Mahālakshmī, Kolhāpur

The Mahashakti Pitha at Kolhapur in southern Maharashtra, counted among the eighteen Maha Shakta Pithas as the site where Sati's three eyes fell. The 7th-century Chalukya black-stone temple with Shilahara and Yadava additions holds Mahalakshmi (Ambabai), the royal goddess of the former Kolhapur princely state. She is said to visit her sister Mahalakshmi at Tirupati annually. The Kirnotsav solar alignment each January and November sees the setting sun's rays enter through the eastern gopuram and fall directly on the deity's face. The temple is one of Maharashtra's three-and-a-half Shakta seats (Saade-teen Peeth) and is paired with the Shiva Mahabaleshwar shrine 50 kilometres away.