Kharosa is a village situated at about 45 km from Latur City in

Latur district Latur district (Marathi pronunciation: aːt̪uːɾ is a district in Maharashtra state of India. Latur city is the district headquarters and is the 16th largest city in the state of Maharashtra. The district is primarily agricultural. Urban p ...

Maharashtra Maharashtra () is a state in the western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. It is bordered by the Arabian Sea to the west, the Indian states of Karnataka and Goa to the south, Telangana to th ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. It is renowned for its caves, built around the 6th century. Other attractions include the beautiful sculptures of

Narasimha Narasimha (, , or , ), is the fourth avatara of the Hindu god Vishnu in the Satya Yuga. He incarnated as a part-lion, part-man and killed Hiranyakashipu, ended religious persecution and calamity on earth, and restored dharma. Narasimha has th ...

, Shiv Parvati,

Kartikeya Kartikeya (/Sanskrit phonology, kɑɾt̪ɪkejə/; ), also known as Skanda (Sanskrit phonology, /skən̪d̪ə/), Subrahmanya (/Sanskrit phonology, sʊbɾəɦməɲjə/, /ɕʊ-/), Shanmukha (Sanskrit phonology, /ɕɑnmʊkʰə/) and Murugan ...

and

Ravana According to the Mahakavya, Hindu epic, ''Ramayana'', Ravana was a kingJustin W. Henry, ''Ravana's Kingdom: The Ramayana and Sri Lankan History from Below'', Oxford University Press, p.3 of the island of Lanka, in which he is the chief antag ...

. There are about 12 caves, of which one has a painted statue of seated

Gautama Buddha Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha (),* * * was a śramaṇa, wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism. According to Buddhist lege ...

. There are about a couple of dozen carved panels depicting mythological stories. In couple of caves, there are Shiv Lingas, a symbolic abstract representation of the Hindu deity Lord Shiva. Nearby villages are Ramegaon,

Shivani Gaura Pant (17 October 1923 – 21 March 2003), better known as Shivani, was a Hindi writer of the 20th century and a pioneer in writing Indian women-centric fiction. She was awarded the Padma Shri for her contribution to Hindi literature in ...

and the village of Kharosa. The upper side of the hill you will find Temple of Renuka Devi and a Mosque side by side, showing the unity of Hindus and Muslims in the area. Everyone who come to visit the temple also visit the Mosque. On the top side of the hill you will find source of water which is called as Seeta Nhani ( Seeta's Bathroom) as they believe that

Rama Rama (; , , ) is a major deity in Hinduism. He is worshipped as the seventh and one of the most popular avatars of Vishnu. In Rama-centric Hindu traditions, he is considered the Supreme Being. Also considered as the ideal man (''maryāda' ...

Lakshmana Lakshmana (, ), also known as Laxmana, Lakhan, Saumitra, and Ramanuja, is the younger brother of Rama in the Hindu epic ''Ramayana''. He is considered as an incarnation of Shesha, the lord of serpents. Lakshmana was married to Urmila, and i ...

and Seeta had once lived there. Villagers nearby are very co-operative and helpful.

Route

The nearest major railway station is the Latur Railway Station, on the Latur-Miraj rail route. It is about 45km from

Latur Latur (ISO: ''Lātūra''; formerly Ratnapur) is a city located in the Marathwada region of Maharashtra state of India country. Before 1982 Latur was a part of the Osmanabad district (now Dharashiv). The city is a tourist hub surrounded by many ...

on Latur-Nilanga Road via Ausa-Lamjana. Car can go up to the caves on the left flank and up to Devi Temple on right flank of a small hillock. Regular buses which connect Kharosa with Latur and Nilanga/Udgir.

References

https://latur.nic.in/html/places.htm Villages in Latur district Caves of Maharashtra Neighbourhoods in Latur Villages in Ausa taluka {{Latur-geo-stub