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Kavathe Yemai is a village located in Shirur Taluka in the Pune district of Maharashtra state. In earlier times village was once located on the banks of the Ghod River (appx 5.8 km away from present location). The village later moved to the current location when Maratha General Anand Rao I Pawar (of Dhar State) built a walled city (at current location). The village boasts of the historical & cultural heritage. The Palace built by Pawar dynasty in 19th century; various temples in Hemadpanthi architectural style are still in good condition. This village was actually a walled city but with expansion of the village borders/habitation, the surrounding walls and its huge gates has crumbled down.
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The village is famous for Yemai Temple(temple land and trust is owned by gore patil family, who were patil of village for some time, and manage all economic affairs of trust).Fatteshwar Temple and Sayamba Temple. All these deities see lot of followers visiting the Kavathe for seeking the blessings and to participate in annual anniversary (Yatra). Yamai temple is regularly visited by people yet due to mismanagement is not properly maintained.
Shri. Sudam ramdas ichake is currently holding position as sarpanch of village Panchayat. Village comes under shirur constituency for loksabha and under ambegaon constituency for vidhansabha.There is a nationalised bank: syndicate bank and Pune district CO operative bank. The village also saw rise of various folk artist (Tamasha, Drama, Jagaran-Gondhal, Bharud) flourish in the village. Some of the artist such as Shahir Bashirbhai Momin Kavathekar, Dholakipatu Shri Gangaram (Bua) Kavathekar had brought laurel to the village when they were awarded various awards at various levels.
The village has a Primary School (run by Zilla Parishad)established in 1866, Higher Secondary School & College (run by Rayat Shikshan Sanstha) and few newly started English medium schools.
Geography and climate
Kavathe is surrounded by Parner Taluka towards East, Khed Taluka towards west, Ambegaon Taluka towards west, Junnar Taluka towards North. The village is well connected with Manchar, Shirur, Pune. The Taluka headquarter viz Shirur, is located 25 km away and District headquarter viz Pune is located appx 65 km away. The village is located in the rain shadow area of the Sahyadris. It has an arid climate. Irrigation from the river Ghod and from wells serve most of the village. Crops include sugar cane, bajra, groundnuts and pomegranates.
Demography
Hinduism (90% of the population) is the largest religion, followed by other religions such as Islam, Buddhism, Jainism. All the sects/religions coexist in peaceful manner participating in each other celebrations/ functions. Major castes are dhangar and Marathas, both of whom share significant similar livelihood patterns. As both groups do farming and livestock rearing.major families include Ichake, wagdare, pokale, sandbhor, ghode, yede.
History
The village became politically important after the Pawar dynasty constructed a palace & established a walled city around it, during early 18th century. The Yamai temple, Sayamba temple, Datta temple and Fatteshwar temple are the most prominent temples. Fatteshwar Temple has historical importance as it was built by Anand Rao Pawar after the Marathas defeated Nizam Ul Mulk of Hyderabad. The word Fatte literally means victory. It is situated on the confluence of a stream locally known as Khar Odha and the river Ghodnadi.
Culture
The beautifully constructed hemadpanthi style temples include Vithhal Temple, Ganesh Temple, Mahadev Temple, Hanuman Temple. The Yamai temple, Datta temple and Fatteshwar temple are the most prominent. Yamai temple is located to the west of the village. This village is takes its name from its Yamai goddess. Annual festivals/Yatra are organized by villages where many devotes from all over Maharashtra participate.
Performing Arts
The people in the village are very supportive of the art/literature/theaters. The artist like Mr Gangaram Renake was awarded national prize for playing the Dholaki. There are various artist associated with maharashtra’s folk art viz Tamasha. He was recently awarded Vithabai Jeevan Gaurav Puraskar by state government for his service to the field of Tamasha.
Literature
The other prominent figure is poet/ Shahir Bashirbhai Momin Kavathekar - also known as Momin Kavathekar is a Marathi poet /writer who had also performed as a stage actor during early 70’s and later directed various stage plays/ dramas of the college students in the region. He has been closely associated with Maharashtra’s traditional theater art Tamasha for almost 50 years – supporting the various companies/operators by providing them with folk songs like ‘Lavani’, ‘Gan Gavlan’ and short plays/drama called ‘Vag Natya’. He has been mentoring young generation of artist/performers over last decade. His use of folkloric narrative styles like lavani’s has helped in popularizing and making his work understandable & accessible to common man & communities. Shahir Bashirbhai Momin Kavathekar has written more than 3000 folk songs which were /are being sung by local artists in their shows. He collection of songs includes verities such as ‘Lavani’, ‘Gan Gavlan’, ‘Poems’, ‘Devotional Songs’, ‘Songs on social issues/ reforms’. He has written Plays/Drama based on historic incidents/personalities. He has written short stories/ street plays/ songs on the social reformation related subjects like Praudh Saksharta Abhiyan, Gram Swachchta Abhiyan, ‘awareness about AIDS, ill effects of Dowry’ etc. and presented/performed them across rural Maharashtra. Few of his short plays were also broadcast on radio by Pune Akashwani Kendra. His contribution to literature with strong support for social causes has earned him various recognition's such as विखे पाटील साहित्य कला गौरव, ग्रांड सोशल अवार्ड, छोटू जुवेकर पुरस्कार, मुंबई. Popularity of his Lavani's & folk songs amongst rural masses has led a Professor of Marathi at Savitribai Phule Pune University to study his work, literature critically. His personality & literature was chosen for a Ph.D. thesis at Savitribai Phule Pune University in 2010.
At Kavathe Yemai, present young generation is also actively pursuing & performing in the field of art and regular dramas/plays are planned & performed at various occasions throughout the year.