Regions - DOT-Maharashtra Tourism
Regions of Maharashtra
The Indian State of Maharashtra came into existence on 1 May 1960. It is also known as Maharashtra Day, initially with 26 districts. 10 new districts have been created since then, and currently the number of districts in the state is 36. These districts are grouped into six administrative divisions shown below.
-
Amravati division also known as Varhad is an Indian one of the six administrative divisions of Maharashtra state in India. Amravati and Nagpur divisions constitute the ancient Vidarbha region. Amravati Division is bound by Madhya Pradesh state to the north, Nagpur Division to the east, Telangana state to the southeast, Marathwada region (Aurangabad Division) to the south and southwest, and Nashik Division to the west. Amravati division roughly corresponds to the former province of Berar, which was ruled by the Maratha Maharajas of Nagpur till 1803. In 1853, it was occupied by the British, who decided to administer the province although it remained under the nominal sovereignty of the Nizam of Hyderabad. In 1903 Berar Province was renamed Berar Division and added to the British-administered Central Provinces, which in 1936 was renamed Central Provinces and Berar. Upon Indian independence, the Central Provinces and Berar were reorganised as the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. In 1956 the Indian states were reorganised on linguistic grounds, and Amravati and Nagpur divisions were transferred to Bombay State, which was split on linguistic lines into the states Maharashtra and Gujarat in 1960. Amravati city is the largest city in the division followed by Akola and Yavatmal cities. Chikhaldara, the only hill station in Vidarbha region, is situated in Amravati District. Also the famous Melghat Tiger Reserve is situated in Amravati and Akola districts.
-
Aurangabad division is one of the six administrative divisions of Maharashtra state in India. It lies in the Marathwada region of Maharashtra. With the Marathwada being one of the five Maharashtra regions, it has the division of Aurangabad. Origin of the name of this region lies in the term Mara-hatti-vada, which is the meaning of one of the communities in Maratha. Aurangabad is the city which is also the headquarters of this region, this name having been derived from Aurangzeb, who had his rule in this region for a small period. Plenty of monuments belonging to the communities of Sikh, Muslim, Hindus and Jains are found in Marathwada. Some of the important ones are Jyotirlingas in Nagnath, Grishneshwar and Vaijanath, Shaktipeeths such as in Ambejogai, Tuljapur and Mahur and the Ajanta and Ellora caves. From historical times, this region was way behind in terms of economical advancements. This revelation was done in 2000, when the Human Development Index was derived using the parametric measurements by United Nations Development Programme or UNDP. Major development has occurred since then in the Marathwada, with high pace of industrialization. Audi and Skoda car makers have started their units for manufacturing in Aurangabad. Other major projects having their presence in Marathwada are Siemens, Parle, Radico and Hindalco.
-
Karavali or the Konkan Coast is also simply called as Konkan and is marked by the coastline in the west, with plenty of rugged regions, extending from district of Thane to that of Mangalore. Mention of this division of Konkan has been done in the Skanda Purana, which is believed to be the Parashurama Srishti. The division of Konkan is one of the subdivisions of administration in the state of Maharashtra, consisting of almost all the districts in the state, which are bound by the coastline of India. This region comprises a major part of the western coast of the state, with two districts belonging to Mumbai, also included in this division.
-
The Nagpur Division is one of six administrative divisions of the state of Maharashtra in India. Nagpur is the easternmost division in the state, with an administrative headquarters in the city of Nagpur. It covers 51,336 km² (19,821 mi²). The Amravati and Nagpur divisions make up the Vidarbha region. Maharashtra has on its eastern part, the region which is known as Vidarbha and comprises of divisions of Amravati and Nagpur. Previously, this was known as Berar and composed 31.6% of area in the state and shares 21.3% of population. The borders of this region are having Madhya Pradesh towards its north, Chhattisgarh in the eastern side, south is covered by Andhra Pradesh, while the west is having Khandesh and Marathwada regions of the state. Vidarbha is somewhat located towards central India, with its share of rich history and cultural background, bit different from other areas of Maharashtra. In Vidarbha, Nagpur is the biggest city, Amravati being the second biggest, while the city of Akola ranks third and thereafter are the cities of Yavatmal, Chandrapur, Wardha, Bhandara and the city of Gondia. Much of the vernacular dialect is Vahardi and Marathi, the former being one of the dialects in Marathi. There are 10 seats from region of Vidarbha for Lok sabha representation. The district of Nagpur, which is having the densest population, has 2 seats as the constituency has been divided into the zones of Ramtek and Nagpur, while such districts as Gadchiroli and Chimur are clubbed to make one single constituency, due to the lesser population.
-
Nashik division is one of the six divisions of India's Maharashtra state and is also known as North Maharashtra. The historic Khandesh region covers the northern part of the division, in the valley of the Tapti River. Nashik Division is bound by Konkan Division and the state of Gujarat to the west, Madhya Pradesh state to the north, Amravati Division and Marathwada (Aurangabad Division) to the east, and Pune Division to the south. The city of Nashik is the largest city of this division. Khandesh forms a region of Maharashtra, located towards the central India, taking up a major part of northwestern region of the state. This region became the boundary to separate Maharashtra from Deccan. Khandesh region comprises the areas of Dhule, Jalgaon and the Nandurbar districts in the state of Maharashtra. Tapti River in this region is the remarkable natural feature. This specialty is that the Tapti starts from eastern part of Maharashtra and flows into the western side, which is quite different from other rivers of the Western Ghats, which have eastern flow into the Bay of Bengal. While passing through Khandesh, the River Tapti is joined by about 13 tributaries. Farmers belonging to the Khandesh region are quite hardworking. Despite not having highly advanced facilities of irrigation, prior to the commissioning of the Hatnur and Girana dams, there was good produce, with the semi arid and arid region.
-
Pune division (better known as Paschim Maharashtra or Desh) is one of the six administrative divisions of India's Maharashtra state. Pune Division is bound by Konkan Division to the west, Nashik Division to the north, Aurangabad Division to the east, and Karnataka State to the south. There have been changes in the names of districts and has seen also the addition of newer districts after India gained Independence in 1947 and also after the state of Maharashtra was formed. Notable events include the creation of Sangli district after merging former royal kingdoms of Miraj, Aundh, Sangli, Tasgaon, and Kurundwad. The Second event includes the renaming of the erstwhile Poona district as Pune district. The Solapur district is under proposal to be divided and a separate Pandharpur district be carved out of existing Solapur district, comprising talukas of Pandharpur, Sangola, Karmala, Mangalwedha, Malshiras and Madha in Solapur district and also talukas of Jath and Atpadi from neighbouring Sangli district, to create a new Pandharpur district. The Pune district is under the proposal to be divided and a separate Baramati district be carved out of existing Pune district with the inclusion of the eastern parts of Pune district which include Shirur, Purandar, Daund, Baramati and Indapur talukas as well as Phaltan taluka from neighboring Satara district in the proposed Baramati district. The Satara district is under the proposal to be divided and a separate Karad district be carved out of existing Satara district with the inclusion of Karad and Patan as well as talukas of Walwa, Kadegaon and Shirala from neighboring Sangli district in the proposed Karad district.