Festivals

Gudi Padwa is the Maharashtrian New Year celebrated with great joy in Kolhapur. On this day, people raise a “Gudi” — a decorated pole with bright cloth, mango leaves, flowers, and a copper vessel — outside their homes signifying prosperity and victory. Families clean their houses, prepare special festive food, and wear new clothes. The city feels vibrant with traditional music and cultural gatherings as people welcome the new year with happiness and good wishes

Ganeshotsav celebrates the birth of Lord Ganesha with great festivities, devotion, and community celebrations throughout Kolhapur. The festival includes the installation of Ganesha idols in homes and public pandals, devotional singing, and elaborate immersion processions once the festivities conclude. In recent years, Kolhapur has seen vibrant yet culturally rooted displays during Ganesh Utsav.

This agricultural festival celebrates the bullocks and oxen that help farmers throughout the year. In Kolhapur, decorated bullocks are paraded at locations like Panchaganga Ghat, accompanied by music and traditional aarti. Families and children participate joyfully in the procession of cattle and games.

Rathotsav, or the Chariot Festival, is celebrated at the Mahalaxmi Temple in Kolhapur where the idol of Goddess Mahalaxmi (Ambabai) is placed on a beautifully decorated chariot (ratha) and taken through the streets in a grand Nagar Pradakshina (procession). Devotees offer flowers and prayers along the route, and the city lights up with spirituality and tradition.

Royal Dasara in Kolhapur is one of the most grand and culturally rich festivals in the region. Rooted in the princely traditions of Kolhapur, the celebrations include colourful processions with decorated elephants and horses, cultural performances, warrior costumes, and religious ceremonies. The royal family participates traditionally at Dasara Chowk, where palanquins of deities like Mahalaxmi and Tuljabhavani are taken out in procession. This festival has been recognized as a major state festival by the Maharashtra government