Maharashtra

Sesame and jaggery sweets shared on Makar Sankranti with a promise to speak sweetly.

Soft flatbread stuffed with sweet chana-dal and jaggery filling, served with ghee.

Steamed rice-flour dumplings with coconut and jaggery, the favourite sweet of Shri Ganesha.

Flattened rice cooked with onion, turmeric, peanuts and curry leaves: the everyday breakfast of Maharashtra.

A fiery sprouted moth-bean curry topped with farsan, onion and lemon, eaten with soft pav.

A spiced potato fritter in a soft bun with garlic chutney: Mumbai's favourite street snack.

A buttery mash of vegetables cooked with pav bhaji masala on a hot griddle, served with toasted buttered pav.

Puffed rice tossed with sev, onion, potato and sweet and spicy chutneys, sold on Mumbai's beaches.

Soaked sago pearls stir-fried with peanuts, cumin and green chilli: the classic Maharashtrian fasting dish.

Crisp fritters of sago, potato and peanuts, eaten on fasting days and as a tea-time snack.

A savoury multigrain flatbread made from bhajani, a flour of roasted grains and pulses, patted out by hand.

Steamed and fried squares of fresh coriander and gram flour, crisp outside and soft inside.

Maharashtra's best-known folk dance: fast, powerful songs and dance to the beat of the dholki, performed by women in nine-yard sarees.

Travelling folk theatre of Maharashtra that mixes song, dance, comedy and drama, with Lavani at its centre.

The joyful dance of the Koli fishing community of the Konkan coast and Mumbai, full of rowing and wave-like movements.

A vigorous group dance performed with the lezim, a wooden handle strung with jingling metal discs, seen in Ganesh processions and school drills.

A tribal circle dance of the Warli and neighbouring communities, danced around a player of the tarpa, a long wind instrument made from a dried gourd.

A dance of the Dhangar shepherd community of Maharashtra, performed by men in circles to honour their deity and celebrate the pastoral life.

The New Year of Maharashtra (and of Konkani families in Goa, as Sausar Padvo), on the first day of Chaitra. A gudi, a staff topped with a bright cloth, neem, flowers and an upturned pot, is raised outside homes.

Ten days of worship of Ganesha, celebrated most grandly in Maharashtra, where Lokmanya Tilak made it a public (sarvajanik) festival in 1893. It ends with immersion processions on Anant Chaturdashi.

A Jyotirlinga in the Western Ghats, near the source of the Bhima river and in a wildlife sanctuary.

A Jyotirlinga near the source of the Godavari, where the linga has three faces for Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva. Trimbakeshwar shares the Nashik Kumbh Mela.

The twelfth Jyotirlinga, close to the Ellora caves. The present temple was rebuilt by Ahilyabai Holkar in the 18th century.

A Kumbh Mela city shared with nearby Trimbakeshwar; its Panchavati is linked with Rama's exile.

A Shakti Peetha at Kolhapur, where Sati's eye is said to have fallen. The Goddess is worshipped here as Mahalakshmi.

A Shakti Peetha at Mahur, Nanded district, where Sati's left hand is said to have fallen. The Goddess is worshipped here as Renuka.

A Shakti Peetha at Vani, Nashik district, where Sati's chin is said to have fallen. The Goddess is worshipped here as Saptashrungi.

The temple of Goddess Tulja Bhavani, family deity of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj and one of Maharashtra's three and a half Shakti Peethas.

The first and last stop of the Ashtavinayak, where Ganesha rides a peacock.

The Ashtavinayak temple where Ganesha's trunk turns to the right.

The Ashtavinayak temple named after the devotee Ballal.

The Ashtavinayak temple of Ganesha as the giver of boons; a lamp here is said to have burned for over a century.

Buddhist rock-cut caves in a horseshoe-shaped gorge, famous for their wall paintings of the Jataka tales.

Hindu, Buddhist and Jain cave temples side by side, including the Kailasa temple carved from a single rock.

Rock-cut cave temples dedicated to Bhagwan Shiva on Gharapuri island in Mumbai harbour, home to the great three-headed Sadashiva.

Mumbai's grand railway station, a blend of Victorian Gothic Revival and Indian architecture, still one of the busiest stations in India.

Mumbai's waterfront arch facing the Arabian Sea, close to the Victorian Gothic and Art Deco buildings of the old city.

The hilltop capital of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, where he was crowned in 1674.

The temple of Vitthal (Vithoba) on the Chandrabhaga river, goal of the great Wari pilgrimage on foot.

Teak and bamboo forests around Tadoba lake in Vidarbha, one of the best places in India to see tigers in the wild.

A hill station in the Sahyadri range, known for its viewpoints, strawberries and the source of the Krishna river.

A saline, alkaline lake in a crater formed by a meteorite impact in the basalt rock of the Deccan plateau.

Buddhist rock-cut caves with paintings from the 2nd century BCE to the 6th century CE.

Hindu, Buddhist and Jain caves side by side, including the Kailasa temple carved from one rock.

Island cave temples with the great three-headed Sadashiva sculpture.

Mumbai's grand railway station, a blend of Victorian Gothic and Indian styles.

Buildings around the Oval Maidan from two eras of architecture.

Twelve forts of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj's era, including Raigad, Shivneri, Pratapgad, Sindhudurg and Gingee.