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Places to visit in Maharashtra

240 places to visit in Maharashtra, each with LOQAH's carefully crafted stamp of its own: Ellora Caves, Ajanta Caves, Chandoli National Park and more. Stand at any of them with the app open and the stamp is yours, confirmed on site, in your Maharashtra volume.

1 Wonder of the world · 18 UNESCO World Heritage sites · 41 National monuments · 16 State heritage sites · 70 Famous places to visit · 12 Offbeat places · 82 Hidden gems

Wonders of the world in Maharashtra (1)

  • Ellora Caves

    Aurangabad · Maharashtra · Wonder of the world

    Thirty four temples of three religions cut into one basalt cliff, including Kailasa, carved downward from a single rock.

UNESCO World Heritage sites in Maharashtra (18)

  • Ajanta Caves

    Aurangabad · Maharashtra · UNESCO heritage

    Thirty caves cut into a horseshoe cliff, painted by monks and then forgotten for a thousand years.

  • Chandoli National Park

    Sangli district · Maharashtra · UNESCO heritage

    Plateau forest in the northern Sahyadris, joined to Koyna as the Sahyadri tiger reserve.

  • Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya

    Mumbai · Maharashtra · UNESCO heritage

    The Prince of Wales Museum, and its dome.

  • Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus

    Mumbai · Maharashtra · UNESCO heritage

    Victorian Gothic married to Mughal detail, opened in 1888, and still one of the busiest stations in the country.

  • Elephanta Caves

    Mumbai · Maharashtra · UNESCO heritage

    An island of rock-cut temples in Mumbai harbour, reached the way it always has been: by boat.

  • Khanderi

    Raigad district · Maharashtra · UNESCO heritage

    An island fort Shivaji took in 1679, off Thal, still with its lighthouse.

  • Koyna Wildlife Sanctuary

    Satara district · Maharashtra · UNESCO heritage

    Forest round the Shivsagar backwater, joined to Chandoli as the Sahyadri tiger reserve.

  • Lohagad Fort

    Lonavala · Maharashtra · UNESCO heritage

    The scorpion's tail in the monsoon.

  • Panhala Fort

    Kolhapur · Maharashtra · UNESCO heritage

    Shivaji's siege, and Baji Prabhu at the pass.

  • Pratapgad Fort

    Mahabaleshwar · Maharashtra · UNESCO heritage

    Where Shivaji met Afzal Khan in 1659 and left alone, on a spur above the Konkan with the sea visible below.

  • Radhanagari Wildlife Sanctuary

    Kolhapur district · Maharashtra · UNESCO heritage

    Maharashtra's first sanctuary, 1958, in the Kolhapur hills, for the bison.

  • Raigad Fort

    Mahad · Maharashtra · UNESCO heritage

    Shivaji's capital and where he was crowned in 1674, on a plateau reached by fourteen hundred steps or a ropeway.

  • Rajgad

    Pune district · Maharashtra · UNESCO heritage

    Shivaji's capital for twenty six years before Raigad, and a long walk up.

  • Salher

    Nashik · Maharashtra · UNESCO heritage

    The highest fort in the Sahyadris, on the second highest peak in Maharashtra at 1,567 metres.

  • Shivneri Fort

    Pune district · Maharashtra · UNESCO heritage

    The hill fort where Shivaji was born, with the room still shown.

  • Sindhudurg Fort

    Malvan · Maharashtra · UNESCO heritage

    Built in the sea, with Shivaji's handprint in the wall.

  • Suvarnadurg

    Ratnagiri district · Maharashtra · UNESCO heritage

    A sea fort off Harnai with a land fort facing it, and a hidden postern in the rock.

  • Vijaydurg Fort

    Vijaydurg · Maharashtra · UNESCO heritage

    The Maratha navy's eastern anchor.

National monuments in Maharashtra (41)

  • Aga Khan Palace

    Pune · Maharashtra · National monument

    Where Gandhi, Kasturba and Mahadev Desai were held from 1942, and where two of the three died.

  • Arnala Fort

    Palghar district · Maharashtra · National monument

    An island fort off Vasai the Marathas rebuilt in 1737, reached by ferry.

  • Aurangabad Caves

    Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar · Maharashtra · National monument

    Buddhist caves nobody stops for, above the city.

  • Balapur Fort

    Akola · Maharashtra · National monument

    A Mughal fort at Balapur begun by Aurangzeb's son and finished in 1757.

  • Bedse Caves

    Pune district · Maharashtra · National monument

    A Buddhist chaitya above the Pawna valley, reached by a stair cut in the hillside.

