PLACES

KOLGAON

It is situated in Shrigonda taluka at a distance of twelve miles to the north-west of Shrigonda, the head-quarters of a taluka. The village covers an area of 28.9 square miles and has a population of 6,648 souls as per the Census of 1971. The village has a post office. Wells form the main source of water-supply. Educational facilities arc provided in the village by one high school known as Shri Kolaidevi Vidyalaya besides the primary schools conducted by the Zilla Parishad. Medical facilities are provided by the private medical practitioners and the primary health centre conducted by the Zilla Parishad. The weekly market is held in the village on every Wednesday. A Government rest-house is also located in the village. A library is conducted in the village by the Shrigonda Panchayat Samiti. The village contains a memorial to the soldiers who lost their lives in the First World War. The village is said to have come to be known as Kolgaon after the goddess Kolaidevi in whose honour, every year, a fair is held on Chaitra Shuddha Paurnima (March-April) which is attended by about one thousand persons. Another fair is held in the village in honour of Lakshmi Ai on Ashadha Paurnima (June-July). About 1,500 persons assemble at the time of this fair.

The only object of interest in the village is a Hemadpanti temple dedicated to Valkeshvar. The temple has nine domes and a sunk shrine with a linga. The pillars are well carved with figures on their capitals but they are entirely covered with plaster. On each side of the hall is a recess not under use. In front of the door are the remains of a veranda built of large blocks of stone let into each other in receding courses. To the left of the veranda is a new shrine with a linga and in front is a Nandi under a four-pillared dome. Over the temple shrine is the usual brick and plaster dome. In front of the temple is a brick lamp-pillar with a staircase inside. The original outside of the temple has been removed and replaced by modern masonry. [ Ahmadnagar District Gazetteer. 1884.] The ceiling of the inner shrine of the temple has recently been renovated. A small fair is celebrated at the temple on the full-moon day of the month of Chaitra.

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