Bounded on the north-west by Gujarat, having Madhya Pradesh on the north, newly carved State Chhatisgarh towards east, Andhra Pradesh on the south-east and Karnataka on the south-west, Maharashtra is a prominent state in West Central India. With an area of 3,07,713 sq km it is the third largest State in the Indian Union. The State having a coastline stretching 530 km along the Arabian Sea, was formed in 1960 when the Marathi and Gujarati linguistic areas of the earstwhile Bombay State were separated and Bombay (now Mumbai) became the capital of the new State. It comprises all the Marathi-speaking areas including the princely States which, during British rule, formed parts of the Bombay Presidency, the Central Province and Berar and the State of Hyderabad. The State is well known for its Sahyadri range of mountains, running from north to south, also known as Western Ghats. Having 31 districts, Maharashtra is well connected through rail, road, air and sea.

According to the provisional data of Census 2001, the State has population of 9,67,52,247 persons of which 5,03,34,270 are males and 4,64,17,977 are females. The population of the State increased by 22.57 per cent in the decade 1991-2001. Sex ratio according to the latest census is 922 females per 1000 males. The overall rate of literacy in the State is 77.27 per cent of which the male literacy rate is 86.27 per cent and female literacy rate is 67.51 per cent.

The status of women in Maharashtra from the seventeenth century that is from the rise of the great Maratha hero Shivaji to the first two decades of the nineteenth century was basically not different from that of women in other parts of India. Here, too women were dependent on men and had to play a secondary and subordinate role. Yet, in certain respects, the situation in Maharashtra was different from that in other parts of India. Women belonging to aristocratic and ruling families were taught the art of horse-riding. They not merely used swords effectively on the battlefield but also led armies. Englishmen such as John Malcolm and Captain Broughton admired the Maratha women for their bravery and courage. In 1809, Captain Thomas Broughton, recording his impressions about Maratha women in a letter, observed, "At no time is the difference in the treatment of women between the Marathas and other natives of India is more strikingly displayed. Such as can afford it here ride on horse without taking any pain to conceal their faces; they gallop about and make their way through the throng with as much boldness and perseverance as the men. The Maratha women have a bold look which is to be observed in no other women of Hindustan". Though women belonging to the aristocratic families had to observe purdah in the presence of strangers, the practice was relatively less rigorous in Maharashtra.

The Marathi theatre gives a very good account of the life of the people in the State. A whole lot of very important play-wrights like Kolhatkar, Khadikar, Deval, Gadkari took a cue from Kirloskar and enriched the Marathi theatre for about half a century with excelling musical plays. The period dominated by musical plays with above mentioned authors and great singer actors like Bal-Gandharva, Keshavrao Bhosle, Bhaurao Kolhatkar, Deenanath Mangeshkar etc. all in full form. It can be very rightly said that ‘Musical Play’ is a very significant contribution of Marathi theatre to the world theatre. In 1857 the last armed war-of-independence was lost by India. And in the same year the University of Bombay was founded. The struggle for freedom of India was shifted to a different plane from armed rebellion to intellectual awakening against the British rule. Ironically it was the Western intellectualism which was responsible for this awakening. Shakespeare, naturally, was a great influence. The format of the western theatre was largely accepted by Marathi theatre and developed to suit its own requirements. Thus Marathi theatre also influenced India’s freedom movement.

The State has always remained a great centre of sufi saints. Three different religious sects had become quite popular in Maharashtra in the 13th century, because the Vedic religion had become ostentatious and was dominated by meaningless rituals and corrupt practices. The first of these three sects was the Nath sect, founded by Matsyendra Nath. Prominent among the followers of this sect were Gorakh, Gahini, Nivritti and Dnayaneswahr. Then there was the Mahanubhav sect started by Govindaprabhu and propagated by Chakradhar. The last and the most influential of the three sects was the Varkari sect or the cult of Bhakti (devotion). Most of the saint-poets of Maharashtra belong to the Varkari sect and it still holds sway over a very large section of the people in Maharashtra.