  • Bhaja Caves

    Lonavala · Maharashtra · National monument

    Second century BCE Buddhist cells with a stupa group outside, cut before the arch was known in India.

  • Bhuleshwar Temple

    Pune district · Maharashtra · National monument

    A thirteenth century Shiva temple on a hill near Yavat, carved and then partly defaced.

  • Bibi ka Maqbara

    Aurangabad · Maharashtra · National monument

    Aurangzeb's son built it for his mother in imitation of the Taj, on a tenth of the budget, and it shows honestly.

  • Daulatabad Fort

    Aurangabad · Maharashtra · National monument

    A hill fort with a moat cut from rock and a spiral tunnel defenders could fill with smoke, never taken by force.

  • Gawilghur Fort

    Amravati · Maharashtra · National monument

    A Maratha stronghold high in the Satpuras, taken by the British by assault.

  • Ghorawadi Caves

    Pune district · Maharashtra · National monument

    Buddhist caves near Talegaon, also called Shelarwadi, with a chaitya and an inscription.

  • Grishneshwar Temple

    Ellora · Maharashtra · National monument

    The last of the twelve Jyotirlingas, beside Ellora.

  • Jaigad Fort

    Ratnagiri district · Maharashtra · National monument

    A fort above the mouth of the Shastri, with the creek on one side and the sea on the other.

  • Jogeshwari Caves

    Mumbai · Maharashtra · National monument

    Sixth century Shaiva caves in Mumbai, now reached through a slum and lived around.

  • Kanheri Caves

    Mumbai · Maharashtra · National monument

    A hundred and nine Buddhist cells cut into basalt over nine centuries, inside a national park inside a city.

  • Karla Caves

    Lonavala · Maharashtra · National monument

    A Buddhist prayer hall of the first century BCE with a wooden ribbed ceiling that has survived two thousand years.

  • Kolaba Fort

    Raigad · Maharashtra · National monument

    A fortified naval base standing in the sea a kilometre or two off Alibag.

  • Kondana Caves

    Raigad district · Maharashtra · National monument

    Sixteen Buddhist caves near Rajmachi, the chaitya damaged by a landslide and quiet since.

  • Kopeshwar temple

    Kolhapur · Maharashtra · National monument

    A twelfth century Shiva temple at Khidrapur on the Krishna, raised by the Shilahara king Gandaraditya.

  • Korlai Fort

    Raigad district · Maharashtra · National monument

    A Portuguese fort on a headland at Revdanda, with a village below that still speaks a creole.

  • Kothaligad

    Raigad · Maharashtra · National monument

    A small fort east of Karjat at three thousand feet, and one of the easier climbs in that country.

  • Kuda Caves

    Raigad district · Maharashtra · National monument

    Twenty six small Buddhist caves above the Rajpuri creek, with inscriptions naming the donors.

  • Lenyadri

    Pune district · Maharashtra · National monument

    Thirty Buddhist caves near Junnar, one of which holds a Ganesh shrine of the Ashtavinayak.

  • Mahakali Caves

    Mumbai · Maharashtra · National monument

    Nineteen Buddhist caves cut in the basalt at Andheri, now surrounded by the city.

  • Mahuli Fort

    Thane district · Maharashtra · National monument

    The highest point in Thane district, three forts on one ridge, and a hard scramble.

  • Mandapeshwar Caves

    Mumbai · Maharashtra · National monument

    Eighth century Shaiva caves at Borivali the Portuguese turned into a church.

  • Murud Janjira

    Murud · Maharashtra · National monument

    An island fort never taken in three hundred and fifty years of siege by Marathas, Portuguese and British alike.

  • Narnala Fort

    Akola · Maharashtra · National monument

    A hill fortress in the Satpuras of Vidarbha, standing since the tenth century.

  • Padmadurg

    Raigad · Maharashtra · National monument

    One of Shivaji's sea forts, built out in the water to keep watch on Janjira.

  • Pandavleni Caves

    Nashik · Maharashtra · National monument

    Twenty four Buddhist caves above Nashik, with inscriptions naming the Satavahana kings who paid for them.

  • Pataleshwar Cave Temple

    Pune · Maharashtra · National monument

    An eighth century Rashtrakuta temple cut from one basalt outcrop, in the middle of a modern street.

  • Pitalkhora Caves

    Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar district · Maharashtra · National monument

    Fourteen caves in a ravine in the Satmalas, among the earliest rock-cut work in the Deccan.

