Jyotirlings. Zigzag way to this temple is awesome with lots of good sceneries.

Day2:

Second day we had reserved for shopping and visiting The New Palace museum. We bought 5 - 6 sets of Kolhapuri Chappals from chambhar lane in Shivaji market. Bargaining is a must.

The New Palace Museum: (Chhatrapati Shahu Maharaj Palace)

This was a Royal Place of Shahu Maharaj which is now partially converted into museum. It is surrounded by big Green Park, the Lake, and the Zoo. Inside museum, you can find out antique things like swords, spears, guns, cloths of kings, etc used by Shahu maharaj and his ancestors. In some rooms you will find preserved animals hunted by the kings. A big lavish Darbar hall shows the prosperity of the king. It is worth watching this museum. Photography is not allowed inside the hall.

At evening 6.30 pm we started our way back to Pune with lots of good memories in our mind. We enjoyed our trip though it was short……[/SIZE]

[moralfibre]

Great travelogue Pawan. Any pictures of the sights you saw? How many Mercs did you spot in Kolhapur?

[pawan_pullarwar]

Yes, me too was excited to look for Merc but not a single I encountered. May be cause we did not spend much time in Kolhapur city. But were travelling around Kolhapur.