Maharashtra is a wonderful state having many tourist spots. One can really enjoy them and all are "must-watch" places. Maharashtrian culture goes very well with A.P's culture. Most of the people speak "Marathi" but they communicate with the tourists in "Hindi".
My parents and I visited Maharashtra for 4 days.
DAY-1 : "SHIRDI"
"Shirdi" is one of the most popular places in India where "Maha samadhi of late Shri. Sai Baba" is situated. There is no proper rail route to Shirdi. Hence we got down at "Manmad", a 65km distance from Shirdi. We were really blessed by the Lord as we were fortunate to see the "Dhoop Aarti" (evening aarti). It is a wonderful experience. Trust me!
DAY-2: "AURANGABAD"
"Aurangabad" is a large town in Maharashtra which is situated at 78 miles from Shirdi. It has many tourist spots like : Bibi-ka-Maqbara (Mini tajmahal)
Daulatabad fort
Ellora caves
Ajanta caves
Auranganad guhalay
Bhadra maruthi temple
Ghrishneshwar temple.
BIBI-KA-MAQBARA
Bibi-ka-Maqbara (known as Baby Taj) was built in 1679 by Mughal Emperor AurangaZeb as a tribute to his wife, Begum Rabia-ul-Durani. This mausoleum is a replica of the famous Taj Mahal, however it is a very poor immitation of Taj Mahal. The chief architect of the monument is a Persian called Ustad-ata-Ullah. The inscription on the walls of the tomb reveals that it costs precisely Rs.665,283 and 7 Annas to build this monument. The monument becomes so beautiful when its reflection falls on the water as soon as the first rays of sun fall on it. MTDC organizes a fair every October as "the Bibi-ka-Maqbara festival".
DAULATABAD FORT
Daulatabad fort in Aurangabad is a very rare kind of constuction, which is a combination of ground fort and the hill fort. This fort is built on a pyramid shaped natural mountain peak. Climbing this fort is almost impossible. The fort area is surrounded by three concentric walls known as "kots". The outer one, "Amberkot" covers the Daulatabad old town. The National Highway 211, connecting Aurangabad to Ellora passes through the area covered by Amberkot. The second one, "Mahakot", is currently the boundary of the fort for all practical purposes. the main entrance is in Mahakot and has 8 gates. The third one is the "Kalakot".
It is believed that this fort, originally known as "Deogiri" (or "Devagiri"), was built by the Rashtrakuta kings, who built the world famous "Kailas caves". The earliest recorded history is that "Yadav dynasty" ruled this fort between 1187 to 1318 A.D. In 1294, "Allauddin khilji" attacked this fort, but the kingdom remained with the then rulers under a treaty. This was followed by "Malik Khafur's attack in 1307 and later by Qutubuddin Mubarak khilji in 1318.
In 1387, Mohammed-bin-Tuglak shifted his capital from Delhi to Deogiri, and renamed it as "Daulatabad". I n 1347, Hasan gangu Bahamani established the Bahamani kingdom in Daulatabad. Bahamani rulers ruled over for 150 years. In 1499, Daulatabad came under Nizamshahi of Ahmednagar. a new town "Khadki" near Daulatabad was formed which was later renamed as " Aurangabad".
In 1633, Shah jahan captured the fort. In 1635, Aurangazeb made Daulatabad the capital of Deccan. In 1724, the fort came under "Nijam of Hyderabad", who laid the foundation of Asafjahi Dynasty, and remained with the dynasty till 16th september 1948. Between 1760 and 1762, the fort was "Peshwas", when Sadashiv Rao Peshwa captured the fort after defeating the Nizam.
AURANGABAD CAVES (GUHALAY)
Aurangabad caves are all Buddhist caves. Aurangabad is located in a valley watered by the river Dudhna between the Sihyachal and Satara range of hills. The ancient name of Aurangabad is Khirki which means a ‘window’ or ‘entrance’. The Aurangabad caves (19°55’ N; 75°30’ E) are located on a hill running roughly east to west, nearly 2 km behind Bibi-ka-Maqbara. In all twelve Buddhist Caves are found here which fall into three separate groups depending on its location. The first group consists of caves 1 to 5, the second 6 to 9 and third 10 to 12. The caves are datable from circa 2nd – 3rd century AD to 7th century AD. The first and the second groups are separated by nearly 500 metres from each other, with the former at the western side while the latter is on the eastern side of the same hill. The third group is further east of the second group.
