Interesting Facts about Maharashtra

This article is all about historical, geographical, social, religious, cultural, amazing, rare, unknown interesting facts about Maharashtra.

Quick Basic Facts about Maharashtra

• Capital – Mumbai
• Official Language – Marathi
• Area – 3,07,690 Sq Km
• Area Rank – Third
• Population – 11,23,72,972 (2011 census)
• Population Rank – Second
• Sex Ratio – 929 females per 1000 male
• Literacy Rate – 82.3 %
• No of Districts – 36
• Assembly and Council seats – 288 + 78(Bicameral)
• Lok Sabha seats – 48
• Rajya sabha seats – 19
• First Chief Minister – Yashwantrao Chavan
• First Governor – John Colville (From 1943-48, Bombay State)
• Date of Creation – 1 May 1960
• Highest Peak – Kalsubai, 1646 m

 State Symbols of Maharashtra

• State Tree – Mango tree
• State Flower – Jarul (Lagerstroemia Speciosa)
• State Animal – Indian giant squirrel
• State Bird – yellow footed green pigeon
• State Dance – Lavani
• State Sport – Kabaddi

Historical Facts about Maharashtra

• Maharashtra is the home land of Maratha Empire of 18th century. This Maratha Empire included Peshwas of Pune,   Bhonsle clan of Nagpur, Gaekwad of Baroda, Holkars of Indore and Scindia of Gwalior.
• Shivaji was the eminent Maratha ruler. Shivaji discovered the modern Guerrilla war. During the mid-decades of 18th century the Maratha empire was on its peak and they defeated Mughals in several wars.
• The Maratha power declined after the defeat by Afghan ruler Ahmad shah Abdali in the Third War of Panipat in 1761.
• Maharashtra was earlier known as Bombay Presidency and then as Bombay State. Under the Bombay Re-Organization Act, 1960 Maharashtra and Gujarat were formed separate states from Bombay state on 1 May 1960.
• It is the home land of freedom fighters likeBalGangadhar  Tilak,  Vinayak  Savarkar,  Govind  Ranade,  GopalKrishnaGokhale,  Ferozeshah Mehta and  Dadabhai  Naoroji.

  

• Victoria Terminus which was later renamed as Chatrapati Shivaji Terminus is a proud historic railway station of Maharashtra and also a UNESCO world heritage site. It was built in year 1897 by Architect Frederick William Stevens.
• Hutatma Chowk (Martyr’s Square) History – During the demonstrations at Flora Fountain for separate Maharashtra state and to make Mumbai as its capital, 105 protesters were killed in firing which was ordered by the then Chief Minister of Bombay state Morarji Desai. The Flora Fountain circle was later renamed as Hutatma Chowk (Martyr’s Square) as a memoir of the killed protesters.

Geographical Facts about Maharashtra

• Maharashtra borders 6 states – Gujarat in northwest, Madhya Pradesh in north, Chhattisgarh in East, Telangana in Southeast, Karnataka and Goa in south.
• This state is 3rd by area and 2nd by pouplation in India.
• Maharashtra is divided into five geographically distinct parts – Konkan, Khandesh, Marathwada, Vidarbha, Paschim Maharashtra. Konkan is the western coastal part. Khandesh is the North West part covering Jalgaon, Dhule and Bhusawal. Vidarbha is the eastern region covering Nagpur, Yavatmal, Chandrapur and Amravati. Marathwada is the southern part of state covering Aurangabad and Nanded . Paschim Maharashtra is the most prosperous region which covers  Pune, Solapur, Satara, Sangli and Kolhapur. this region is also known for its sugar factories.
• This state is watered by great rivers Godavari, Bhima and Krishna which rises in Sahyadris and flow east towards the Bay of Bengal.
• Kalsubai Peak (in Sahyadri range) near Igatpuri is the  highest peak with an altitude of 1646 m.
• Ahmednagar is the largest district of Maharashtra by area. Suburban Mumbai district is largest by population.

Economic Facts about Maharashtra

• Maharashtra is the richest state of India. If GDP is considered as benchmark of economy, then Maharashtra ranks on first place among all Indian states. As per year 2014 data, GDP of Maharashtra was 16.8 lakh crore. Maharashtra shares 13.4% of total India’s GDP.
• Mumbai is the financial capital of India and headquarters of major banks, financial institutes and insurance companies
• Mumbai Port and JNPT port are the two main important ports of Maharashtra.
• The first train in India (and Asia too) ran between Mumbai to Thane on 16 Apr 1853.
• Mineral resources of Maharashtra – Coal, Iron Ore, Manganese, Chromite, Bauxite, Oil and Natural Gas
• Main Industries of Maharashtra – Chemical and allied, Electrical machinery, Petroleum and allied products, Pharmaceuticals, Engineering goods, machine tools, steel and iron industry, plastic casting,
• India’s first Gold Refinery is located at Shirpur.
• Oil fields of Mumbai offshore caters to 30 % domestic demand of petroleum.
• Main Agricultural Products of Maharashtra – Wheat, rice, jowar, bajra and pulses. Cash crops like cotton, sugarcane, groundnut and cashew. Alphonso mangoes, Thomson seedless grapes, Cavendish bananas and pomegranates are top products of state.