  • Rajmachi

    Pune district · Maharashtra · National monument

    Two forts on one ridge above Lonavala, walked to through the Kondana valley in the rains.

  • Shaniwar Wada

    Pune · Maharashtra · National monument

    The Peshwa seat, burnt in 1828 so only its walls and gates remain, the largest gate spiked against war elephants.

  • Shiv Mandir, Ambarnath

    Thane district · Maharashtra · National monument

    A Shilahara temple of 1060, carved all over, with a sunken sanctum you step down into.

  • Sion Hillock Fort

    Mumbai · Maharashtra · National monument

    A British fort of the 1670s on a hill that was once the boundary of the island.

  • Solapur Bhuikot Killa

    Solapur · Maharashtra · National monument

    A ground fort in the middle of Solapur, one of the oldest things the town has.

  • Tomb of Aurangzeb

    Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar · Maharashtra · National monument

    An unmarked grave at Khuldabad, left plain by his own instruction, in the courtyard of a Sufi shrine.

  • Trimbakeshwar

    Nashik · Maharashtra · National monument

    A Jyotirlinga, and the Godavari's source.

  • Vasai Fort

    Palghar district · Maharashtra · National monument

    The Portuguese Baçaim, taken by the Marathas in 1739 and left to the banyans since.

  • Visapur Fort

    Lonavala · Maharashtra · National monument

    The waterfall staircase everyone climbs in July.

State heritage sites in Maharashtra (16)

  • Banganga Tank

    Mumbai · Maharashtra · State heritage

    A freshwater tank of 1127 a hundred metres from the sea, fed by an underground spring nobody has traced.

  • Castella de Aguada

    Mumbai · Maharashtra · State heritage

    The Portuguese watchtower at Bandra, 1640, and the reason the suburb has a fort road.

  • Deekshabhoomi

    Nagpur · Maharashtra · State heritage

    Where half a million people converted in one afternoon.

  • Dharashiv Caves

    Dharashiv · Maharashtra · State heritage

    Seven rock cut cells in the Balaghat hills outside Dharashiv.

  • Gateway of India

    Mumbai · Maharashtra · State heritage

    Built to welcome a king, used to bid the empire goodbye: the last British troops left through it.

  • Kandhar Fort

    Nanded · Maharashtra · State heritage

    A fort in Nanded district, put up by the Rashtrakuta king Krishna the Third.

  • Korigad

    Pune · Maharashtra · State heritage

    A hill fort south of Lonavala at 923 metres, older than 1500.

  • Mahim Fort

    Mumbai · Maharashtra · State heritage

    A Portuguese fort at the mouth of Mahim creek, ruined and built into.

  • Mahur Fort

    Nanded · Maharashtra · State heritage

    A fort at Mahur that is also the seat of Renuka, and busier with pilgrims than with anyone else.

  • Naldurg Fort

    Dharashiv · Maharashtra · State heritage

    A fort built around a knoll of basalt at Naldurg, named for the king who raised it.

  • New Palace, Kolhapur

    Kolhapur · Maharashtra · State heritage

    Built for the Kolhapur rulers between 1877 and 1884 in black polished stone, with gardens around it.

  • Panhalakaji Caves

    Ratnagiri district · Maharashtra · State heritage

    Twenty nine caves in Ratnagiri that went from Buddhist to Nath over a thousand years.

  • Sinhagad Fort

    Pune · Maharashtra · State heritage

    Taken in a night assault in 1670 by men who climbed the cliff with rope and a monitor lizard, or so the story goes.

  • Torna Fort

    Pune · Maharashtra · State heritage

    The first fort Shivaji took, at sixteen.

  • Tulja Bhavani Temple

    Dharashiv · Maharashtra · State heritage

    A twelfth century temple to Bhavani above Tuljapur, counted among the fifty one Shakti Pithas.

  • Udgir Fort

    Latur district · Maharashtra · State heritage

    A fort in a ditch rather than on a hill, with a dry moat cut into the rock round it.

Famous places to visit in Maharashtra (70)

  • Ahmednagar Fort

    Ahilyanagar · Maharashtra · Well known

    The Ahmednagar Sultanate's own fort, taken by the British in 1803 and later used to hold prisoners.

  • Akkalkot

    Akkalkot · Maharashtra · Well known

    The town where Swami Samarth sat under a banyan tree for twenty two years, and the shrine that grew around it.

  • Alandi

    Pune · Maharashtra · Well known

    Dnyaneshwar's samadhi, and the palkhi's start.

