The state of Maharashtra is towards the western part of India. Second to Uttar Pradesh, it has the second largest population while it remains third state in terms of area. Besides, it is known to be the richest state in the country, providing about 15% towards the industrial outcome and the contribution towards GDP in 2006-2007 was 13.3% of the country.

Towards the west side, Maharashtra is having the Arabian Sea as its border and is covered by the Union Territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh and Goa on all other parts. The total area of this state is about 307,731 sq km, which comprises of 9.84% of total area under the geography of India. The capital city is Mumbai, which is the financial capital of India and the largest city in the country. In the city of Nagpur, the state has its second largest city as well as the winter capital. Officially, the state has language of Marathi.

In terms of a subdivision of administration in the country, in first level tier, the state of Maharashtra is placed second with the population. If this state was supposedly a country, it would be placed twelfth in the list of countries with highest population, before the country of Philippines.

Etymology

The language of Marathi is said to have started from Prakrit work in Maharashtri and the term marhatta is said to be present in literature of Jain Maharashtri, with words like Maratha, Marathi, Maharashtri and Maharashtra being derived from these ancient terms. Still, the actual origin of this term is not known.

Widely, it is believed and accepted by the scholars that Maharashtra and Maratha were derived from Maha, a name of a compound meaning great and Rashtrika. Rashtrika is a version of Sanskrit from Ratta, which was the name of a certain dynasty or tribe, comprising of chiefs, who had control in the Deccan region. Another belief goes that the name has its origin in the mix of the terms maha meaning great and rathi or ratha meaning charioteer.

Another theory claims that the state got its name from joining of words maha meaning great and rashtra meaning nation or dominion. This version is not accepted by scholars of modern days, who consider this to be an interpretation in Sanskrit by writers of later years. Many writers from the British era in 19th century and activists among Dalits have their beliefs on another version, which means that the name suggests a nation which belongs to mahars or dalit tribe. This version is also not accepted in wider circles as it is highly improbable that the name might have been derived from a community of outcastes.

Historical Facts

During the 16th century, there was an uprising by the Marathas against the rule of Mughals, led by the able Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. During those days, Mughals had established their supremacy over a significant part of the country. By 1760, the Marathas had wielded sufficient power over a third of the subcontinent of India, with an area of about 250 million acres or 1 million sq kms. There was a third war between the Marathas and English people, after which the former’s power ended and British Raj took control over the province under Bombay State. After India got independence, it was demanded by Samyukta Maharashtra Samiti that the regions with Marathi speaking populations should be brought under one state. In contrast, Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar opined that the reorganization of regions into states should follow one state-one language concept, rather than on one language – one state condition. He was of the opinion, which he expressed before the commission for reorganization, that there cannot be a good control on such a large state like United Maharashtra by a single government. In 1960, on May 1st, the present day state of Maharashtra was created by first commission for reorganization of states and this day is known as Maharashtra Day. Included in this state were the regions of Deccan, Bombay state and some parts of Vidarbha, which comprised of Berar and Central Provinces, as per the Nagpur Pact agreement.

Geographical Facts

The area under the state government of Maharashtra is about 308,000 sq kms, which is the third largest in the country. The borders for the state are formed by Madhya Pradesh in the north, in the east by Chhattisgarh, south east by Andhra Pradesh, south by Karnataka and Southwest by Goa. Between Gujarat in the Northwest and Maharashtra lies the union Territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli. West coast of Maharashtra is having Arabian Sea.

To the parallel of the west coast is a hill range, known as Sahyadri or Western Ghats, having an average height of about 4,000 ft or 1,200 mts. Near Nashik City is a Sahyadri peak by the name of Kalsubai, which is supposedly the highest level of these ranges. Towards further west of the Sahyadri ranges is the Konkan coast, about 50-80 kms wide. The east of these ghats has the Deccan Plateau, which is quite flat. These ghats are said to be one among the three important watershed regions of the country, giving origins to various rivers flowing in the South India, River Krishna, River Godavari being well known, which then go into the Bay of Bengal and form the river basins of the country.