The State also had a rich tradition of literature. Until recent years, Mukundaraj was regarded as the first Marathi author because he was supposed to belong to the 12th century. Modern research has, however, established that he cannot be placed earlier than the last decade of the 13th century. The early 17th century was in a way of turning point in the history of Marathi literature. So far all the Marathi authors came from the Hindi community belonging to various sects. But now the Jains, the Muslims and the Christians also began to write in Marathi and together produced a literature which any language could be proud of. Although the Jain authors wrote in Marathi during the following four centuries, their contribution remained unknown outside their sect until almost the middle of the 20th century. Brahmagunadasa, Shantidasa, Megharaja, Kamaraj, Gunakirti, Punyasagar were some of the Jain authors who wrote in Marathi. Their literature is religion-based and their themes are limited to Jain mythology.

Hussein Ambarkhan (born in 1603), the first Muslim Marathi author, rendered the Bhagawadgita into Marathi. Alamkhan and Sayyad Hussein were poets of significance. In his devotional songs, Alamkhan invokes the grace of Sharada in the typically Hindu manner. The most well-known among the Muslim poets writing in Marathi is Sheikh Mohammed (1560-1650) of Shrigonde. Of his three philosophical works, the outstanding one is the Yogasangram which was written in 1645 and which contains 2319 ovis. Another remarkable section of the old Marathi literature is the contribution made by the European missionaries during the 16th and 17th centuries. The Christ Purana by Father Stephens (1549-1619) was first published (in the Roman script) in 1616.

The State is known for varied construction styles of its temples. The temples like in Khajuraho, Bhubaneshwar, Konark and some other temple complexes in the north are celebrated for their monumental architecture, but most of the Maharashtrian temple complexes are more well known for their religious or spiritual significance. The Bhaki cult and festivals associated with it and the pilgrimages or yatras and the fairs or jatras all add to the colour and charm of the temple complexes. The temples are evolved from a healthy mixture of different styles and simple local designs. In the mid 18th century there was increasing patronage. Noblemen of Peshwa’s acquired considerable wealth and power in the North and the South and sent money and craftsmen to their homeland for new constructions of temple complexes. We have the Gujarat or Malva influence as well as some influence from North-East in case of temples at Nagpur. The Southern influence is noted in the Bhakti movement which originated in the South as well as in some of the architectural elements. The State of Maharashtra stands at the cross-roads of history. It was here that Father of the Nation, Mahatma Gandhi set up his Ashram, at Sevagram, near Wardha in the Vidharba region, after the end of civil disobedience movement. Maharashtra is known world over for its rich cultural heritage. Even though it has a great degree of homogeneity in terms of aspects like the State language Marathi, there are ethnic trails adopted from other parts of India. The chief festival celebrated in Maharashtra is the Ganesh Puja - an elaborate affair akin to the Puja festival in West Bengal.

In terms of industrial development, Maharashtra is famous for the tremendous progress shown by its sugar industry, especially in the co-operative sector. Pharmaceuticals, petrochemicals, heavy chemicals, electronics, automobiles, engineering, food processing and plastics are the other major industries in the state. The state of Maharashtra is not only industrially advanced, it also ranks among the highly literate states in India. Because of the high value attached to education and learning,growth of educational institutions has made great strides in the State. The first University for Women was set up here, called the Shrimati Mathibai Damodar Thakersey Women’s Varsity.

Today’s Maharashtra is a great centre of learning and research and has been the home of India’s famed Nuclear Research Programme. The famous Nuclear research establishment known as Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC), near Mumbai, does both pure and applied research in the field of Nuclear Energy and application of Nuclear science for peaceful purposes.

The chief asset of modern Maharashtra lies in the form of its capital, Mumbai, which is also called the commercial capital of India. Besides being the sixth largest city in the world, Mumbai is a major business centre, with the headquarters of many big conglomerates located there. The Mumbai stock exchange is the premier stock exchange in the country and its sensitive index is considered to be a valid indication of the national financial and investment trends.Being India’s prominent port city it also handles much of the import and export of the country. Mumbai is also known as the home of Indian film world, which is popularly called Bollywood.Film making is a major economic activity in the city which also provides glamour and glitz to its name.