MAHARASHTRA

Tourism of Maharashtra

The important tourist centres in the state include Ajanta, Ellora, Elephanta, Kanheri, and Karla caves; Mahabaleshwar, Matheran, Panchgani, Jawhar, Malshejghat, Amboli, Chikaldhara and Panhala hill resorts, and religious places like Pandharpur, Nasik, Shirdi, Nanded, Aundhanagnanth, Trimbakeshwar, Tuljapur, Ganapatipule, Bhimashankar, Harihareshwar and Shegaon - each complete in itself, and yet essential to the fascinating whole, that is Maharashtra.

State Capital	Mumbai
Population ('000s in 1991)	78,937
Area ('000 sq. km)	308 sq km
Females per 1000 males (1991)	934
Literacy rate (1991)	64.9
Ratio of urban population (1991)	38.7
Net Domestic Product	754,810
Per Capita Income	10,984
Principal Language	Marathi

One of the largest states of India, Maharashtra occupies a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau in the western peninsular part of the subcontinent. Its shape roughly resembles a triangle, with the 725-kilometre western coastline forming the base and the interior narrowing to a blunt apex some 500 miles to the east. It has an area of 307,713 square kilometres. The state is bounded by the Arabian Sea in the west, Gujarat in the north-west, Madhya Pradesh in the north, Andhra Pradesh in the south-east, and Karnataka and Goa in the south.

On the coast the average minimum temperature in January is 16° (61° F), and the average maximum is 32° C (90° F); in June the average minimum temperature is 26° C (79° F), and the average maximum is also 32° C (90° F). Inland the average temperatures range from 14° to 29° C (57° to 84° F) in January and from 25° to 40° C (77° to 104° F) in May. Maharashtra has a monsoon season that accounts for about 80 percent of its annual rainfall.