At Aurangabad, due to its proximity to the ancient trade route and close to Pratishthana (modern Paithan), the capital of Satavahanas, patronage to religious activities can be understood, even though this is not corroborated by inscriptional evidences. Here the earliest excavations (Caves 1 & 3) probably date to 2nd – 3rd century A.D. Cave 3 is in the form of a chaitya griha of the Hinayana order, albeit preserved very badly due to the nature of the rock formation. The heterogeneous rock formation here has prevented very large scale excavations. The excavators have taken much care to avoid portions where the lose rock formations were present. Cave 1 is an unfinished vihara, the ceiling of verandah has fallen down. Cave 2 is also a vihara with a shrine of Buddha at the rear.
The remaining caves are generally ascribed to the Kalachuri dynasty. Of all, Cave 7 is the most elaborate and famous for its sculptural embellishments. On plan it includes a central shrine with circumambulation with an outer corridor running all around. This corridor has recesses at regular intervals which are carved with various Buddhist gods and goddesses. The front wall of the verandah has very beautiful representation of a panel of litany of Avalokitesvara and Bodhisatva on either side the entrance to the shrine. The litany of Avalokitesvara is particularly more elaborate from similar examples at Ajanta and Ellora. The litany of Avalokitesvara represents the Bodhisatva Padmapani as ‘Saviour of Eight Great Perils’ (Fire, Theft, Demon, Elephant, Lion, Shipwreck, Snake, Monkey).
The other important sculptural panels are of Tara, the principal consort of Avalokitesvara, depicted to the left of central shrine door and a group of six female musicians on the left wall of the main shrine. The latter is particularly very famous and often taken as the representative sculptural panel of the Aurangabad Caves. The main figure at the center is in a dancing attitude, with the five others playing different musical instruments.
The remaining caves of the second group are of less important due to incomplete excavations.
It seems that there are a total of 1200 caves in the guhalay.
BHADRA MARUTHI TEMPLE
It is located in Khultabad ( also known as Ratna giri).
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Khuldabad may be a small town in Aurangabad district, but it is worth including it in the list of must see places when you visit Aurangabad. The Bhadra Maruti temple here has made the place an important pilgrimage center. The view of this marble white painted temple from a distance is very inviting. No crowd of devotees was there, it was not yet aarati time and we had a relaxed darshan here too.The temple is crowded on Saturdays with long serpentine queues for darshan, as it is considered to be an auspicious day to worship Lord Maruti (also called Hanuman). Devotees throng this place in thousands in the month of March, to celebrate Hanuman Jayanti. This temple is one of the two places where Lord Hanuman is in sleeping position. The other one is in Allahabad.
The temple was built by Rajarshi Bhadrsen. And the legend goes like this:
“Khuldabad previously known by the name of Badravati Nagar was ruled by King Bhadrasen, a kind and pious man. King Bhadrasen used to sit singing bhajans in praise of Lord Hanuman on the banks of Bhadrakund Talab.
One day while the King was singing the devotional songs, Lord Hanuman appeared in front of him. Listening to the captivating music, he fell asleep on the ground. Later, Lord Hanuman pleased by the astute devotion of King Bhadrasen, granted him a wish.
The good King desired that the Lord would stay there forever and fulfill the desires of all his devotees. Lord Hanuman granted the wish and disappeared. Much later, an idol of Lord Hanuman in a sleeping posture was found where he had stood. That’s how the name Bhadra Maruti or ‘Sleeping Hanuman’.”
The interiors of the temple are in marble and the ceiling at the entrance had numerous designs and hymns written with painted mirrors. The sleeping hanuman idol is covered with orange colored sheet and garlanded with a string of banyan leaves. Outside the temple there are rows of shops selling various puja articles and food items. Our next destination was the tomb of Aurangazeb in Khuldabad. Bhadravati Nagar was earlier called Ramapur and during the reign of Emperor Aurangazeb the town got its name Khuldabad.
DO YOU KNOW WHY HANUMAN IDOL IS ALWAYS IN ORANGE COLOUR?
Well, there is a mythological reason for that. Once Hanuman happened to ask Sita maa about the sindhur on her head ("maang" or "papidi"). She answered that it increases the life time of Lord Ram. Then Hanuman covered his entire body with sindhur and said " By putting sindhur on head, if Lord sri ram's lifetime increases, then by covering my entire body, the life time will be infinite". This shows the unbeatable Bhakti and affection of Hanuman on Lord Sri ram.
