Kelashi is a

village A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town (although the word is often used to describe both hamlets and smaller towns), with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to ...

Dapoli taluka Dapoli taluka is a taluka in Ratnagiri district of Maharashtra, India. Ratnagiri district There are nine talukas in Ratnagiri district, they are Ratnagiri, Rajapur, Lanja, Sangmeshwar, Chiplun, Guhagar, Khed, Dapoli and Mandangad Man ...

Ratnagiri district Ratnagiri District (Marathi pronunciation: �ət̪n̪aːɡiɾiː is a district in the state of Maharashtra, India. The administrative headquarter of the district is located in the town of Ratnagiri. The district is 11.33% urban. The district ...

Maharashtra Maharashtra (; , abbr. MH or Maha) is a states and union territories of India, state in the western India, western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. Maharashtra is the List of states and union te ...

state in

Western India Western India is a loosely defined region of India consisting of its western part. The Ministry of Home Affairs in its Western Zonal Council Administrative division includes the states of Goa, Gujarat, and Maharashtra along with the Union te ...

. The

2011 Census of India The 2011 Census of India or the 15th Indian Census was conducted in two phases, house listing and population enumeration. The House listing phase began on 1 April 2010 and involved the collection of information about all buildings. Information ...

recorded a total of 3,145 residents in the village. Kelashi's geographical area is . Kelashi is a small seaside village, famous for its Mahalaxmi Temple (1100 years old temple), sand hillocks and Yakub baba's dargah. Gangabai Sathe, born in Kelashi was married to Peshwa Narayanrao Bhat on 18th April 1763. She was born in the family of Keshav Vinayak Sathe. Sathe family served as the priests in the temple of Mahalakshmi for more than a century. Ruins of Gangabai's birth house are still present in Kelashi. Mahalaxmi Temple The original idol of Mahalaxmi is missing. It is widely believed that the idol was removed for safekeeping during a raid by Habshi or Siddi. Folklore explaining the missing idol says that Mahalaxmi left the temple to go to

Kolhapur Kolhapur () is a city on the banks of the Panchganga River in the southern part of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the administrative headquarter of the Kolhapur district. In, around 2 C.E. Kolapur's name was 'Kuntal'. Kolhapur is kn ...

. The current temple was built in 1808 during Peshwa regime but the temple complex is far older. There are mentions that Shivaji and Sambhaji used to visit the temple frequently. Even Peshwas's use to visit the temple for offering prayers. Sathe's served as the pujari's of the temple during this time period. Gangabai Sathe, daughter of the priest was married to Peshwa Narayanrao in 1763. Sand Dunes The village is protected from Bharja river by sand dunes said to be formed due to a tsunami in 16th century.

References

{{reflist, refs= {{cite web , url=http://www.censusindia.gov.in/2011census/dchb/2732_PART_B_DCHB_RATNAGIRI.pdf , title=District Census Handbook , publisher=

Census of India The decennial Census of India has been conducted 16 times, as of 2021. While it has been undertaken every 10 years, beginning in 1872 under British Viceroy Lord Mayo, the first complete census was taken in 1881. Post 1949, it has been conducted by ...

, access-date=16 April 2016 Villages in Ratnagiri district