Lalita Panchami in Mahalakshmi Temple
At 7.00 a.m. and 10.00 a.m. Abhishek is performed along with the other routine rituals on Lalita Panchami the 5th day of Navratri. At 10.00 a.m. the litter of the Goddess Mahalakshmi is given one canon salute and it leaves the temple premises to visit Goddess Tryambuli's temple which is at a short distance from the main temple in Kolhapur. En route it halts at Shahu Mill and Takala for Puja and Aarti. The procession reaches Goddess Tryambuli's temple by noon. The Chhatrapati (the local royal ruler) performs Kushmandabali (breaking a pumpion gourd into two with a sword. This represents killing of the enemy) in the presence of an unmarried girl from the Patil family from Kasba Bavda, near Kolhapur. The litter returns to the temple at 2.00 p.m. later an Aarti is done. In the evening the litter is carried in procession around the temple itself
