Alternative spellings

• Maharastra

Proper noun

Singular Maharashtra

Plural -

Maharashtra

1. State in western India which has Mumbai (formerly known as Bombay) as its capital.

Maharashtra (Marathi: महाराष्ट्र mahārāṣṭra, IPA [məharaːʂʈrə] (help·info)) is a state located in the western part of peninsular India.The word Maharashtra comes from the words Maha meaning Great and Rashtra meaning Nation, thus rendering the name Maharashtra (Great Nation). It is the second most populous and third largest state by area in India. It is also the richest state in India, contributing to 15% of the country's industrial output and 13.2% of its GDP in year 2005-06.

Maharashtra is bordered by the Arabian Sea to the west, Gujarat and the Union territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli to the northwest, Madhya Pradesh to the northeast, Chhattisgarh to the east, Karnataka to the south, Andhra Pradesh to the southeast, and Goa to the southwest. The state covers an area of 307,731 km (118,816 sq mi) or 9.84% of the total geographical area of India. Mumbai, the capital city of the state, is India's largest city and the financial capital of the nation. Marathi is the language of Maharashtra.

In the 17th Century, the Marathas rose under the leadership of Chhatrapati Shivaji against the Mughals who were ruling a large part of India. After the third Anglo-Maratha war, the empire ended and most of Maharashtra became part of Bombay state under a British Raj. After Indian independence, Samyukta Maharashtra Samiti demanded unification of all Marathi speaking regions under one state. At that time Bharat Ratna Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar was of opinion that linguistic reorganizaion of states should be done with - "One state - One language" principle and not with "One language - One state" principle. He submitted a memorandum to the reorganization commission stating that, " Single Government can not administer such a huge state as United Maharashtra. The first state reorganization committee created the current Maharashtra state on 1 May 1960 (known as Maharashtra Day). The Marathi-speaking areas of Bombay state, Deccan states and Vidarbha (which was part of Central Provinces and Berar) united ,under the agreement known as Nagpur Pact, to form the current state.

• Armed Forces Medical College (1)
• Government College of Engineering - Pune (1)
• ILS Law College (1)
• Indian Institute of Technology - Bombay (7)
• Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research (1)
• Institute of Management Development and Research (1)
• Jawaharlal Darda Institute of Engineering and Technology (0)
• L.B.H.S.S. Trust's College of Architecture (0)

• National Institute of Industrial Engineering (1)
• Sardar Patel College of Engineering (0)
• Shri Guru Gobind Singhji College of Engineering and Technology (0)
• Sri Sant Gajanan Maharaj College of Engineering (1)
• Swami Ramanand Teerth Marathwada University (0)
• Tata Institute of Social Sciences (1)
• University of Mumbai (2)
• University of Pune (15)

See also:

• Regional: Asia: India: Maharashtra: Education (8)

• Bharatiya Kala Prasarini Sabha's College of Architecture, Pune
  bkps.edu
  Information about history, programs offered, admissions, faculty, students, alumni, and contacts.
• CDAC Alumni Webring
  webring.com
  Comprised of sites of alumni of All-India ACTS (Advanced Computing training Schools) of Center for Development of Advanced Computing (CDAC), in Pune.
• Indian Institute of Management Training, Pune
  iimtpune.com
  Offers full-time and correspondence management programs. Information about the institute, faculty, facilities, placements and contacts.