  • Alibaug Beach

    Alibaug · Maharashtra · Well known

    Kolaba fort walked to at low tide.

  • Amboli

    Sindhudurg · Maharashtra · Well known

    The wettest place in Maharashtra, and its frogs.

  • Aundha Nagnath Temple

    Aundha · Maharashtra · Well known

    A Shiva temple held by many to be one of the twelve Jyotirlingas, its carved stone walls and sanctum from the Yadava period. The Maratha style spire came later, in a renovation credited to Ahilyabai Holkar.

  • Bandra Bandstand

    Mumbai · Maharashtra · Well known

    The fort, the sea wall and the queue outside Mannat.

  • Bandra Worli Sea Link

    Mumbai · Maharashtra · Well known

    Cable stayed across Mahim Bay, its steel wire long enough to circle the earth, opened in 2009.

  • Bhandardara

    Ahmednagar · Maharashtra · Well known

    Arthur Lake, Randha Falls and the Milky Way.

  • Bhimashankar

    Bhimashankar · Maharashtra · Well known

    One of the twelve jyotirlingas, in forest that is also the last stronghold of the Indian giant squirrel.

  • Chaitya Bhoomi

    Mumbai · Maharashtra · Well known

    Where Ambedkar was cremated in 1956, and where lakhs come on the sixth of December.

  • Chikhaldara

    Amravati · Maharashtra · Well known

    The only hill station in Vidarbha, and coffee grows there.

  • Chor Bazaar

    Mumbai · Maharashtra · Well known

    A century and a half of secondhand everything, from ship fittings to gramophone horns, off Mohammed Ali Road.

  • Crawford Market

    Mumbai · Maharashtra · Well known

    Opened in 1869, with friezes over the entrance carved by Rudyard Kipling's father, who taught art in the city.

  • Dagdusheth Halwai Ganpati

    Pune · Maharashtra · Well known

    Founded by a sweetmaker who lost his son to plague in 1893, and the centre of Pune's Ganesh festival ever since.

  • Dapoli

    Dapoli · Maharashtra · Well known

    A Konkan town on a plateau above the sea, with the Harnai fish market below it and Murud and Karde beaches either side.

  • Devkund Waterfall

    Pune · Maharashtra · Well known

    A plunge waterfall near Bhira in Raigad, dropping straight onto the rock below.

  • Gilbert Hill

    Mumbai · Maharashtra · Well known

    A column of black basalt sixty metres high standing in the middle of Andheri, left over from the lava that made the Deccan.

  • Girgaum Chowpatty

    Mumbai · Maharashtra · Well known

    The city beach at the end of Marine Drive, where Ganpati goes into the sea every September and the bhelpuri stalls never close.

  • Global Vipassana Pagoda

    Mumbai · Maharashtra · Well known

    A stone dome ninety six metres across, built without pillars in the Burmese manner, seating eight thousand.

  • Haji Ali Dargah

    Mumbai · Maharashtra · Well known

    A shrine on an islet reached by a causeway that the sea covers at high tide, so visits are timed by the moon.

  • Harihar Fort

    Nashik · Maharashtra · Well known

    Eighty degree rock cut steps, and no railing.

  • Harishchandragad

    Ahilyanagar district · Maharashtra · Well known

    A fort with a temple, a cave and the Konkan Kada, a cliff that curves back over itself.

  • Hazur Sahib

    Nanded · Maharashtra · Well known

    One of the five takhts of Sikhism, on the Godavari at Nanded, built by Ranjit Singh.

  • Jayakwadi Dam

    Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar · Maharashtra · Well known

    An earthen dam on the Godavari at Paithan, built to carry water into the dry Marathwada country.

  • Jyotiba Temple

    Kolhapur · Maharashtra · Well known

    Pink gulal thrown by the sackful.

  • Kailasa Temple, Ellora

    Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar · Maharashtra · Well known

    Carved downwards out of a single cliff until a whole temple stood free of the rock, courtyards and all.

  • Kalsubai

    Igatpuri · Maharashtra · Well known

    The highest point in Maharashtra, ladders and all.

  • Khadakwasla Dam

    Pune · Maharashtra · Well known

    The dam on the Mutha that Pune drinks from, with the National Defence Academy along its bank.

  • Koyna Dam

    Satara · Maharashtra · Well known

    A rubble and concrete dam in the Western Ghats, on a river that starts up at Mahabaleshwar.

  • Lalbaugcha Raja

    Mumbai City · Maharashtra · Well known

    The public Ganesh of Lalbaug, who gives darshan for eleven days and then goes into the sea at Girgaon Chowpatty.

