Karad is a city in Satara district in State of Maharashtra. It lies at the confluence of Koyna River and the Krishna River. The two rivers originate at Mahabaleshwar, which is around 100 km from Karad.
Their confluence is called Preeti Sangam, meaning Confluence of Love. Karad is well known for sugar production and is known as the sugar bowl of Maharashtra owing to the presence of many sugar factories in and around Karad.
Karad is known for its rich and prestigious educational institutes such as Government College of Engineering, Government College of Pharmacy and the Krishna Institute of Medical Sciences.
Karad has strong influence over politics of Maharashtra. Yashwantrao Chavan who was the first Chief Minister of Maharashtra and later served as Deputy Prime Minister of India hailed from Karad.
The former Chief Minister of Maharashtra Prithviraj Chavan also hails from Karad. He started his political career in 1991, and won the Lok Sabha seat of Karad constituency, in '91, '96 and '98 but lost it in 1999. Later he was elected to Rajya Sabha. In November 2010 he was appointed as Chief Minister of Maharashtra in Succession to Mr.Ashok Chavan till September 2014. And in 2014 State Election he registered his 1st win in Local assembly.
Karad has many places of tourism such as Preeti Sangam (Confluence of Koyna & Krishna River) + Krishna Mai Temple + Late Yashwantrao Chavan's Samadhi, Koyna Dam (about 40 km), Chandoli Dam (55 km), Ram Mandir at (Chaphal 35 km), Sagareshwar Wildlife Sanctuary, Kas Pathar 86 km and Thoseghar Waterfall 86 km.