Social and Cultural Facts about Maharashtra

• 4 out of 12 famous Jyotirling of Lord Shiva is in Maharashtra state. These are Trambakeshwar (Nashik), Nageshwar (Aundh), Grishneshwar (Verul,Daulatabad) and Bhimashankar (near Pune).
• Famous temple of Trimbakeshwar Mahadev was built by Balaji Baji Rao. The holy pond near the temple is considered as the origion of Godavari river. This temple is located in footsteps of Brhmagiri mountain.
• Nashik is also famous for its Kumbh Mela on banks of Godavari river. It is organised in every 12 years.
• Ganesh Chaturthi is the main festival of this state. Lalbaug cha Raja is most popular Ganpati idol of Mumbai and Maharastra during Ganesh Chaturthi.

  

• Pandharpur which is known for lord Vitthala temple, is located on the banks of Bhima (Chandrabhaga) river in Solapur district. It is most important and most visited pilgrimage centre of Maharashtra. The other names by which lord Vithala is known are – Panduranga, Vithoba and Pandharinath. There are four annual pilgrimages to Pandharpur which occurs during month of 1) Ashadh, 2) Shravan, 3) Kartik, 4) Magh

 

• Sai baba temple of Shirdi is the another most visited famous religious spot of Maharashtra. Sai baba is considered as the spiritual saint (fakir) who is devoted equally by Hindu and Muslims. Sai baba was born on 18 Sept 1835 in Pathari and died in 1918 at Shirdi.
• Famous Hazi Ali Dargah was built in year 1431 by Sayyad Haji Ali Bukhari who was originally from Uzbekistan.
• The important caves depicting carved statues are at Ajanta, Ellora, Elephanta, Kanheri and Karla.
• Ajanta caves of Aurangabad were built in 4 century BC and represents Buddhist culture. Ellora Caves were built by Rashtrakutas during 6th and  9th century AD. In Ellora there are 12 Buddhist, 17 Hindu and 5 Jain caves each showing respective religious culture. Elephanta caves contains deities of Lord Shiva and Parvati and symbolizes  Hindu culture.
• Lovani, Tamasha, Gafa and Mauni  are the popular folk dances of Maharashtra.
• Mumbai which is also known as Mayanagri  is popular for Film and Entertainment industry.

Famous Persons of Maharashtra

• Bal Gangadhar Tilak – was the eminent freedom fighter, social reformer of pre-independent India. He was the first person to give the concept of Swaraj (self-rule). He gave the popular slogan “Swaraj is my birth right and I shall have it”. He was born in 1856 in Ratnagiri district.
• B R Ambedkar – was the eminent social reformer and politician and the prime architect of Indian constitution. He was born in 1891, at Mhow of the then Central Provinces, now Madhya Pradesh. He was also called as Babasaheb. He served as the first Law Minister of India. He is well known for his works for the upliftment of Dalits. He received Bharat Ratna award posthumously in 1990.
• Vinoba Bhave – was the famous spritual leader and social reformer known for his Bhudan Andolan. His nickname is Acharya and is considered as National Teacher of India. His real name was Vinayak Narahari Bhave and was born in  Raigad district of Maharashtra.
• Baba Amte – the famous social worker was born in 1914 in wardha district of British india. His actual name was Murlidhar Devidas Amte.
• Anna Hazare – is the well known social activist known for his movement India against corruption and for Lok Pal bill. His real name is Kisan Baburao Hazare and was born in year 1937 in Bhinagar, Ahmednagar district.
• Mahatma Jyotiba Phule – Jyotiba phule along with his with wife Savitiribai Phule are well known social reformer known for their works of upliftment of lower castes, women empowerment and removal of untouchability. Jyotirao Phule was born in Satara while Savitribai Phule in Naigaon.
• Azim Premji – the famous entrepreneur who is founder and chairman of Wipro Technologies was born in Mumbai in year 1945.
• Medha Patkar – is the popular social activist known for Narmada Bachao andolan. She was born in year 1954 in Mumbai.
• Dhanraj pillay – the former captain of Indain Hockey team was born in Pune.
• Aparna Popat – was the famous Badminton player who was nine times National champion. She was born in Mumbai in 1978.
• Anjali Bhagvat – the famous professional shooter was born in 1969 in Mumbai.
• Famous Cricketers – Anshuman Gaekwad, Sunil Gavaskar, Ravi Shastri, Chandu Borde, Vijay Harare, Vijay Merchant, Dilip Vensarkar, Kiran More,  Sachin Tendulkar, Sanjay Manjrekar, Sunil Gavaskar, Vinod Kambli, , Rohit Sharma, Zahir Khan
• The Mangeshkars – Deenanath, Lata, Asha, Usha
• Zubin Mehta – is the popular music director and known for conducting western classical music in India. He was born in 1936 in Mumbai.
• Famous Actresses of Maharashtra – Nutan, Smita Patil, Lalita Pawar, Mugdha Godse,Durga Khote, Padmini Kolhapuri, Kimi Katkar, Pallavi Joshi, Shilpa Shirodkar, Urmila Matondkar
• Famous Actors of Maharashtra – Amol Palekar, Dada Kondke, Nana Patekar, Sachin Khedekar, Sadashiv Amrapurkar,