GHRISHNESHWAR
Ghrishneshwar is one of the 12 Jyothirlingas in India. "Jyothirlinga" means the place where Lord shiva was found himself in the form of "linga".
It seems that Mata Parvati once prepared bath powder for herself thinking about Lord shiva. Then the powder happened to fall in this place and a linga was emerged.
The Ghrishneshwar Temple was built during 1765 and 1795. The construction of the temple was done by Ahilyabai Holkar of Indore. The temple is built of red volcanic rock and it delivers a characteristic appearance.
The most impressing feature of Ghrishneshwar Temple is the 5 tier shikara. The shikara rises in decreasing height. The height is then increased with the help of the high wall component of the sanctum. An unerect bull at each corner and monkey behind it is the crown of the Shikara.
The temple is of great importance as the presiding deity is one of the 12 Jyotirlingas in India.
DAY-3:
On the day 3, we visited many tourist places in nashik highway like,
Sapta Srungi mata temple
Nashik
Godavari
Panchawati
Sita gupha
kala ram
Gora ram
Kapaleeshwar mandir
Trymbakeshwar
Muktidham (Birla mandir)
SAPTA SRUNGI MATA TEMPLE
This is the excellent place i have ever been to in my life. A very cool and pleasant place. "Sapta" means 7 and "Srungi" means "mountains" in Sanskrit. As the goddess is located on the above of 7 mountains, she was named as "Sapta srungi mata".
Believe me!!! This place is going to be a fabulous experience as clouds pass us. You can touch clouds !!!!! (I even tried to catch them ;) ). This place definitely beats ooty and kodaikanal. This temple is located in a village called "Vani" near Nashik. There will be heavy rainfall from june to september. Rain pours down continuously and the temperature is below 5 degrees centigrade..
The Saptashrungi Devi temple is located at Vani near Nashik in Maharashtra. This temple is one among the 51 Shakti peethas located on the Indian subcontinent. The Devi is said be swayambhu (self-manifested) on a rock on the sheer face of a mountain. She is surrounded by seven (sapta-in Sanskrit) peaks (shrunga-in Sanskrit), hence the name- Sapta Shrungi Mata (mother of the seven peaks). The image of the Devi is huge-about 10 feet tall with 18 hands, holding various weapons. The idol is always coated with Sindoor, which is considered auspicious in this region.
She is believed to be Mahishasur Mardini, the slayer of the demon Mahishasur, who took the form of a buffalo. Hence, at the foot of the hill, from where one starts climbing the steps, there is the head of a buffalo, made is stone, and believed to be that of the demon. It is believed that the Devi Mahatmya, a sacred book which extols the greatness of Devi and her exploits was composed at this place by the sage Markandeya, who performed rigorous penance on a hill opposite the one on which the Devi resides, which is now named after him.
The temple, which sort of sticks to the cliff, is 1230 meters above sea level. There is an old path with steps cut out of the mountain, which starts right at the foothills, at Vani and goes all the way to the mountain. However, now, a motorable road has been built, which goes up to an altitude of 1150 meters. From this place one has to climb around 500 steps to reach the shrine, which only takes about forty five minutes. For those who cannot climb even this, there are “dolis” (chairs carried by 4 people) available at Rs.400/- for the two-way trip.
When you visit maharashtra, dont forget to go to this place... That is an AWESOME experience.
GODAVARI GHAT IN NASHIK
Holi River Godavari ghat at Pachvati in Nashik city (Maharashtra) India - millions of people come here for holy bath during Kumbha mela. Here godavari is a triveni sangamam of Godavari, aruna and varuna rivers.
PANCHAVATI
Panchavati is a religious and pilgrimage place in Nashik city of Maharashtra state in western India.
The name is derived from the Sanskrit pañca five vata Banyan Tree. The area of five Banyan trees is situated on the banks of River Godavari in Nasik, Maharashtra,India.
It has been proposed to identify it with the modern Nasik, because Lakshmana cut off Surpanakha's nose (nasika) at Panchavati.
In Panchavati today, there are five trees marked, one of which is an Ashoka tree. There is also a cave here called Sita Guha. Sita, Ram and Lakshman prayed here to Lord Shiva. The ancient Shivalinga still exists in the small temple in the cave and is visited by devotees.
According to Hindu legends and Ramayana Rama, along with his wife Sita and brother Lakshmana, stayed in Panchavati during their Vanvasa period.
We need to go inside the Guha by crawling and it is also a funny experience!
