The Vitthal Rakumai temple in Camp Dapoli is an estimated 124 years old. Adv. Nandkishor Bhagwat and his great grandfather Vinayak Sakharam Bhagwat spent their hard-earned money (INR 14,000/-) in 1894 to build this temple. They were firm believers of Lord Vitthal.
He was a lawyer by occupation. In the year 1979, he achieved a charter. He was a reputed lawyer in Dapoli. He had a happy life after getting married too, but the only regret he had was of not being able to father a child. Yet, he never favored a second marriage. He then built this temple so that people would remember his name even after he is long gone. He even made arrangements for his own tomb outside the temple. This was during the British era and as they were of the opinion that Samadhi is a form of suicide, they had banned the practice.  Then too he went ahead and received renouncement in the year 1908 from a local eremite from kokamb. We can still find his Samadhi under the Shivlinga opposite to the temple of Lord Vitthal. Before taking Samadhi, in 1900, he had made a will, in which he had made proper arrangements to keep the temple in good conditions even after his death. Currently Adv. Nandkishor Bhagwat is in charge of the temple’s administration. Before him, his father and grandfather were in charge of the administration.
This Vitthal temple, build by Mr. Vinayak , is still in great condition as before. In 1994, the temple completed 100 years, during which few repair works were done for the temple. Previously there were 2 wells in the temple compound, out of which, the one called Chandrabhaga, which was a semicircle shaped well, was filled with soil as it went dry. The other well is still in good condition. Previously, this well had a wheel mechanism pulled by the ox, which provided water to the nearby families belonging to the Mahar sect. This well’s water was provided for the construction of Gokhale’s Girls School too. The Tripur, the Shiv temple and the Samadhi present in the vast compound of the Main temple was renovated in the year 1994. The temple will complete 125 years in 2019. The Bhagwat family is planning to renovate the whole temple on this occasion.
Many religious festivals likes Ashadi, Kartiki, Janmasshtami, etc. are celebrated in the temple. Many institutions, associations and organisations conduct their gatherings too at this temple. This temple is a very important part of Dapoli, because of which, this temple was mentioned in the map of Dapoli in 1899.
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