  • Lonar Crater

    Lonar · Maharashtra · Well known

    A lake in a meteorite crater fifty thousand years old, both saline and alkaline at once, which should not be possible.

  • Lonavala

    Lonavala · Maharashtra · Well known

    The Sahyadri gap the old trade route used, green for four months a year and dry brown for the rest.

  • Madh Fort

    Mumbai · Maharashtra · Well known

    A Portuguese fort on the Madh peninsula, held by the air force and seen from the beach.

  • Mahabaleshwar

    Mahabaleshwar · Maharashtra · Well known

    The Bombay Presidency's summer capital at thirteen hundred metres, source of the Krishna, and strawberries since the fifties.

  • Mahalaxmi Temple

    Kolhapur · Maharashtra · Well known

    One of the Shakti Peethas, and the Kiranotsav.

  • Malanggad

    Raigad · Maharashtra · Well known

    A hill fort in the Matheran range above Thane district.

  • Mandhardevi Kalubai temple

    Satara · Maharashtra · Well known

    A hill shrine above Wai at 4,650 feet, looking across at Pandavgad and Purandar.

  • Marine Drive

    Mumbai · Maharashtra · Well known

    Three kilometres of curved seafront whose streetlights earned it the name the Queen's Necklace.

  • Matheran

    Matheran · Maharashtra · Well known

    The only hill station in Asia where no motor vehicle is allowed, reached on foot, on horseback or by toy train.

  • Mount Mary Church

    Mumbai · Maharashtra · Well known

    The basilica above Bandra, with a fair in September and a statue found in the sea.

  • Mumba Devi Temple

    Mumbai · Maharashtra · Well known

    The goddess the city is named for, moved twice and now in a lane off Zaveri Bazaar.

  • Naneghat

    Junnar · Maharashtra · Well known

    A two thousand year old toll gate through the ghat.

  • Nawegaon National Park

    Gondiya · Maharashtra · Well known

    A park in Gondia where about six in ten of all the bird species in Maharashtra have been counted.

  • Panchgani

    Panchgani · Maharashtra · Well known

    Five hills above the Krishna valley, with a flat volcanic tableland said to be the second largest in Asia.

  • Pandharpur Vitthal Temple

    Pandharpur · Maharashtra · Well known

    The end of the wari, on foot, in July.

  • Parvati Hill

    Pune district · Maharashtra · Well known

    A Peshwa temple complex above Pune, a hundred and three steps, and where the Peshwa watched Kirkee lost.

  • Pavana Lake

    Pune · Maharashtra · Well known

    The reservoir behind the Pavana dam, twenty five kilometres out of Lonavala.

  • Purandar Fort

    Pune district · Maharashtra · Well known

    Where the treaty was signed that Shivaji broke, and where Sambhaji was born.

  • Rajiv Gandhi Zoological Park

    Pune · Maharashtra · Well known

    Katraj zoo at Pune, a hundred and thirty acres holding an animal orphanage and a snake park.

  • Ramtek

    Nagpur · Maharashtra · Well known

    Where Rama is said to have rested, and Kalidasa wrote.

  • Rankala Lake

    Kolhapur · Maharashtra · Well known

    A freshwater lake in the middle of Kolhapur.

  • Ratangad

    Ahilyanagar · Maharashtra · Well known

    A fort above Bhandardara with a hole clean through the rock at its top, called the eye of the needle.

  • Sajjangad

    Satara · Maharashtra · Well known

    The fort near Satara where Sant Ramdas spent his last years and was laid to rest.

  • Salsette

    Mumbai · Maharashtra · Well known

    The island Mumbai and Thane both stand on, and among the most crowded pieces of land on earth.

  • Sanjay Gandhi National Park

    Mumbai · Maharashtra · Well known

    A hundred square kilometres of forest inside the city limits, with leopards that live on its edges.

  • Saptashrungi

    Nashik · Maharashtra · Well known

    Half a Shakti Peetha, up four hundred and seventy steps.

  • Shani Shingnapur

    Ahmednagar · Maharashtra · Well known

    A village that does not fit doors.

  • Shirdi Sai Baba Temple

    Shirdi · Maharashtra · Well known

    Built over the samadhi of a teacher who refused to say whether he was Hindu or Muslim, and drew both.

  • Shri Vaijnath Temple

    Beed · Maharashtra · Well known

    One of the twelve jyotirlingas, at Parli, where men perform the abhishekam bare above the waist.

