01Shivaji’s mother goddess
Tulja Bhavani stands eight-armed, slaying Mahishasura, in black stone. She is counted among the three and a half Shakti Peethas of Maharashtra with Kolhapur, Mahur and Vani. For the Bhosales she was family deity, and Jijabai raised her son in that devotion. Maratha tradition holds that Bhavani herself gave Shivaji his sword, and he named his favourite blade after her. Pilgrims enter by the Raje Shahaji Mahadwar and go down steps into the courtyard, since the shrine sits below the level of the town.
02Afzal Khan’s march, 1659
In 1659 the Bijapur general Afzal Khan marched against Shivaji. The Maratha chronicle of Krishnaji Anant Sabhasad records that on the way his army desecrated the temple of Bhavani at Tuljapur and went on to Pandharpur, meaning to provoke Shivaji out of the hills. Shivaji did not come down. He waited at Pratapgad, and in November that year Afzal Khan was killed at its foot. The temple was restored to worship, and the Maratha chiefs and later rulers made gifts to it; Navaratri in Ashvin is its great festival.
The life of this place
- 1659Afzal Khan’s army desecrates the temple on its march against Shivaji (Sabhasad Bakhar).
- 10 November 1659Afzal Khan is killed at Pratapgad; worship at Tuljapur continues under Maratha patronage.
About 45 km from Solapur. Navaratri and the full moon of Ashvin (Kojagiri) bring the largest crowds, many walking from Solapur and beyond.
