An Encyclopaedia of Indian Archaeology v2.c29.1086

v2.c29.1086

**Brahmapuri**, a locality situated in the w. part of Kolhapur town (16°41ʹ; 74°71ʹ), on the right bank of the Panchaganga, identified with Karavīrapura referred to in the *Harivaṁśa*, so named as the goddess Mahā-Lakṣmī is said to have held it in her hand and regarded to be the first abode (*ādya-pīṭha*) of the goddess. The temple of Mahā Lakṣmī at Kolhapur was probably first built in the 9th century. The place is also known as Kollaksetra according to the local *māhatmya* and hence its name Kolhāpura which figures frequently in the late historical inscriptions, especially those of the Śilāhāras, as also in literature. Kolhapur is probably the same as Ptolemy’s Hippokoura, the capital of Balaeokouros, identified with Viḷivayakura Sātakarṇi belonging to a branch of the Sātavāhanas ruling from Kolhapur in the early centuries of the Christian era.