Kolhapur
Kolhapur, also spelled Colapore, (
Kolhapur.ogg ) is a city in the Panchganga River Basin in the western Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the district headquarters of Kolhapur district. Kolhapur comes under the administration of Pune division. Prior to Indian Independence, Kolhapur was a nineteen gun salute, princely state ruled by the Bhosale Chhatrapati (Bhosale royal clan) of the Maratha Empire.
History
Scriptural records
Kolhapur is mentioned in the Devi Gita, the final and key chapter of the Devi-Bhagavata Purana, a special text of Shaktism. Kolhapur is noted as a place of Kollamma worship. In the text, Devi says,
Medieval era
The Shilahara family at Kolhapur was the latest of the three and was founded about the time of the downfall of the Rashtrakuta Empire. They ruled over southern Maharashtra; the modern districts of Satara, Kolhapur and Belgaon. Their family deity was the goddess Mahalakshmi, whose blessing they claimed to have secured in their copperplate grants (Mahalakshmi-labdha-vara-prasada). Like their relatives of the northern branch of Konkan, the Shilaharas of Kolhapur claimed to be of the lineage of the Vidyadhara Jimutavahana. They carried the banner of golden Garuda. One of the many titles used by the Shilaharas was Tagarapuravaradhisvara, supreme sovereign ruler of Tagara.[3]