Shri Jyotiba Temple is a holy place on a mountain near Wadi Ratnagiri in Kolhapur district of Maharashtra.This mountain is also known as Jyotiba Dongar. It is around 17 kms from Kolhapur city.

According to local legends, Shri Jyotiba is a reincarnation of three gods – Brahma, Vishnu and Mahesh, who is also known as Dattatreya avatar. It is said that  Shri Jyotiba helped goddess Shri Mahalaxmi in fight against demons. After the war with demos was over, Shri Jyotiba stayed back on this mountain forever. Most of the devotees visit  Shri Jyotiba Temple after visiting Shri Mahalaxmi Temple. The road towards the temple is beautiful. It is covered by sugarcane farms on both sides. The atmosphere on this path is so pleasant that you will enjoy the journey.

Once you reach on the mountain, you will start feeling the cool air and peace in the divine atmosphere. On the way to the entrance of the temple, there are various stalls selling pooja material, sugarcane juice, lassi and soda juices. You must try packed lassi in any of the stalls in this lane. Definitely, you will go for
one more 🙂

After entering the temple premises, you will notice gulal, a pink coloured sacred powder spread across the premises even on the walls of the temple. The devotees offers the pink powder to Shri Jyotiba while standing in the queue for the darshan. Same powder is also applied on foreheads of devotees by the pandits in the temple.

The temple architecture is similar to Maratha temple architecture found across Maharashtra. It includes use of heavy blocks of black/grey stone with carvings or plain blocks and deepstamp (light tower) at the entrance of the temple.This temple with pink colour spread across looks different and beautiful from all sides.

Here are some beautiful pictures of Shri Jyotiba Temple captured by me during my recent visit to Kolhapur along with my family.


















































How to reach:
Kolhapur is well connected by rail and road with the other cities in Maharashtra and other states. Shri Jyotiba Temple is around 17 kms from Kolhapur city.

By Road – Kolhapur lies on NH4 which connects Mumbai to Bangalore. It takes 8 hours to drive by road from Mumbai to Kolhapur. From Pune to Kolhapur is takes around 3 hours drive.

By Train – The Kolhapur railway station is named after Chatrapti Shahu Maharaj. It well connected with all the important cities in India. There are daily trains running from Mumbai such as Sahyadri & Mahalaxmi Express.

By Air – Kolhapur city has a domestic Airport at Ujalaiwadi which has daily Air Deccan Flight to and from Mumbai.

References:
1. http://www.kolhapurtourism.org/our-destination/jotiba-temple/
2. https://www.maharashtratourism.gov.in/treasures/temple/jyotiba