Kolhapur Tourism

Museums in & around Kolhapur exhibits the glourious history & reach tradition of art & crafts.
1. Town Hall Museum is another stellar attraction close to Juna Rajwada. The museum showcases the mercantile & cultural tradition of Kolhapur. Stone sculptures excavated in & around Kolhapur district are displayed here. A small statue of Poseidon, the Greek Sea God, which is a major attraction of this museum, is an astounding 3000 years old. It was found during the excavations of Brahmapuri hill near Kolhapur. This small statue goes a long way to illustrate the trade relations of Kolhapur with the legendary merchants from the Far East. A separate gallery has many paintings by famous artists from Kolhapur.
2. Kailasgadchi Swari Mandir is close to Khasbaug Maidan, where you will see marvelous paintings by the famous artist G. Kamble. This temple has been maintained in spick & span condition to this day.
3. Bhalji Pendharkar Cultural Center & Museum beckons us. A priceless collection of rare photographs of Bhalji Pendharkar, the doyen of Marathi movies, is displayed here. The museum instantly transports us back in time to the golden days of the Marathi film industry.
4. New Palace Museum. A heritage collection, painstakingly put together over the years by the royal dynasty of Kolhapur, can be seen here. The Darbar Hall has been maintained beautifully, with exceptional care & attention to detail. In the premises of New Palace, myriad species of birds & animals can be seen in their natural habitat. A miniature lake in the premises of New Palace attracts hundreds of migratory birds every year.
5. Chandrakant Mandre Art Gallery. A famous Marathi thespian & master-wielder of the artist's paintbrush, Chandrakant Mandre donated all his paintings, along with his own home, to the Government of Maharashtra to create an unmatched shrine to art. Here you can also see paintings by Abalal Rehman, Baburao Painter & many other artists from Kolhapur.
6. Chinmay Ganadhish - an awe-inspiring Ganesha statue 66 feet tall & a mind-numbing 90 feet from ground level - perhaps the world's tallest of it's kind! All this a mere 8 Km from the Central Bus Stand, towards Pune. Near Chinmay Ganadhish is Toap Sambhapur, a small town close to the Shiroli MIDC area. One can even visit the Chinmay Ganadhish after finishing a tour of New Palace. The other attraction is Siddhagiri Gramjeevan Museum; 9 Km from the Central Bus Stand, towards Bangalore. The town near Siddhagiri is Kaneri, close to the Gokul Shirgaon MIDC area. Ideally, one should visit Siddhagiri after visiting Shivaji University, as it is hardly 7 Km away from Shivaji University. Established in 1962, Shivaji University is home to the quaint V.S. Khandekar Museum, named after the noted Marathi literateur, first-ever Marathi winner of the prestigious Jnanpith Award."
After V. S. Khandekar Museum you must Siddhagiri Graamjeevan Museum. A perfect replica of villages near Kolhapur. The life size statues gives us a real feel of the society & lifestyle of people in this region a couple of years ago.

For more information on tourism in Kolhapur city, please
download & carry this route map while you visit Kolhapur.
It contains important tourism destinations,
detail route map, photographs etc.