From - Satara to Kolhapur

56 Km from the Pune city lies the neat little town of Satara. The name Satara was given in ancient times due to the 7 hills that surrounded the city. The highway stretch onwards from Satara is a truly wonderful drive and one can keep a steady speed of 80-100 for about 15-20 minutes at a stretch!

A side view of the picturesque highway

On the Pune Satara stretch lies the replica of the Tirupati temple in Andhra Pradesh called Narayanpur Balaji.Since the highway is a pleasure to drive and you can miss small turns, watch out for the Narsapur Phata(55 Km's from Pune). From there you need to reach Kapurhole village and after taking a left from there, you are at Narayanpur!The temple is neat and clean and that was the striking thing about it. There were no beggars around and most importantly no pimps. There are many small temples inside and every visitors gets a prasad(Sweet with Deity's blessing) while going out!

About 50 Km's from Satara lies the small town of Karad. Karad is distinctive because it lies at the confluence of Koyna and Krishna rivers. The eating joints between Satara and Karad are awesome and this is one highway stretch where you will see a lot of Mutton & Bhakri joints. Bhakri is a kind of Maharashtrian roti and is normally made from either Jowar flour, Bajra flour or Rice flour.Try out one of these joints for sure as this combination of Mutton and Bhakri you wont get in other parts of India!

About 75 Km's from Karad lies the Sugar Capital of India - Kolhapur! Kolhapur has a great history attached to it as it said that goddess Mahalakshmi killed Kolhasur - the demon on whom the city is named. Set in the banks of the Panchgangaa river, Kolhapur is home to the famous Mahalakshmi temple!In modern times, Kolhapur has also become an higher education hub, with various engineering and medical colleges set in its vicinity!

There is only one place to stay in Kolhapur. Get advance booking done, cajole the manager to get you a room when you get there...but stay there! The Shalini Palace is easily one of the grandest hotels I have stayed in. Located just bang opposite the beautiful Rankala Lake, it boasts of being the only heritage hotel in Maharashtra. The fact that the former Maharaja of Kolhapur's palace is based out of a non bustling metro, means that the stay wont be too heavy on your pocket too!(Check out 'Shalini Palace' rates on Tripadvisor here). In fact the above morning photo is that from the Balcony of the Royal Room I stayed in and what more can one ask in terms of view!

While in Kolhapur, do not miss the Chatrapati Shahu Maharaj Museum. Again a palace converted to a museum, it contains some awesome hunting pics of the Maharaja.There are scores and scores of photos of Lion Kills, Tiger Kills and Elephant Kills. Sometimes I feel sad, that the reason for these animals being endangered today are the gun totting and trigger happy Maharaja's of yesteryears who killed a dozen a day to keep his

About 20 Km Northwest of Kolhapur lies the great Panhala fort!Once the base of Shivaji's army and artilerry in the 1600's , today the ruins still stand tall grandly and stares at you with agression!There are some awesome drop zones in and around the fort and you may have your head spinning in minutes by standing near them!Try it but, as its a great rush!

Last but not the least, do not miss out the beautiful Jyotiba temple. The approach to Jyotiba temple is really scenic and it looks as if you are approaching an island of trees.

Inside the temple there are 12 Jyotirlings and it is said that goddess Jyotiba helped goddess Mahalakshmi to oust the demon Kolhasur!