Maharashtra – World Travel

Southern Maharashtra Maharashtra India Travel

WorldTravelDB.com — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 09:01:47 +0000

Southern Maharashtra provides the get-away-from-it-all laziness that Goa used to be famous for. Traversing the sleepy fishing villages of the Konkan Coast, one can envisage the culture that gave rise to Mumbai’s humble beginnings. Pune, one of the state’s larger cities, is the hub of the region.

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Sevagram Maharashtra India Travel

WorldTravelDB.com — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 09:01:15 +0000

Sevagram, the Village of Service, is where Mahatma Gandhi set up base in the long run to Independence and established the Sevagram Ashram (284753; 6.30am-6.30pm).

The peaceful ashram, encompassing 40 hectares of farmland, as well as residences and research centres, is a long way from anywhere and, with very little to see, it’s only to be recommended to die-hard Gandhi fans. The highlights of a visit are the original huts that Gandhi lived in, one of which contains the great man’s toilet (Western style!), as well as some of his personal effects, including his famous walking stick.

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Pune Maharashtra India Travel

WorldTravelDB.com — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 09:01:46 +0000

A place where old and new India interweave without a second thought, Pune (pronounced Poona) is a thriving centre of academia and business as well as a historic centre and home to the Osho Meditation Resort.

The great Maratha leader Shivaji would be astonished to see how his city has changed in 500 years. He was raised here after the city was granted to his grandfather in 1599. The town fell to the British in 1817 and became their alternative capital during the monsoon. Many maharajas had palaces here, too, taking advantage of its cooler climate.

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Northern Maharashtra Maharashtra India Travel

WorldTravelDB.com — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 09:01:23 +0000

Northern Maharashtra stretches from the steamy coast north of Mumbai to the parched Deccan Plateau in the country’s interior. It’s home to two of India’s jewel attractions: the ancient cave temples at Ellora and the jungle-enshrouded Buddhist art at Ajanta. And, for the intrepid, there’s incredible wildlife-spotting (yes, tigers!) in the far eastern reaches of the state, towards Nagpur.

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Nasik Maharashtra India Travel

WorldTravelDB.com — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 09:01:32 +0000

Standing on the Godavari, one of India’s holiest rivers, Nasik (also known as Nashik) is the kind of town where you can’t walk more than a couple of steps without tripping over yet another exotic temple or colourful bathing ghat. It’s an absorbing and exciting place and has many associations with the Hindu epic Ramayana. Lord Rama and his wife Sita were exiled here and it’s where Lakshmana hacked off the nasika (nose) of Ravana’s sister, thus giving the city its name.

Nasik also serves as a base for pilgrims visiting Trimbak and Shirdi (79km southeast), birthplace of the original Sai Baba. Every 12 years Nasik plays host to the Kumbh Mela, the largest religious gathering on earth. The next one is due in 2019, but a smaller gathering, Ardha Mela (Half Mela), is held every six years.

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Nagpur Maharashtra India Travel

WorldTravelDB.com — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 09:01:35 +0000

Nagpur, the geographic centre and orange-growing capital of India, is a clean and affluent city which makes a good jumping-off point for a series of trips into the far eastern corner of Maharashtra. In addition to its proximity to Ramtek and the ashrams around Sevagram, Nagpur is a convenient stop for those heading to the isolated Navagaon National Park, 135km east, and Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve, 150km south of Nagpur. The former has bears, wild dogs and elusive leopards, while the latter hosts gaurs, chitals, nilgais and seldom-spotted tigers.

The countryside around Nagpur might be interesting but the city itself has such a dearth of attractions that locals list a shiny shopping mall and a less shiny prison in the towns’ roll call of sites. What is worth prodding about in is the colourful central market – the star buys are the near-fluorescent clay pots. The one time Nagpur is worth visiting for its own sake is during the Dussehra Festival (September or October).