Capital Affect

Bombay or Mumbai is financially supreme amongst the cities in India and is the largest metropolis in India, having the largest stock exchange centre of the country. This city along the coast has lots of land spaces formed from seven different islands in the past. The Mumbai cosmopolitan is said to be everyone’s home, starting from the fishmongers to industrialists having top rankings in the country, consisting of structures like Victoria Terminus and Gateway of India as well as a vibrant night life and sought after pubs, having parsis’ decreasing population to the rapidly growing Bollywood, which represents the Hindi movie industry.

Maharashtra Division

Maharashtra state is made up of 35 districts, which are grouped into six divisions.

• Amravati Division: Akola, Amravati, Buldhana, Washim and Yavatmal
• Aurangabad Division (Marathwada): Aurangabad, Beed, Hingoli, Jalna, Latur, Nanded, Osmanabad and Parbhani,
• Konkan Division: Mumbai City, Mumbai Suburban, Raigad, Ratnagiri, Sindhudurg and Thane
• Nashik Division: Ahmednagar, Dhule, Jalgaon, Nandurbar and Nashik
• Nagpur Division: Bhandara, Chandrapur, Gadchiroli, Gondiya, Nagpur and Wardha,
• Pune Division: Kolhapur, Pune, Sangli, Satara and Solapur

Population Division

Two third populations of Maharashtra live in rural areas. The city of Mumbai has the largest population in a metropolis town in India. Some of the major cities in the country comprise of Pune, Solapur and Nagpur. Historically, Aurangabad, having Mughal history is also well known for various buildings and monuments with historic importance, in the state’s central-northwest part.

Culture in Maharashtra

Due to the vastness of the state, the costumes worn by people gives a colorful nature to the state and its diversity, along with variety of musical and dance forms, depending on the geographical distribution in the land is varied. Men are seen to be attired in dhoti or the older day pheta, while the saree and choli is common for women. As the time has changed, younger generations are taking to latest trends in fashion, which has been imported from western regions.

Cuisines from the Konkan region and from Varadi are mouth watering, but appetite can get killed as these cuisines are having lots of spices and pepper mixed in them, although this detail is found in most of the dishes in Maharashtra. Chaats in Mumbai are well known by everybody due to their tastes.

Lavani, Koli and Povada are some of the forms of dance, which are accompanied by titillating music and movements carried out in rhythms. Folk dance forms such as Dindi, Dhangri Gaja, Tamasha and Kala are quite close to the culture of people in Maharashtra.

Tourism Facts

Women often receive the advice of not getting attired in clothes which are revealing as one can find various groups of moral policing usually in the city of Mumbai. Cotton dresses are required during summers and one needs to get enough water in these days. Going out during the night time or becoming friendlier with auto and taxi drivers might land one in trouble.

How to Reach

Maharashtra is situated in western side of India and is recognized as a state with huge industrialization. Lots of places of touristic importance and transportation system of highly developed nature help towards boosting tourism in the state. If people are aware about how to reach the state, then they can know that the road, rail and air routes are supposed to be easy. As the state’s location is quite accessible, it has good layout of rail, sea, road and air connections. This has been one of the many reasons for the growth potential of the state, giving it a prosperous status.

By Air

Two airports are found in the state of Maharashtra, the domestic one is at Santa Cruz Domestic airport in Mumbai, while the international airport of Chatrapati Shivaji is also in Mumbai. Many airlines of the government and private companies ply on different routes from and to Mumbai, including those of Indian Airlines, Air India, Air Sahara, Jet Airways, Spice Jet, Kingfisher Airlines and also Air Deccan.

By Train

In Maharashtra, the railway station with the highest importance is that in Mumbai. Many of the trains of importance have links to the station, coming from and going to various destinations throughout the country. Near many of the destinations of touristic significance, there are large railway stations.

By Road

Maharashtra has connectivity through road with several other cities through the National Highway 6 and National Highway 17. Network of roads in the state is exceptionally well planned. Many other national highways as well as state highways pass through different parts of the state, thereby making this city to be easily approached from various sections of the country. Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation or MSRTC includes a large number of buses which ply between Maharashtra and other states and cities all over India.