  • Siddhivinayak Temple

    Mumbai · Maharashtra · Well known

    Built in 1801 by a woman who had no children of her own, so that others might, and now queued round the block.

  • Sula Vineyards

    Nashik · Maharashtra · Well known

    The harvest, and the reason Nashik is on a map.

  • Tadoba Andhari Tiger Reserve

    Chandrapur · Maharashtra · Well known

    Teak and bamboo around a lake, and among the most reliable places in India to see a tiger in daylight.

  • Tamhini Ghat

    Pune district · Maharashtra · Well known

    The mountain road from Pune to the Konkan that turns into a wall of waterfalls every monsoon.

  • Taraporewala Aquarium

    Mumbai City · Maharashtra · Well known

    India's oldest aquarium, on Marine Drive, with a glass tunnel you walk through.

  • Ujjani Dam

    Solapur · Maharashtra · Well known

    An earth and masonry dam on the Bhima near Ujjani, holding the water Solapur district farms with.

  • Upvan Lake

    Thane · Maharashtra · Well known

    A lake in Thane where the Ganpati idols come on the last day of the festival.

  • Vasota Fort

    Ratnagiri · Maharashtra · Well known

    A fort in Satara district, called Vyaghragad, which means the tiger fort.

  • Zero Mile Stone

    Nagpur · Maharashtra · Well known

    The point every distance in British India was measured from.

Offbeat places in Maharashtra (12)

  • Kasara ghat

    Thane · Maharashtra · Hard to reach

    The climb the Mumbai to Nashik road and railway both make up the Western Ghats.

  • Khandala

    Pune · Maharashtra · Hard to reach

    A hill station above the ghat, known to everyone who has ever bought chikki on the way to Pune.

  • Madhe Ghat

    Pune · Maharashtra · Hard to reach

    A waterfall southwest of Pune with Torna, Rajgad and Raigad all in the same country.

  • Pandavkada Falls

    Panvel · Maharashtra · Hard to reach

    A plunge of a hundred and seven metres behind Kharghar, on the edge of Navi Mumbai.

  • Shahayadri Tiger reserve

    Satara · Maharashtra · Hard to reach

    Maharashtra's tiger reserve in the Sahyadris, declared in 2008.

  • Shivasagar lake

    Satara · Maharashtra · Hard to reach

    Fifty kilometres of water behind the Koyna dam, eighty metres deep in places.

  • Tansa Wildlife Sanctuary

    Thane · Maharashtra · Hard to reach

    Three hundred and twenty square kilometres around the Tansa catchment, north of Mumbai.

  • Toranmal

    Nandurbar · Maharashtra · Hard to reach

    A hill station in the Satpuras of Nandurbar, with a yatra to its Gorakhnath temple.

  • Vajrai Waterfall

    Satara · Maharashtra · Hard to reach

    A waterfall on the Urmodi river near Bhambavli, twenty seven kilometres from Satara.

  • Varandha Ghat

    Pune · Maharashtra · Hard to reach

    The old road down from the Deccan into the Konkan, cut along the crest of the ghats.

  • Vetal Hill

    Pune · Maharashtra · Hard to reach

    The highest ground inside Pune, with the temple of Vetala at the top of it.

  • Vihar Lake

    Mumbai · Maharashtra · Hard to reach

    Mumbai's oldest water supply, dammed in 1860 and now sitting inside the national park.

Hidden gems in Maharashtra (82)

  • Abhay Prabhavana Museum and Knowledge Centre

    Maval · Maharashtra · Local gem

    A Jain museum and knowledge centre on fifty acres beside the Indrayani near Kamshet, with more than thirty galleries on Jain history and thought, manuscripts over a thousand years old and a giant seated Tirthankara in the grounds.

  • Afghan Church

    Mumbai · Maharashtra · Local gem

    Built in memory of the dead of the first Afghan war, with their names on the chancel walls.

  • Ajanta Cave 26

    Ajanta · Maharashtra · Local gem

    A chaitya hall with a reclining Buddha seven metres long carved into its side wall, and ribs cut to look like timber.

  • Ajanta Viewpoint

    Ajanta · Maharashtra · Local gem

    The horseshoe gorge seen whole from across the ravine, which is how a British hunting party found the caves in 1819.

  • Ajinkyatara

    Satara district · Maharashtra · Local gem

    The fort above Satara, Shivaji's capital for a time, with the city laid out below it.

  • Aksa Beach

    Mumbai · Maharashtra · Local gem

    The far end of Malad, with a warning about the undertow that people ignore.

