Deccan Odyssey – Maharashtra Splendour

Mumbai has been India’s busiest port and industrial centre since the opening of the Suez Canal in 1969. As famous today for its traffic jams as its record-breaking movie industry, the Maharashtrian capital tends not to feature high up most visitors’ ‘must see’ list, but as a point of arrival has a lot to recommend it.

Before the last British troops garrisoned in the country slow-marched past it to board their ships back to Blighty in 1947, the Gateway of India – a huge triumphal arch in the colonial Indo-Saracenic style – was the first landmark most new arrivals from Britain set eyes on. The second was the famous Taj Mahal Hotel beside it. Both still stand tall on the waterfront, as emblematic of the city today as they were in Victorian times.

Still, more impressive monuments of the empire dominate the Kala Godha and Fort districts beyond the Gateway, among them Victoria Terminus, the world’s grandest railway station, and the white-domed Prince of Wales Museum (both nowadays renamed after the 17th century Maharashtrian warlord, Shivaji). Nearby, the vast High Court and University buildings line the palm-fringed Maidans, where cricketers in their whites play through the afternoons as commuters stream home through Churchgate Station.

As one of the four sites of the Kumbh Mela bathing festival, Nasik ranks among India’s most visited pilgrimage sites. Even outside festival times, however, its sacred ghats on the banks of the Godavari River attract a steady stream of worshippers. You’ll be guided on a walk around the temples and markets surrounding Ram Kund, where Mahatma Gandhi’s ashes were immersed, and visit sites associated with famous episodes from the Ramayana.

Aurangabad, named after the last Great Mughal Aurangzeb, is an industrial town in Maharashtra and the stop from where to head out to visit the exceptional Ellora Caves, a World Heritage site. The city itself has deep Mughal influences and there are several monuments of note here; the Daulatabad Fort, Bibi-ka-Makbara and the city’s 52 gates, each with its own history, amongst them.

The Ellora Cave site, the finest specimen of cave-temple architecture in India, encompasses 34 rock-cut shrines representing Buddhist,Jain and Hindu art dating from the 4th to 5th century AD. The 12 caves to the south are Buddhist, the 17 in the centre Hindu, and the 5 caves to the north are Jain. The most remarkable is the Kailash temple, meant to be a replica of Shiva’s celestial abode on Mt. Kailash. It is the best example of rock cut architecture and an engineering marvel.

The 30 rock-hewn Buddhist caves at Ajanta have been masterfully carved and are adorned with sculptures and paintings of Buddhist religious art, depicting universal pictorial art and are known to depict the fusion between Buddhist and Hindu faith.

The beautiful and ancient holy city of Kolhapur on the banks of the Panchganga River has been considered home to the Goddess Mahalakshmi, where worshipers flock daily seeking her blessings. Legend says the Goddess was given refuge in the city after she quarrelled with her consort, Lord Vishnu over the slaying of a demon. Ironically, in far more recent times, the city offered refuge to Russian Prisoners of War rescued by allied forces and absorbed many of them into the community. 

Kolhapur is also known for its rich varied Kolhapuri cuisine which includes a variety of snacks food that are prepared for special occasions and celebrations, like the Ukadiche Modak, pictured above, prepared for Ganesh Chaturthi and the Sabudana Vada, prepared for Navratri.

The journey forth from Goa, traversing through the Konkan, is one of the most scenic railway routes in the country, bound by the Arabian Sea on the West and Sahyadri hills on the East, a marvellous feat of engineering, that made it possible to tunnel the tracks through the seemingly insurmountable hills. 

Shivaji created a chain of coastal defences in order to dominate trade along India’s southwestern seaboard (which was being siphoned off by European colonial powers in the 17^th century), and Sindhudurg Fort was its lynchpin and most impressive element. Built of resilient laterite rock, the citadel encompasses 30 acres and is ringed by massive walls designed to withstand attack by naval artillery. Local fisherman ferry visitors out in their outriggers. Expect to spot dolphins riding the bow waves.