Wadi Ratnagiri is a village in Panhala Taluka in Kolhapur district of Maharashtra State. Jyotiba temple is a holy site of Hinduism near Wadi Ratnagiri in Kolhapur district of Maharashtra state in western India. The deity of the temple at the hill is known by the same name, and is held by the locals to be an incarnation of three gods: Brahma, Vishnu, Mahesha, and Jamadagni.
Jyotiba temple is situated at a height of 3124 feet above sea level and is dedicated to Jyotiba (Dattatreya). The temple is 18 km north-west of Kolhapur. According to tradition, the original Kedareshwar temple was built by Navji Saya. In 1730, Ranoji Shinde built the present temple in its place. This shrine is 57 ft x 37 ft x 77 ft high including the spire. The second temple of Kedareshwar is 49 ft x 22 ft x 89 ft high. This shrine was constructed by Daulatrao Shinde in 1808. The third temple of Ramling is 13 ft x 13 ft x 40 ft high including its dome. This temple was constructed in circa 1780 by Malji Nilam Panhalkar. The interior of the temple is ancient. There are a other few temples and Light-towers in the premises.
Legend says that the three gods took the form of Jyotiba to destroy the evil Ratnasur. Jyotiba helped Mahalakshmi in her fight with the demons. He founded his kingdom on this mountain, and belongs to the Nath sampradaya. He was born in the hands of Vimalmbuja, the wife of the sage Pougand, on Chaitra Shukla 6th. Lord Jyotiba is the incarnation that destroyed Raktabhoj Rakshasa, and Ratnasur Rakshasa thus liberating the region from its tyranny. The idol of Lord Jyotiba is four-armed.
The temple is constantly laden with ‘rang’ which translates to colour, implying the colour used to play Holi. This is because the gulal is offered to Lord Jyotiba as a token of sincerity by the pilgrims. This temple is one of the 12 Jyotirlingas in India. This is also called as Kedarnath on Chaitra Poornima in March or April a big festival is held, when lakhs of people come with long bamboo (SASAN) sticks. Scattering of ‘Gulal’ the whole mountain is turned pink. Many unique decorated bamboo sticks called as SASAN KATHI are attraction of this festival. This is the annual festival when all the devotees throw and play with gulal. The entire hill of the Jyotiba temple is then covered with gulal, making it a beautiful sight and a great festival to experience.
Source:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jyotiba_Temple
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