My photos from Maharashtra

Ellora caves  I  Kolhapur Mahalakshmi temple  I  Mumbay - Chowpati ISKCON Temple  I  Mumbay - Juhu ISKCON Temple  I  Nagpur - ISKCON Temple  I  Nasik - Kumbhamela ghat  I  Pandhapur, Vitala and ISKCON Temple  I  Pune - ISKCON Temple

Maharashtra
Population: 90 million
Capital: Mumbai
Area: 307,000 km2
Best Time to Visit: October to March
Main Language: Marathi
Literacy Rate: 63%

Maharashtra is the third largest state in India. Most people speak Marathi. Approximately 50% of the nation’s tax revenue and international trade come from this state. The main places visited in Maharashtra are Mumbai and the Ajanta and Ellora caves.

Originally the states of Maharashtra and Gujarat were united, but they were divided in 1960 on the basis of language. The majority of Marathi people are Hindus form 83.2% of total population and Hinduism plays important role in Maharashtrian people in there day-to-day life.

Krishna in the form of Vithal is the most popular deity amongst Marathi Hindus, they also worship the Shiva Family deities such as Shankar & Parvati under various names and also Ganesh. The Warkari tradition holds strong grip on local Hindus of Maharastra. The public Ganesh festival started by Lokmanya Tilak in the late 19th century is very popular. Marathi Hindus also revere Bhakti saints of all castes, such as Dnyaneshwar (Deshastha Brahmin), Savata Mali (Mali), Tukaram (Moray Maratahi-Kunbi), Namdev (Shimpi-Artsian,Vaishya) and Chokhamela (Mahar). Jainists are a mayor group in Maharashtra. Jain community census for 2001 in Maharashtra area was 1,301,843. Cultural roots on Maharashtra for Jainism explain this numbers, as this more than 5,000 year old religion has some ancient temples in Maharashtra. Christians account for 31,049 of Maharashtra's population. Most of the Christians are Catholics whilst some adhere to Protestantism.

There are also significant number of Goan, Mangalorean, Malayalam and Tamil Christians in the urban pockets of Mumbai and Pune. There are Two ethnic Christian Community in Maharashtra one is East Indians & concentrated in and around Mumbai, for example in Konkan districts of Thane and Raigad. Portuguese missionaries brought Catholicism to this area during 13th century. Second is Marathi Christians who are Protestants and found some Parts of Maharashtra, especially in Ahmednagar & Solapur. Protestantism was brought to these areas by American and Anglican Missionaries during 18th century. Marathi Christian have largely retained their pre-Christian practices.