Thus the city retains its name ‘Kolhapur’ from ‘Kolha’ or the demon ‘Kolhasur’. But his last wish before dying was to name the place he lived after him. Before dying, he begged her to forgive him and she did. So she came in the form of Mahalakshmi and killed this demon. Observing this Goddess Lakshmi made the excuse of a fight with Lord Vishnu and came down to earth just to save her devotees and people of the town. So, they prayed to Goddess Parvati to solve their miseries. And thus people there were deprived of water. This demon was sucking away the water of this river. Once, there came a demon named ‘Kolhasur’. According to the story, there was this place where a river flowed. The word ‘Kolha’ translates to Fox in English. A story emerges in the Puranas that there lived a fox-like demon. Goddess Lakshmi being an extremely knowledgable and wife of the supreme did not, just like that, come to this particular town but in fact with a purpose for sure, as Gods and Goddesses do not do anything without the purpose of welfare to devotees or people on earth. The place where she came down to earth from Vaikhunta is the very Kolhapur, where she lived and decided to stay forever to bless all her countless devotees who visit her then, now and forever. In spite of the muni disrespecting her, Lord Vishnu puts up a kind, gentle decorum which was disliked by Lakshmi who then decides to leave Vaikhunta and come down to earth. Goddess Lakshmi witnessing all of this, unable to bear the insult to her husband, grows extremely furious as Vishnu’s chest is where she resides. Vishnu then tells Bhrigu that his chest is strong but his foot might not be very strong and hence starts pressing his foot to provide comfort to the sage. When a sage named Bhrigumuni kicks Lord Vishnu on his chest, and Lord Vishnu, of course, being the supreme and the eternal controller of all does not retaliate or curse the sage on his wicked gesture but in turn greets him with great hospitality and ensures that his foot is not aching as he had kicked him real hard. History of the temple rolls down to a fight between Lord Vishnu and Goddess Lakshmi in the Vaikuntha. Let’s explore the temple for its most precious history, traditions and much more. The temple is of extreme religious significance and is considered to be the most sacred abode of goddess Lakshmi in the world, making it the one and only, number one pilgrimage centers dedicated to Goddess Lakshmi. The temple is referred to appear in multiple Puranas of Hinduism. The diety Goddess Mahalakshmi here is also referred to as “Ambabai” by several communities and hence the temple is also known as Shri Kollur Ambabai Temple. The Shri Kolhapur Mahalakshmi Temple is located in the Kolhapur city of Maharashtra on the banks of the Panchganga River, about 156 miles south of Pune.
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