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Shakti Peetha — Wikipedia describes Kolhapur as one of the 18 Maha Shakta pithas, as one of 52 Shakta pithas, and as a member of Maharashtra's 'three and a half' peethas, and it does not appear anywhere in Wikipedia's combined Shakta pithas table (as of 2026).source
Sacred since
634 CE
first attestation / structure
Standing structure
634 CE (Chalukya)
Chalukya
History & significance
A major goddess temple where Mahalakshmi is worshipped locally as Ambabai, reckoned one of the three-and-a-half Shakti seats of the Shakta tradition in Maharashtra.
Sthala katha — the traditional account
What follows is the temple’s own traditional account, transmitted through liturgy and local memory. It is recorded here as tradition, not as attested history.
The goddess is said to have manifested here to destroy the demon Kolhasur, from whom Kolhapur takes its name.