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Nashik - A City with History and Myths in all corners

Surrounded with religious myths and historical interest, Nashik is one of the most popular cities in Maharashtra. Located in the western fringes of India, Nashik is 4th largest city of Maharashtra after Mumbai- the capital, Pune and Nagpur and stands to be the headquarters of the Nashik district with a population of 1.5 million. It is 171 Kms from the city of Mumbai and around 210 Kms from Pune. This is the 11th most populated city of India located at the bank of River Godavari. Mumbai, Pune and Nashik form the golden triangle in the state of Maharashtra.

It is said that Lord Rama, the hero of the epic Ramayana settled here for sometime during his long 14 years of exile. Nashik is a holy land for the Hindus as Kumbh Mela held here. Though, the original Maha Kumbh is held in Allahabad with a gap of 15 years. The city has a heritage of temples as they say there are more than 100 temples of the Hindu Gods and Goddess across the everywhere in the ancient city. Among the famous ones are Trimbakeshwar Shiva Temple and Kalaram Temple. Every year Nashik successfully fetch tourists for the mesmerizing natural beauty of the mighty Sahyadri range, the very own vineyards, agriculture and of course the Kumbhmela.

Best time to visit Nashik: The best time to visit Nashik is between October and March.

Top Attractions in Nashik

Mukti Dham: This is one of the most notable temple complexes in Nashik. The construction of the great Mukti Dham- a marble made temple was financed by a local industrialist Late J.D. Chauhan-Bytco. Presently a private treasury management operates the temple. Here in the temple, visitors will find replicas of the twelve Jyotirlingas of Lord Shiva here. Besides, there are several other temples of Hindu Gods and Goddess are constructed there. The 18 chapters of ‘Geeta’- the Holy book of the Hindus are encrypted on the walls on marble frescos in this magnanimous temple complex at Nashik.

Bhakti Dham: Situated at a distance of 60 Kms from the main city of Nashik and around 2.5 km from the Central Bus stop of Dindori Naka, this temple Bhakti Dham is the most visited Hindu temples visited by pilgrims around the year. Visitors get a chance to listen to the Vedic chants in this temple complex along with taking part in various religious discussions and worshiping. Tourists buy the religious books, CDs of devotional songs and worshipping rosaries etc from the nearby stalls of the temple. This is one of the 51 Shakti Peeths according to Hindu mythology. People here believe that the right arm of Sati fell here to form the Shakti Peeth. There are seven hills in the location and the local people believe that the Goddess resides in those hills even today. The natural beauty of the place is simple heavenly.

Pandavleni Caves: Caves are called as Leni in Maratha language. There are traces that Pandavas stayed in these caves for some time during their vanvas up on the Trirashmi Mountain. There are around twenty four caves and each of the caves is formed from individual stone during the early half of the 3rd century BC until the 2nd Century AD. Relevance of the Hinayana Buddhism is found here excluding the 18th cave that is called Chaitya. The rest are Viharas. The rocks are located at a distance of 8 Kms to the southern fringes of Nashik.

Dhamma Giri: The serene, clam and peaceful region are ideal to meditate. Sources say that around 2500 years back Gautam Buddha propagated a certain form of meditation-- Vipassana in this area.

Artillery Centre: This is said to be the biggest artillery centre in whole Asia. Before partition it belonged to today’s Pakistan. But after the partition, the artillery was shifted to this part of Maharashtra. Army officers used to get trained here. Aspiring soldiers used to learn new technique of using new weapons here by master warriors of that time. Around 2, 60,000 soldiers were trained in this place to fight several battles against foreign invaders.

How to reach Nashik?

By Air: The nearby airport is in Mumbai that is well connected with almost all major places of Maharashtra and India, situated 175 km from Nasik. Another near by airport is located in Pune.

By Railway: There have a railway station in Nashik and it is well conected with all major city in Maharastra as well as India

By Road: Bus services are available from Mumbai, Pune to Nasik and Pune is 220 km away from Nasik.