  • Alang Fort

    Nashik district · Maharashtra · Local gem

    One of three forts on one ridge near Kalsubai, and the hardest of them to get up.

  • Amba Ghat

    Kolhapur district · Maharashtra · Local gem

    A ghat road in the Sahyadris on the way to Ratnagiri, with mist for half the year.

  • Anjaneri

    Nashik district · Maharashtra · Local gem

    The hill where Hanuman is said to have been born, with caves and a plateau above Nashik.

  • Anjanvel Fort

    Ratnagiri · Maharashtra · Local gem

    Gopalgad, standing above the water at Anjanvel in Ratnagiri district.

  • Ankai Fort

    Nashik · Maharashtra · Local gem

    A fort of the Yadavas of Devgiri in the Satmala hills near Manmad.

  • Asiatic Society Steps

    Mumbai · Maharashtra · Local gem

    Thirty Doric columns in the middle of the fort.

  • Asiatic Society of Mumbai

    Mumbai · Maharashtra · Local gem

    The Town Hall of 1833 with thirty Doric columns and one of two copies of the Divine Comedy's first edition.

  • Babulnath

    Mumbai · Maharashtra · Local gem

    A Shiva temple on a hillock above Girgaum Chowpatty, up a hundred steps or a lift.

  • Ballarpur Fort

    Chandrapur district · Maharashtra · Local gem

    A Gond fort on the Wardha, brick and stone, in a town now known for paper.

  • Baramotichi Vihir

    Satara · Maharashtra · Local gem

    A stepwell at Limb built between 1719 and 1724 by a wife of Shahu Maharaj, to water the garden.

  • Belapur Fort

    Thane district · Maharashtra · Local gem

    A Portuguese fort in Navi Mumbai, taken by the Marathas and then the British, now mostly gone.

  • Bhatghar Dam

    Pune · Maharashtra · Local gem

    One of the oldest dams in Maharashtra, built by the British on the Velvandi near Bhor.

  • Bhigwan

    Pune · Maharashtra · Local gem

    Flamingos on the Ujani backwaters.

  • Bhimashankar Wildlife Sanctuary

    Pune · Maharashtra · Local gem

    The giant squirrel's last stronghold.

  • Bombay Castle

    Mumbai · Maharashtra · Local gem

    The Portuguese Manor House the English rebuilt into the fort the city grew round, now naval and closed.

  • Chandwad Fort

    Nashik · Maharashtra · Local gem

    A fort three kilometres out of Chandwad in the Nashik hills.

  • Chaturshringi Temple

    Pune district · Maharashtra · Local gem

    A temple on a hillside in Pune, a hundred steps up, with a fair in Navratri.

  • Chaul

    Raigad district · Maharashtra · Local gem

    A port the Portuguese held and the Marathas took, now a village with a church tower in the fields.

  • Dabhosa Falls

    Palghar district · Maharashtra · Local gem

    A fall of a hundred metres near Jawhar, in the Palghar hills.

  • Daimabad

    Ahilyanagar district · Maharashtra · Local gem

    A Harappan site on the Pravara where four heavy bronzes were ploughed up in 1974.

  • Devgad

    Sindhudurg · Maharashtra · Local gem

    The alphonso, at its source.

  • Dhodap Fort

    Nashik · Maharashtra · Local gem

    The second highest fort in the Sahyadris, at 1,472 metres above Hatti village.

  • Dhom Dam

    Satara · Maharashtra · Local gem

    An earth and gravity dam on the Krishna near Wai.

  • Dongri Fort

    Mira-Bhayander · Maharashtra · Local gem

    A small fort in the Dongri quarter of Mumbai, looked after now by the neighbourhood around it.

  • Dr Bhau Daji Lad Museum

    Mumbai · Maharashtra · Local gem

    Mumbai's oldest museum, 1872, restored to its gilt and its Minton floor.

  • Elephanta Island

    Mumbai · Maharashtra · Local gem

    An hour by boat from the Gateway, holding a six metre Trimurti cut into basalt in the fifth century.

  • Ganpatipule

    Ganpatipule · Maharashtra · Local gem

    A temple on the beach where the deity faces west, and one of the cleanest stretches of Konkan sand.

  • Gateway of India Jetty

    Mumbai · Maharashtra · Local gem

    Where the boats leave for Elephanta, and where the last British troops embarked when they left India in 1948.

  • Ghodbunder Fort

    Mira-Bhayander · Maharashtra · Local gem

    A Portuguese fort above the Ulhas at Thane, later Maratha, and later still a Company office.

