Jyotiba Mandir is also known as Sri Kedarnath. It is believed that Kedarnathji (Shiva) came down from the Himalayas at the invitation of Kolhapur Mahalakshmi to overpower the demons who were harassing the people of the region. So the Kedarnath Shivling is associated with Jyotiba. It is said that Shiva and Surya are merged into Jyotiba.

 He is the kuldevata (family deity) of many Maharashtrian families. Therefore, it was a must in our list of mandirs to be visited. It is about 20 km from Kolhapur. It is said to be one of the Jyotirlingams even though it does not come in the classic list.

Perched on a hillock which is about 3,000 ft high, it was a beautiful drive up the mountain and the scenery all around was fabulous. After parking the car we had to climb about hundred steps before we made it to the mandir. When we stepped inside we were quite enchanted to see a huge sea of pink gulal covering everything – the murtis and the pathways and the shrubs – everything was covered in that passionate pink. In fact the whole mountain seemed pink!

As has been related in the blog on Mahalakshmi, the goddess chose to incarnate herself at the place called Karavira in order to kill the asura called Kolhasura. She called upon the trinity to help her and they are said to have appeared in the palms of Vimalambuja, the wife of the sage Pougand on the 6th day of the bright half of the month of Chaitra (March/April). They appeared in the form of three flames in her palms and immediately turned into an eight-year-old child holding a sword, small drum, trident and pot of nectar. Thus, Jyotiba is also said to be an incarnation of the three gods – Brahma, Vishnu and Maheshwara like Dattatreya who was also born from the trinity. He belongs to the Nath Sampradaya. The deity is also referred to as Khandoba. I remembered to have seen a mandir to Khandoba in Shirdi.

Apart from the sea of pink the one thing that attracted me was a huge Nandi which was a bit apart from the main cluster of mandirs in the centre of the compound. He was truly handsome and we went and paid obeisance to him before entering the main mandir through a side door. Again, we were allowed to go right inside and stand straight before the charming murti. Jyotiba was sitting on a horse, and therefore it is possible that he may be a symbolic representation of the Sun God. The image faces south, towards Mahalakshmi Mandir in Kolhapur as a protective gesture towards her. He had four hands holding the trident, damaru (small drum), sword and a pot of nectar. Like the murti of Mahalakshmi, Shesh Nag’s hood was coiled on his head. He had a cute Marathi hat and wore an upper cloth. Of course he was adorned with many gold ornaments like necklaces, rings etc. Altogether he was a charming figure. I didn’t get enough time to see anything else. I considered myself most fortunate to get the inevitable coconut and some gulal as prasad straight from the sanctorum.

We came out and went to the shrine of the goddess called Chopadai. She is said to be Adishakti and an incarnation of Mahishasuramardini. Her mandir is west facing and the same miracle of the sun’s rays falling on her feet, which takes place in Kolhapur Mahalakshmi, is repeated here, twenty-one days after it takes place in the Mahalakshmi Mandir. We took numerous photos with her since she was so charming.

There is a collection of four main mandirs in the premises, one dedicated to Jyotiba, one to Kedarnatha and the third to Chopadai. There is also an important one to Kalabhairava who is a fierce incarnation of Shiva. This murti is also four-handed and holds the trident, sword and pot of nectar in his hands and stands in the same posture as Jyotiba. Kalabhairava is the protector of the Ratnagiri Mountain. Coconuts are offered to him in plenty. There is a belief that Shiva in the form of Kalabhairava defeated demon Ratnasura on this hill.

Actually, there are eight Bhairavas around the mandir. These are Kaala Bhairava, Baala Bhairava, Suvarna Bhairava, Ganda Bhairava, Aakasha Bhairava and Kalpanta Bhairava. Apart from these eight Bhairavas, there is also a collection of various deities in and around the main mandir.

The main festival here takes place on the full moon night of both Chaitra and Vaishaka – Chaitra Purnima and Vaishaka Purnima. A big fair is held here on Chaitra Purnima in which devotees come carrying sticks from the shrub known as (sasan) which is a shrub with reddish leaves found in the Gir mountains in Gujarat. They scatter “gulal” which is a pinkish powder all over the place. This is the powder which is normally used during Holi but since Sunday is supposed to be the special day for Jyotiba, devotees do this with great exuberance every Sunday.

As we came out of the mandir I was amazed to see at least ten recently married couples in the mandir. They were all dressed in authentic Maharashtrian bridal attire and were delightful to behold. Since Jyotiba is the kuladeva of many Maharashtrian families, all married couples had to go and get his blessings as soon as possible after marriage.

Since we had two recently married couples in our party I was delighted that they were able to get Jyotiba’s blessings.

Hari Aum Tat Sat!