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Murud Maharashtra India Travel

WorldTravelDB.com — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 08:01:42 +0000

About 165km south of Mumbai, the sleepy fishing town of Murud is the most obvious first port of call. With a striking beach (though suffering from a little pollution carried down from Mumbai) and the commanding island fortress of Janjira, 5km south of the village, you’ll be happy you came.

Standing a little way offshore, the fortress was built in 1140 by Siddi Jahor and became the 16th-century capital of the Siddis of Janjira, descendants of sailor-traders from the Horn of Africa. Although constructed on an island, its 12m-high walls seem to emerge straight from the sea. This made the fort utterly impregnable, even to the mighty Marathas – Shivaji tried to conquer it by sea and his son, Sambhaji, attempted to tunnel to it. Today the fort has finally been conquered by none other than Mother Nature: its walls are slowly turning to rubble and its interior back into forest.

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Matheran Maharashtra India Travel

WorldTravelDB.com — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 08:01:06 +0000

Matheran (Jungle Topped), resting atop the Sahyadris Mountains amid a shady forest crisscrossed with walking tracks and breathtaking lookouts, is easily the most gorgeous of Maharashtra’s hill stations.

Hugh Malet, collector for the Thane district, ‘discovered’ Matheran in 1850 while climbing the path known as Shivaji’s Ladder; thereafter it quickly became a popular hill station. The place owes its tranquillity to a ban on motor vehicles and bicycles, making it an ideal place to rest the ears and lungs. It’s a very friendly town, well geared up for Indian tourists, but less sure of foreigners.

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Maharashtra India Travel

WorldTravelDB.com — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 08:01:20 +0000

Sprawling Maharashtra, India’s second most populous state, stretches from the gorgeous greens of the little-known Konkan Coast right into the parched innards of India’s beating heart. Within this massive framework are all the sights, sounds, tastes, and experiences of India.

In the north there’s Nasik, a city of crashing colours, timeless ritual and Hindu legend. In the south you can come face to face with modern India at its very best in Pune, a city as famous for its sex guru as its bars and restaurants. Further south still, the old maharaja’s palaces, wrestling pits and overwhelming temples of Kolhapur make for one of the best introductions to India anyone could want. Out in the far east of the state towards Nagpur, the adventurous can set out in search of tigers hidden in a clump of national parks. On the coast a rash of little-trodden beaches and collapsing forts give Goa’s tropical dreams a run for their money and in the hills of the Western Ghats, morning mists lift to reveal stupendous views and colonial-flavoured hill stations. But it’s the centre, with its treasure house of architectural and artistic wonders (topped by the World Heritage–listed cave temples of Ellora and Ajanta), that really steals the show. Whatever way you look at it, Maharashtra is one of the most vibrant and rewarding corners of India, yet despite this, most travellers make only a brief artistic pause at Ellora and Ajanta before scurrying away to other corners of India, leaving much of this diverse state to the explorers.

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Mahabaleshwar Maharashtra India Travel

WorldTravelDB.com — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 08:01:21 +0000

High up in the Western Ghats, the hill station of Mahabaleshwar was founded in 1828 by Sir John ‘Boy’ Malcolm, after which it quickly became the summer capital of the Bombay presidency during the days of the Raj. Today few traces of those times remain, save for a couple of dilapidated buildings. In fact Rudyard Kipling would positively turn in his grave if he could see how down-at-heel the old girl had become and good gosh, you can’t even get a properly brewed cup of tea. While the tea and summer balls are long gone what hasn’t changed one jot are the delightful views and equally delightful temperatures and it’s for these two reasons that Mahabaleshwar attracts hordes of holidaymakers who fill the main street with loud exuberance. If you are after just a hint of peace and quiet then avoid the peak periods during the summer school holidays (April to June), Christmas and Diwali.

The hill station virtually shuts up shop during the monsoon (from late June to mid-September), when an unbelievable 6m of rain falls. Buildings are clad with kulum grass to stave off damage from the torrential downpours. After things calm down, the reward is abundantly green landscapes.

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