Maharashtra

Maharashtra is a state in western India, sharing boundaries with the Arabian Sea to the west, Gujarat and Dadra Nagar Havelli 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. Maharashtra is the second most populous Indian state after Uttar Pradesh . Its capital is Mumbai.

Mumbai is the financial capital of India, as it houses the headquarters of almost all banks & financial institutions, insurance companies, mutual funds and other institutions. Bombay Stock Exchange is the India’s largest stock exchange and oldest in Asia, located in Mumbai. Maharashtra contributes about 15% of the country’s industrial output and 13.2% of the GDP (Gross Domestic Product).

Chhatrapati Shiva Ji, a Maratha emperor of Yadava Lineage from the Bhonsale Dynasty who founded the Maratha Dynasty in 1674, occupied a territory of about 250 million acres (nearly one-thirds of the Indian subcontinent) from Mughals. Soon after the third Anglo-Maratha war, his empire ended and Maharashtra became a state of Bombay under the British rule. When India got freedom, an organization in quest of creating a separate Marathi-speaking state of Maharashtra in 1950, Samyukta Maharashtra Samiti, demanded for a separate Marathi-speaking state. The first state reorganization committee created Maharashtra, an independent state, on May 1st, 1960. Yashwantrao Balwantrao Chavan became the first chief minister of Maharashtra.

Sahyadri, the Western Ghats, is a hilly range running parallel to the coast.

Kalsubai is the highest elevation point in Maharashtra.

Notable river systems of the state are The Godavari River and the Krishna River.

Maharashtra consists of six revenue divisions, comprising 35 districts. Each district has a sub-division and sub-divisions further divides into talukas. There are 109 sub-divisions and 357 talukas in the state.

Marathi, an Indo-Aryan language, is the official language of Maharashtra. There are over 90 million fluent Marathi speaking people in the world.

Maharashtra is well connected by rail, road and air. Mumbai, the state’s capital, is the headquarters of Central Railways. MSRTC, Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation, runs buses in and around the state with a large network of operation. There is Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport in Mumbai. It is the busiest airport in India.

Chhattisgarh

Chhattisgarh is a state in central India. It is craved out from Madhya Pradesh in 2000. Its capital is Raipur. The state shares border with Madhya Pradesh to the northwest, Maharashtra to the west, Andhra Pradesh to the south, Orissa to the east, Jharkhand to the northeast and Uttar Pradesh to the north.

Chhattisgarh comprises 18 districts. There are twelve municipal corporations.

The northern and southern part of Chhattisgarh is hilly. The Satpura range bound to its eastern end and the western edge by the Chota Nagpur plateau. The central part of Chhattisgarh is a fertile plain drained by the Rihand River, a tributary of the Ganges. The main river in the state is the Mahanadi River. Its tributaries are Rihand, Indravati and Jonk and Arpa.

Hindi is the official language of Chhattisgarh. However, Smabalpuri, Marathi, Oriya, Gondi and other tribal languages are also widely spoken.

The latest sex ratio in Chhattisgarh is 991 compared to the rest of India.

Chhattisgarh is India’s melting pot where religious sects including Satnami Panth, Kabirpanth, Ramnami Samaj and others. Champaran, a small town in Chhattisgarh, is the birthplace of the Saint Vallabhcharya.

‘Kosa’ Silk and lost wax art are the popular art of the state.

The popular dance forms of Chhattisgarh are Panthi, Raut Nacha and Soowa. Sohar, Bihav and Pathoni songs are the famous music.

There is Gammat, the famous theater in Chhattisgarh.

Chhattisgarh is a Hindu majority state. Over 95% of its population follows Hinduism.

Chhattisgarh gives a unique experience to tourists. The state is endowed with a rich cultural heritage, including ancient monument, wildlife, magnificent craved temples, palaces and waterfalls.

Chhattisgarh is well connected by rail, road and air. Bilaspur is zonal headquarters of South East Central Railways. There are three airports at Raipur, Bilaspur and Jagdalpur.

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