Maharashtra

Location

It is bordered by Chhattisgarh to the East, the Indian union territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu to the North West, the Arabian Sea to the West, the Indian states of Karnataka and Goa to the South, and Telangana to the Southeast.

Language

Native speakers of Maharashtra are 83 million according to census 2011. Official language is Marathi. There are several dialects like Maharashtrian Konkani, Varhadi Marathi, Thanjavur Marathi, East Indian Marathi, and Judeo Marathi.

Peoples

The Marathi peoples who are also recognized as Marathis belong to an ethnolinguistic group. “Maratha” is a term which is used to indicate all Marathi language speakers. Some notable peoples name are given below:

• Nana Patekar (actor)
• Riteish Vilasrao Deshmukh (actor)
• Rajnikanth (actor)
• Madhuri Dixit (actress)
• Meena Kumari (actress)
• Radhika Apte (actress)
• Yash Chopra (director)
• Sanjay Leela Bhansali (producer)
• Nanaji Deshmukh (Bharat Ratna award winner)
• Asha Bhosle (singer)
• Sachin Tendulkar (cricketer)
• Rohit Sharma (cricketer)

etc..

History of Maharashtra

• Maharashtra became a recorded history from 2nd BC with the construction of Buddhist caves.
• This state Maharashtra was founded by Chinese traveler Huan Tsang.
• During 6th BC, the first Hindu King ruled the state based in Badami.
• Shivaji Bhosle the great warrior and ruler of Indian history and also the founder of the Maratha Empire did a lifelong struggle against the Mughals.
• Fall of Ahmednagar fort in 1803 marked the end of Indian rule and supremacy of British in Deccan.
• Finally the state was formed in 1960 with Bombay as the capital.

Tradition of Maharashtra

Maharashtra is one of the notable states of India for its numerous old temples, “Ganesh festivals” (Ganesh Chaturthi), etc. Other popular festivals are “Dasara”, “Navaratri”, “Diwali”, “Holi”, and “Eid”.

In the case of costumes, women traditionally wear saree and men wear dhoti or pajama with a shirt in Indian dance type.

As Agriculture is the primary occupation of Marathi peoples, they have celebrated “Pola” for showing their love and respect to their farm cattle.

“Naga Panchmi” is another festival which is celebrated for showing respect to the goddess of snakes.

“Dohale Jevan” festival is for seven month pregnant women.

Maharashtrian cuisines are mainly based on bread and rice. White lentils has also a notable role in cuisines. Some cultural food names of Maharashtrian peoples are given below-

• Pav Bhaji (a kind of thick slice of bread).
• Vada Pav (Vada=patty, pav=bread. A kind of burger)
• Puran Poli (sweat version of loving paratha)
• Misal Pav (a tangy lentil curry made with moth beans)
• Modak (a type of sweet)
• Ragda Pattice (made by using curried dried peas and patties).
• Bharli Vangi (made with brinjals)
• Shrikhand (a type of sweat yogurt dish)
• Poha (made with flattened rice)
• Sabudana Khichdi (made with sago)
• Rassa (non-vegetarian food made with mutton or chicken or fish or any other seafood)
• Sol kadhi (a drink made with kokum and coconut milk)
• Pithla Bhakri (liquid or semi liquid dish which is served with roti or rice)
• Aamti (dish of lentils)
• Bhelpuri (savory snack)
• Basundi (a type of sweet dish made with milk)
• Kairi Cha Panha (raw mango drink)
• Kadhi
• Bombay duck

How to reach Maharashtra

By Road: Interstate and Intrastate bus services provide easy accessibility for moving within states and other states. People can choose their comfort service between government and private bus service. National highways that pass through the state are- Nh13, NH16, NH17, NH3M NH4, NH7, NH9, NH6 and many others.

By Railway: Main railway station is Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus which is connected to various cities across the country. There are also stations in Pune, Nashik, Nagpur, Kolhapuri, Aurangabad and Amravati.

By Air: Mumbai, the capital of Maharashtra is one of the major airports in India, Chhatrapati International Airport. Other International airports are located in Nagpur and Pune.

Domestic airports are located in Mumbai {Santa Cruz Domestic Airport), Pune, Nagpur, Aurangabad and Kolhapur.