 Facts at a Glance
Country: India
Area: 307,690 sq km (119,999 sq mi)
Population: 91 million
Capital city: Mumbai (Bombay) (pop 15 million)
People: Hindu, Muslim
Language: Marathi
Religion: Hindu, Muslim
While Ganesh Chaturthi is celebrated all over India, the festival is most extravagant at Mumbai and, in more recent years, at Pune. Traditionally a household affair, it was converted into a public celebration a century ago when the freedom fighter, Lokmanya Tilak, used it to unite the masses for the freedom struggle. Ganesh is, after all, the remover of all obstacles. At the end of the 11-day festival (usually held in August or September), plaster and clay images of Ganesh are taken from homes and street shrines and carried in huge processions to be immersed in water. In Mumbai this is done at Chowpatty Beach, in Pune it's done down by the river.
The procession of Ganesh is the climax of the very popular Pune Festival - classical dance and music concerts, folk dance, a village festival including bullock cart races and wrestling. The opening ceremony features some of the country's best musicians and dancers, and is usually held around late August or early September, at which time Pune becomes very crowded.
September to April is the best time to travel along Maharashtra's coastal areas, including Mumbai, as the weather is cool and dry; between September to mid-June the temperature is comfortable for exploring the hill stations.
Mumbai (Bombay)
Mumbai is the glamour of Bollywood cinema, cricket on the maidans on weekends, bhelpuri on the beach at Chowpatty and red double-decker buses. It is also the infamous cages of the red-light district, Asia's largest slums, communalist politics and powerful mafia dons. This tug of war for the city's soul is played out against a Victorian townscape more reminiscent of a prosperous 19th century English industrial city than anything you'd expect to find on the edge of the Arabian Sea.
An island connected by bridges to the mainland, Mumbai is the industrial hub of everything from textiles to petrochemicals, and responsible for half of India's foreign trade. But while it aspires to be another Singapore, it's also a magnet for the rural poor. It's these new migrants who are continually re-shaping the city, making sure Mumbai keeps one foot in its hinterland and the other in the global marketplace.
Pune
Shivaji, the great Maratha leader, was raised in Pune, which was granted to his grandfather in 1599. Later it became the seat of power for the Brahmin Peshwa family until 1817 when it fell to the British and became their alternative capital during the monsoon. The city has a rather more pleasant climate than muggy Mumbai. For many western visitors, the city's major attraction is the Osho Commune International, better known as the ashram of Bhagwan Rajneesh (who advocated sex as a path to enlightenment). Styling itself as a 'spiritual health club', it has continued to prosper since the Bhagwan's death in 1990 and attracts thousands of visitors every year. Facilities include a swimming pool, sauna, tennis and basketball courts, massage and beauty parlour, bistro, bookshop and a 5ha (12ac) Zen garden (once a stinking swamp) known as Osho Teerth.
Also worth a visit is the Raja Kelkar Museum. Among the 17,000 or so artworks and curios are a coat of armour made of fish scales, a bizarre collection of musical instruments, carved doors and windows, hookah pipes, strange locks, oil lamps and a superb collection of betel-nut cutters.
Pune is 191km (118mi) south-east of Mumbai situated at the confluence of the Mutha and Mula rivers.
The Buddhist caves at Ajanta in northern Maharashtra are dramatically cut into the precipitous rock face of a gorge on a bend of the Waghore River, and contain some of India's most magnificent paintings. The 29 caves were excavated from around 200 BC but they were abandoned in 650 AD in favour of Ellora (see below). Their tempera murals exquisitely depict scenes from Buddhist legends and reveal telling details of the culture at the time they were painted. Five of the caves were temples and 24 were monasteries, thought to have been occupied by some 200 monks and artisans. The Ajanta Caves were gradually forgotten until their 'rediscovery' by a British tiger-hunting party in 1819. Make sure you pay for a 'lighting' ticket when visiting the caves or you may see very little of the murals. A little light will also prevent you from tripping over the million and one other punters keen for a 'contemplative' look at this religious site. Jalgaon is the nearest railhead.
