Solapur

One of the largest cities in the state of Maharashtra, Sholpur is both a city and a district. Solapur along with three other districts namely Satara, Sangli and Kolhapur form the South Western Maharashtra. It is situated near the borders with Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka. It is ancient place with historical and religious importance with Shri Siddharameshwar as its chief deity.

Solapur has a rich history and various dynasties ruled Solapur like Chalukyas, Andhrabhratyas, Yadavas, Rashtrkutas and Bahamanias. The name Solapur is combination of two words “Sola” and “Pur”. “Sola” means sixteen and “Pur” means village. This is relevant since Solapur is considered to include sixteen villages.

There are quite a few places of tourist and religious interest in Solapur. The major attraction of this place is the Siddheshwar Temple and it is situated in the middle of a lake. Solapur has many Jain temples named after the Jain Tirthankaras like Parasnath temple, Mallikarjuna temple and Adinath temple. The Revansiddeshwar temple and famous Bhuikot fort are other temples worth a visit. Another tourist attraction is the Samadhi of Swami Samarth Maharaja of Akkalkot. There are also a number of archeological sites here and nearby areas which are popular among tourists.  

The place is famous within the country as well as outside for its many textile industries, towels and Solapur chaddars. The bedding accessories commonly known as “chaddars” have become famous in the mind of people chiefly because of the unique designs and high quality. Weaving is a popular occupation here and people belonging to Padmashali community are mainly dependent on weaving for their livelihood. Solapur was one of the important places for business as there were large number of cotton mills and power looms. In fact, there were many small and medium scale industries located in this area. But in recent years the place seems to have lost its attraction as an industrial area and many of the industries are shifting elsewhere. In current scenario, agriculture is the main contributors to Solapur’s economy.

Solapur is well connected by road with major cities of the state of Maharashtra as well as the adjoining states of Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka. It has air connectivity with Mumbai.