Jyotiba Temple

Jyotiba Temple sits on a hill of the Panhala range at roughly 3,124 ft, some 20 km by road from Kolhapur (Sangli is 55 km away), with wide views across the district. The deity Jyotiba is regarded as a single incarnation of Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva, and local legend credits him with killing the demon Ratnasur, so the shrine is seen as a symbol of good overcoming evil.

The first temple is attributed to Navji Saya; the present building owes much to a rebuilding in 1730 by Maharaja Ranoji Shinde of Gwalior. Pilgrims climb a long flight of steps to reach its tall spires and carved stonework. The biggest crowds come for the yearly fair on the full-moon nights of Chaitra and Vaishakha, when the hilltop and the temple are coloured pink and orange by thrown gulal.