The hundred years of Karavira: Mahalakshmi and Kolhasura at Kolhapur
The demon Kolhasura wins a boon that Mahalakshmi leave Karavira for a hundred years, rules it cruelly, and is killed by her eighteen-armed form when she returns; his dying wishes name the city after him and bind her to stay. The temple adds the Bhrigu road from Vaikuntha, the sun on her feet and the pilgrims from Tirupati.
Who is in it
LakshmiMahalakshmi of Karavira, who keeps her word for a hundred years
Brahma's three mind-born sons Gaya, Lavana and Kolha grow cruel on his and Shiva's blessing; Vishnu and the gods kill Gaya and Lavana.
Kolha, king of Kolhapur, does penance on Kolhagiri to avenge his brothers; while he is away the demon Sukeshi seizes the city and attacks temples and hermitages.
Kolhasura returns, kills Sukeshi and makes his eldest son Karaveera king; Karaveera harasses sages and brahmins.
The sages run to Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva; Shiva kills Karaveera in battle; dying, Karaveera asks that the city carry his name.
Kolhasura sees that the gods' strength is Mahalakshmi's; he does penance to her, wins her favour, and asks her to leave Kolhapur for a hundred years.
She gives her word and goes to the Himalaya; Kolhasura spreads ruin; the gods beg the three, the three beg her, and bound by her word she waits.
When the hundred years end she returns with the gods in her eighteen-armed form and kills Kolhasura.
Dying, he asks three things: that the place of his death be a tirtha, that she live there and the city be called Kolhapur, and that the Kohala fruit be cut each year in his name; she grants them and frees him.
Brahma had three mind-born sons, Gaya, Lavana and Kolha, and with his and Shiva's blessing they grew strong and cruel. Vishnu and the gods killed Gaya and Lavana. Kolha, king of Kolhapur, went to Kolhagiri to do penance for revenge, and while he was gone the demon Sukeshi took the city and broke its temples and hermitages. Kolhasura came back, killed Sukeshi and set his eldest son Karaveera on the throne, and Karaveera turned on the sages and brahmins. The sages went to the three gods, and Shiva killed Karaveera in battle; dying, the boy asked that the city bear his name, Karavira. Kolhasura, in his grief, saw where the gods' strength lay, and did penance to Mahalakshmi herself until she was pleased; then he asked her to leave Kolhapur for a hundred years. She gave her word and went to the Himalaya, and without her he ruled by terror. The gods begged the three, the three begged her, and she, bound by her word, waited out the hundred years. Then she came back with the gods behind her, eighteen-armed, and killed him. Dying, he asked that the place be a tirtha, that she live there and the city carry his name, and that the ash gourd be cut each year for him; she granted all three and gave him release.
Temple and pilgrim tradition: after Bhrigu's kick; the sun on her feet; the Tirupati yatra
West India · Kolhapur; TirupatiShakta
The pilgrims tell it from the other end. When Bhrigu kicked Vishnu and Vishnu rubbed the sage's feet, Lakshmi left Vaikuntha in anger and settled at Karavira, and she is there still; the Skanda Purana's thousand names call her Karaveera Nivasini, she who lives at Karavira. Her image is black stone, about three feet high, with a citron, a mace, a shield and a drinking bowl in her hands, a five-headed snake in her crown and a stone lion behind her, and unlike most images it faces west. Twice a year, at the end of January and the start of November, the setting sun comes through a small window in the west wall and lies on her feet, and on the following days higher, and the town calls it Kirnotsav, the festival of rays. The temple was built in the seventh century under the Chalukyas, flourished under the Shilaharas, was hidden in a priest's house during the invasions, and was reinstalled by the Marathas in the eighteenth century, who hung in it a bell taken at Goa in 1683. Pilgrims from Tirupati come here after the seven hills, saying Balaji will not smile unless his Lakshmi does, and a train runs between the two towns every day.
What is different here:
No Kolhasura; the goddess arrives from Vaikuntha, not from the Himalaya; the sun, the image and the yatra rather than a battle.