Mandhardevi Kalubai Temple

The Mandhardevi Kalubai temple sits on a hill at 4,650 feet, some 20 km from Wai in Satara district, looking out over Pandavgad and Purandar forts. Local lore puts it at more than 400 years old, though no firm construction date is known. Kalubai's image wears two silver masks and silk garments, and the Gurav family, regarded as the shrine's hereditary custodians, take turns to perform the rituals and carry the masks in procession. Devotees believe the grove around the shrine has miraculous powers.

For much of the year few visitors come. That changes each January with the Kalubai Jatra, a ten-day pilgrimage in honour of Kaleshwari Devi that usually brings in over 300,000 devotees. Its high point is a 24-hour festival on the full-moon day, when the goddess is offered puran poli and curd rice. A stampede during the 2005 pilgrimage killed more than 300 people.