The Buddhist, Hindu and Jain caves at Ellora, carved between 600 and 1000 AD, are renowned for their remarkable sculptural work. Situated on a gentle escarpment, the caves are believed to have been carved by priests and pilgrims using the caravan route between the northern cities of Madhya Pradesh and the ports of the west coast. It seems that the caves were started by the Buddhist builders of Ajanta when they deserted that site, but later non-Buddhist caves were created simultaneously in a flowering of creative competition between the different religions.
The highlight of the 34 caves is the mighty Kailasa Temple, the zenith of Hindu rock-cut temple architecture. The temple's measurements and the statistics involved in its construction are astounding (but we won't bore you with them here). Hewn from solid rock from the top down, using the most rudimentary of tools, the temple now appears free-standing. It incorporates enclosures, galleries, a bridge, two large stone elephants, massive stone `flagstaffs' and several finely carved panels. Building sandcastles will never be the same again. Aurangabad is the nearest sizeable town to the caves.
Mahabaleshwar
This hill station, 120km (74mi) south-west of Pune, was the summer capital of the Bombay presidency during the days of the raj. It stands at an altitude of nearly 1400m (4592ft), has pleasant walks, good lookouts and receives a thunderous 6m (20ft) of rainfall during the three-month monsoon. Nearby Arthur's Seat looks out over a 600m (1968ft) sheer drop to the coastal plain and is surrounded by a number of waterfalls. There are riding trails close to the town, such as the Lady Willingdon Gallop and the Duchess Ride, fishing and boating facilities on Venna Lake, and a badly ruined Hindu temple said to be built over five streams, including the Krishna River.
If you are at all interested in the life and philosophy of Mahatma Gandhi, it's well worth making the long trek to the heart of India to visit Sevagram, the Village of Service, where Gandhi established his ashram in 1933. For the 15 years from then until India achieved independence, Gandhi's headquarters was in some ways the alternative capital of India - the British considered it important enough to install a phonebox here with a hotline to Delhi. The ashram encompasses 100ac (40ha) of farmland, as well as residences and research centres. The original adobe huts of the ashram are still preserved, as are the Mahatma's personal effects, including his famous spinning wheel and spectacles. The Centre of Science for Villages (Magan Sangrahalaya) is a museum intended to explain and develop Gandhi's life and his ideas.
Indians like to ponder the movements of celestial bodies, so it's interesting to see what they make of this impressive meteorite crater, some 2km (1mi) in diameter and several hundred metres deep, which has a shallow lake at the bottom. A plaque on the rim near Lonar village states that it is the `only natural hypervelocity impact crater in basaltic rock in the world'; another looks like it says `Beam me up Scotty', so make up your own mind. There are several Hindu temples on the crater floor, and plenty of chattering langur monkeys inhabiting the bushes around the lake. The village of Lonar is four to five hours south-east of Ajanta by bus.
Mumbai is the main international gateway to Maharashtra, as well as to the rest of India, with far more flights than Delhi, Calcutta or Madras. It also has the busiest network of domestic flights. Long-distance buses depart from the state road transport terminal opposite Mumbai's Central railway station. It's fairly chaotic and there are almost no signs or information available in English. The state bus companies of Maharashtra, Goa, Gujarat, Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh all have offices here. There are three bus terminals in Pune.
Most travellers prefer to use the railway system. Two such systems operate out of Mumbai. Central Railways handles services to the east and south, plus a few trains to the north. Western Railways has services to the north from Churchgate and Central stations. Trains travel frequently between Mumbai and Agra (1344km/833mi), Ahmedabad (492km/305mi), Bangalore (1210km/750mi), Calcutta (1960km/1215mi), Chennai (1279km/793mi), Delhi (1384km/858mi), Kochi (1840km/1141mi) and Varanasi (1509km/936mi).
There are flights between Mumbai and Aurangabad near the Ellora and Ajanta caves. Pune also has a domestic airport. Train service exists between Mumbai and Aurangabad (375km/233mi) and Pune (191km/118mi), with lots of stops in Maharashtra's smaller towns along the way. Pune has one of the most important railway stations in the state and all express and mail trains stop there. Public and private bus services also ramble through the state. Buses, taxis and auto-rickshaws operate within many of the towns.
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