Yamai Devi Temple, Aundh

The Yamai Devi Temple stands on a hill at Aundh in Satara district. Tradition says Mahalaxmi, Jyotiba of Kolhapur and Rama called the goddess 'Ye Mai', 'Mother, come', which gave her name. She is regarded as a joint form of Shiva and Parvati, or of Parvati and Renuka, and therefore as the elder sister of Tulja Bhavani; the Tuljapur temple even has a Yamai shrine, and many devotees come on here after visiting Tuljapur. The temple is the family deity of a great many Marathi families and has long been tied to the Pant Pratinidhi family of Aundh.

The top of the temple is decorated with images of various Hindu gods. Midway up the hill, reached by steps or by road, is the Shri Bhavani Museum, built around the Aundh Maharajas' private collection. It holds paintings by Raja Ravi Varma, M. V. Dhurandhar, Baburao Painter and Madhav Satwalekar, and a Mother and Child stone sculpture by Henry Moore.