Asia >> South Asia >> India >> Western India >> Maharashtra

Located in the West region, Maharashtra [1] is the third largest state of India by size and the second largest by population. It stretches from the west coast to the interior regions and its climate too varies with its geography. Maharashtra contains India's most industrialized region, the Mumbai-Pune belt. Agriculturally too, the state is one of India's more advanced and well-irrigated. The northern and eastern parts of the state, however lag behind the western region.

Regions

For administrative purposes, the state is sub-divided into six divisions and further into 35 districts. Officially, all divisions save one are named after the district where the headquarters of the division is located. But the divisions are also popularly known by other names and that is how they are listed here. The official names of the divisions are given alongside in brackets.

Cities

  • Mumbai - the capital, also the commercial capital of India
  • Ahmednagar - 500+ years history, with traces of Nizamshahi, Shahjahan and Peshwas
  • Kolhapur - the home of Goddess Ambabai
  • Matheran - hill-station town close to Mumbai
  • Mulshi
  • Nanded - It is a holy city of Sikh Religion. In October 2008 a grand celebration of 300years of Gurta Gaddi is celebrated. www.300saalgurudenaal.com/
  • Nagpur - the city of Oranges, at the geographical center of India
  • Nashik - the city of pilgrimage - The Grape city
  • Pune - cultural capital of Maharashtra
  • Solapur - textile capital of Maharastra
  • Aurangabad- The city of 52 doors. Famous for its Mughal monuments. It is main base station for Ajanta, Ellora, Devgiri Fort and many more famous destinations. City is also popular for its Himaroo Shawl and Bidari Work.

Other destinations

  • Ajanta - Buddhist caves - a complex of caves representing some of the best of early Buddhist art. World heritage site.
  • Ellora - World famous for its caves of three religions. Total 30 caves are divided into Buddhist, Hindu and Jain caves. World heritage site. Ellora ia also adob of Grishneshwar, the 12th Jyotirlanga in India.
  • Lonar This place has Earth's only meteor crater in basaltic rock.
  • Ashtavinayak - 8 Auspicious Temples of Lord Ganesha (Ganapati)

Bhimashankar- Its one of the 12 Jyotirlinga in India

Talk

The principal language spoken is Marathi. Hindi is widely spoken and understood. The capital city of Mumbai is fairly cosmoplitan, with many languages, including English being spoken. Konkani is a minority langugage closely related to Marathi, spoken by a community called Konkanis. Though Konkanis are common in the Konkan region, they are by no means a majority even there.

Travel to Maharashtra - Visa Requirements

Tours and Getting around Maharashtra

Maharashtra tourist attractions and sightseeing

Beach resorts

Coastal Maharashtra (Konkan) has some of very beautiful beaches. With a 720 km coast line, there are beautiful beach destinations almost every 50-100 km, starting from Dahanu in the Northern part of the State to Sindhudurg, at the Southern tip.

Some popular beaches are:

  • Dahanu-Bordi
  • Gorai-Madh
  • Juhu
  • Alibag
  • Kashid
  • Murud-Janjira
  • Harihareshwar
  • Ganpatipule
  • Tarkarli
  • Vengurla
  • Terekhol
  • Devgad beach
  • Taramumbari
  • kunkeshwar beach

While the beaches in Bordi, Gorai, Juhu, Alibag, Kashid and Murud-Janjira are well-developed, with multiple accommodation choices, the rest remain still off the tourist circuit. The primary reason is lack of good accommodation choices. At most of the other beaches, the only decent stay options are properties owne and managed by the Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation (MTDC), a govt. organisation. These MTDC resorts have amazing location with great views, but being govt. run, these are not among the best in service, activities and food.

Hill Stations

Popular hill stations in Maharashtra are -

Other sites

  • National Parks
  • Meteor Crater
  • Prince of Wales Museum, Mumbai
  • Astavinayak yatra
  • Shirdi

Maharashtra city tours

==Eat

  • Vada Pav
  • Misal

==Adventure/off the beaten track

  • Ride the Mumbai Locals in peak hours! Or atleast visit CST railway station in peak hours.

Maharashtra nightlife, bars, clubs and pubs

  • Coconut water is very famous
  • The most pure form of water on earth

Stay safe

Be wary of strikes, or bandhs, called by political parties. Check the newspaper, and if you notice that all commerce seems to have come to a halt and businesses all seem to be shuttered, stay at home.

Get out

Destinations in Maharashtra:

This page was last edited by Anonymous user(s) of Wikitravel. Based on work by Miss Linius, Nitin Mittal, David and Ravikiran Rao, Wikitravel user(s) Morph, Jonboy and WindHorse, Anonymous user(s) of Wikitravel and others. - Content on this page is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 1.0 license

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