Radhanagari is a town and the headquarter of Radhanagari tehsil in the Radhanagarisubdivision of Kolhapur districtin Maharashtra. His Highness RajarshiShahuMaharaj (26 June 1874 – 6 May 1922), the visionary king of the Kolhapur Princely State founded the village Radhanagari. Looking at the concept of water reservoirs in Europe, RajarshiSahhu was very much impressed and decided to construct such kind of reservoir in his kingdom for the purpose of irrigation. The existing site of the reservoir was shown to the architect of modern India, Sir MoukshagundamVishweshrayya, who finalised the location and drafted the plan. The reservoir, named after the mother of RajashiShahu as Laxmi Dam, is even today supposed to be a boon for the western Maharashtra. Rehabilitation of the families coming under the reservoir zone was a serious problem and which was resolved by establishing a new village, the present day Radhanagari, named after the daugher of RajashriShahu. For the workers, technicians who came for the construction of Laxmi reservoir, and for the nearby villages, Radhanagari emerged as a prominent market place. Being located in dense forest area, Radhanagari was RajarshiShahu’s favourite destination for hunting. RajashiShahu’s famous barehanded fight with a bear took place in the same forest. In 1958, the adjoining region of Radhanagari declared as the Dajipur Wild Life Sanctuary, popularly known as the “Bison Sanctuary”. Later on the Dajipur Wild Life Sanctuary was expanded in 1985, and today it is known as the Radhanagari Wild Life Sanctuary. The present day Radhanagari tehsil comes under the reserve forest zone.Radhanagari region has been declared by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Government of India as Eco SensitiveZone (ESZ). Very recently, the World Heritage Convention which comes under the aegis of UNESCO has declared Radhanagari Wild Life Sanctuary as the World Heritage Site.