The Laxman Rekha is located in Panchavati about a kilometre away from Sita Gupha. It was from here that Ravana abducted Goddess Sita. Today this area is a major pilgrimage and tourist attraction.
Panchavati is one of the coolest and cleanest area of Nasik. It has got many temples like Kalaram Temple, Goraram Temple, Sita Gumpha. There are many temples in Tapovan which is very close to Panchavati and can be considered to be in Panchavati.
On auspicious occasions like Mahashivratri, Rangapanchami, Makar Sankranti people take baths in river Godavari at Ramkund which is considered to be one of the most important places in Indian theology .
According to Hindu theology, it is believed to be the place where a few drops of 'amrut' fell while the kalash was carried to the devatas.
GORA RAM
Here the idols of Sri ram, Sita, Laxman and Hanuma are of white rock.
KALA RAM
Here, the idols are black in colour.
KAPALEESHWAR MANDIR
This is the only temple in entire India where Lord Shiva is NOT accompanied by his disciple "Nandi". Hence it is considered very rare.
However, we cannot go to all these places by vehicle. Either we can take an auto or we must go on foot. all these places are spreaded around 1 and a half kilometer area.
TRIMBAKESHWAR
Trimbakeshwar temple is a religious center having one of the twelve Jyotirlingas. The extraordinary feature of the Jyotirlinga located here is its three faces embodying Lord Brahma, Lord Vishnu and Lord Rudra. Due to excessive use of water, the linga has started to erode. It is said that this erosion symbolizes the eroding nature of human society. The Lingas at Trimbakeshwar are covered by a jeweled crown which is placed over the Gold Mask of Tridev (Brahma Vishnu Mahesh). The crown is said to be from the age of Pandavs and consists of diamonds, emeralds, and many precious stones. The crown is displayed every Monday from 4-5 pm (Shiva).All other Jyotirlingas have Shiva as the main deity. The entire black stone temple is known for its appealing architecture and sculpture and is at the foothills of a mountain called Brahmagiri.Three sources of the godavari originate from the brahmagiri mountain. Introduction of the holy place Shri Trimbakeshwar
500 years back from now there was built a city which later on became famous as Trimbakeshwar. In the period of the Peshwas regime Nana Saheb Peshwa had instructed to sonstruct the Trimbakeshwar temple and developed and beautified the city of Trimbakeshwar.e cold weather as it is situated 3000 ft. above from the sea. There are two different routes to get to here. From Nasik to Trimbakeshwar, it is only 18 K.M. This route was built by the help of Shri Kashi Nath Dhate in A.D. 871. One can easily get amode of transport from here every hour.There is a mountain named the Brihmagiri Mountain 18 K.M. from the city of Nasik in the Nasik district. This is one of the parts of the Sahayadri Vallies. The city of Trimbakeshwar is located in the bottom of this mountain. This is a beautiful natural place with thThe other easy route is the Igatpuri - Trimbakeshwar rute. This route is 28 K.M. long. Unlike the Nasik -Trimbateshwar road. Only some particular and pre-planned and certain mode of transport are available over here.
For the visitors coming from the North the Nasik-Trimbakeshwar route is the better one and more comfortable. The Municiple Corporation was established in Trimbakeshwar in 1866 A.D. The corporation is seruing and taking care of the devotees and tourists for 120 years. The corporation has cleansed,beautified and extended the important roads for the comfort of the visitors. The unforgettable establishment of the Phadanvees of the Holkars and the Peshawas are very much ornated and preserved.
MUKTI DHAM
This muktidham was built by a very poor man who did not have sufficient money to visit all dhams in India. Hence he prayed to lord and started building idols of God with stones. Later it was taken care by the Birlas, and they built a temple there which consists the replicas of all dhamas.
DAY-4
SHANI SHINGNAPUR
The presiding deity of Shinganapur, Sri Shaneshwara or Lord Shanidev- the personification of the planet Saturn is worshipped with utmost reverence and devotion by multitudes of people from all over the world. The spectacle of the deity in black stone is overwhelming. A unique aspect of this place is, that no temple structure houses the Shanidev. There is only a simple platform on which stands the swayambhu idol, in black stone.
RENUKA MATA GLASS TEMPLE
this ia also a swayambhu idol of Maa Renuka. This temple is considered very sacred. After visiting Shani dev's temple, it is must to visit Renuka Maa's temple in sonai.
Maharashtra has many sugar cane fields and onion fields.
----------------------- VISIT MAHARASHTRA AND ENJOY THE EXPERIENCE-------------------------
