கோலாப்பூர் மகாலட்சுமி (அம்பாபாய்) கோயில்Mahalakshmi (Ambabai) Temple, Kolhapur

Sthala Mahātmyam

Mahalakshmi, lovingly called Ambabai, presides at Kolhapur, invoked as 'Kolha pure Maha lakshmi', the seventh of the eighteen peethas. The black-stone image, adorned with a linga and cobra hood, is worshipped as the abode of Lakshmi, Saraswati and Mahakali together, and the shrine is revered as a place where the Divine Mother dwells permanently. Tradition even holds that Lakshmi settled here after a difference with Vishnu at Tirupati, so that a Tirupati pilgrimage is deemed incomplete without Kolhapur. She is celebrated for slaying the demon Kolhasura, whose name the city bears. The Chalukya-era temple is famed for the Kiranotsava, the 'festival of sun rays', when on fixed dates around 31 January and 9 November the setting sun's rays pass through the doorways and fall directly on the goddess's face across three days. Among Maharashtra's 'three-and-a-half' Shakti Peethas, Kolhapur is reckoned a full peetha. Navaratri, Kiranotsava, the Chaitra and Ashwin festivals, Lalita Panchami and the Rathotsava are chief celebrations, drawing devotees seeking prosperity and grace.