Kolhapur

Kolhapur is a city situated in the south west corner of Maharashtra, India. The population of Kolhapur is around 419,000. The main language is Marathi. It is situated on the banks of river Panchganga and provides the location for the Mahalakshmi Temple. The city also lends its name to many common terms like Kolhapuri Chappal , Kolhapuri lavangi mirchi, Kolhapuri gur and Kolhapuri cuisin.

Bus is a more preferred mode of transport due to its wider network and speed. Buses run by private companies are generally considered more comfortable and reliable, with most offering sleeper and air conditioned coaches. Kolhapur has multiple state transport bus stands like central bus stand (CBS),Rankala & Sambhajinagar bus stand spread around the city. These provide services connecting to most of cities in Maharashtra, Karnataka, Goa and some places in Andhra Pradesh. The private companies generally serve the more popular routes, to and from big cities, like Mumbai, Pune, Bangalore, Panjim, Nashik, Belgaon, Solapur, Hyderabad, Ratnagiri, Shirdi and Tirupati.

Overall, Kolhapur has become a crowded place recently. Huge number of two wheeler vehicles precides over the number of four wheelers (private & commercial). The central city being non-planned is very crowded during peak hours.

A visit to Mahalaxmi Temple can be followed by a trip to Panhala Fort. The Auto Rickshaw charges approx. Rs.450/- for Panhala Trip from Kolhapur to Panhala and back. The visit will take around 6 hrs and after coming back to Kolhapur city one can go to Rankala Lake in evening and visit Shalini Palace Hotel and Chowpatty there. One can enjoy snacks from vada pav to South Indian dishes at the Chowpatty. Next day one can start the morning in Kolhapur with a visit to New Palace Museum. After seeing museum one can proceed to Jyotiba Temple. One should also visit Bhavani Temple near Mahalaxmi Temple.