  • Gorakhgad

    Thane · Maharashtra · Local gem

    A fort near Murbad whose caves were used by hermits rather than soldiers.

  • Harihareshwar

    Raigad · Maharashtra · Local gem

    The Dakshin Kashi, and the rock walk around the headland.

  • Jama Masjid, Mumbai

    Mumbai · Maharashtra · Local gem

    The city's principal mosque, built over a tank that is still under the prayer hall.

  • Jivdhan

    Pune · Maharashtra · Local gem

    A hill fort at 1,145 metres in the Sahyadris above Ghatghar.

  • Kalavantin Durg

    Raigad district · Maharashtra · Local gem

    A pinnacle beside Prabalgad with steps cut into it and nothing on either side.

  • Kaldurg Fort

    Palghar district · Maharashtra · Local gem

    A small hill fort near Palghar, an easy walk, and a good first fort.

  • Karnala Bird Sanctuary

    Raigad district · Maharashtra · Local gem

    Small, wet, and on the Mumbai-Goa road, with a hundred and fifty species and a fort above it.

  • Karnala Fort

    Raigad district · Maharashtra · Local gem

    A thumb of rock above the Panvel road with a fort round it and a bird sanctuary below.

  • Kashid Beach

    Raigad · Maharashtra · Local gem

    White sand three hours from Mumbai.

  • Kune Falls

    Pune district · Maharashtra · Local gem

    A fall in three tiers seen from the Mumbai-Pune expressway, and from Lonavala.

  • Mahalakshmi Temple, Mumbai

    Mumbai · Maharashtra · Local gem

    Three goddesses facing the sea at Breach Candy, and the oldest temple in the city.

  • Mahalaxmi Dhobi Ghat

    Mumbai · Maharashtra · Local gem

    Seven hundred open air washing pens worked by hand since 1890, best seen from the bridge above.

  • Malhargad

    Pune · Maharashtra · Local gem

    A hill fort near Saswad named for the god Malhari, and the last one the Peshwas built.

  • Malshej Ghat

    Thane · Maharashtra · Local gem

    Flamingos, waterfalls and cloud on the road.

  • Mani Bhavan

    Mumbai · Maharashtra · Local gem

    The house on Laburnum Road Gandhi stayed in between 1917 and 1934, now his museum.

  • Marve Beach

    Mumbai · Maharashtra · Local gem

    A beach at Malad where the ferry leaves for Manori.

  • Melghat Tiger Reserve

    Amravati · Maharashtra · Local gem

    One of the first nine tiger reserves.

  • Morbe Dam

    Raigad · Maharashtra · Local gem

    The dam on the Dhavari that Navi Mumbai drinks from.

  • Morgaon Ganesha Temple

    Pune district · Maharashtra · Local gem

    The first and last of the Ashtavinayak, in a village shaped like a peacock.

  • Mulshi Dam

    Pune · Maharashtra · Local gem

    A dam on the Mula west of Pune, whose water is dropped down the ghat to make power at Bhira.

  • Nagzira Wildlife Sanctuary

    Bhandara · Maharashtra · Local gem

    Small, dense, and full of everything but crowds.

  • Nandur Madhmeshwar Bird Sanctuary

    Nashik district · Maharashtra · Local gem

    A wetland where the Godavari meets the Kadva, called Maharashtra's Bharatpur.

  • Panshet Dam

    Pune · Maharashtra · Local gem

    A dam on the Ambi southwest of Pune, one of four that together keep the city in water.

  • Phansad Wildlife Sanctuary

    Raigad district · Maharashtra · Local gem

    Coastal forest in Raigad that was the Murud princes' shooting ground.

  • Powai Lake

    Mumbai · Maharashtra · Local gem

    An artificial lake of 1891 with crocodiles in it and an engineering institute on the bank.

  • Prabalgad

    Raigad district · Maharashtra · Local gem

    A fort between Matheran and Panvel, with Kalavantin's pinnacle beside it.

  • Radhanagari Dam

    Kolhapur · Maharashtra · Local gem

    The dam Shahu Maharaj began on the Bhogawati in 1907.

  • Rajgruha

    Mumbai · Maharashtra · Local gem

    Ambedkar's house at Dadar, built for his library of fifty thousand books.

  • Ramkund

    Nashik · Maharashtra · Local gem

    A bathing tank on the Godavari where the Kumbh is held every twelve years, and where ashes are immersed year round.

  • Ramsej

    Nashik · Maharashtra · Local gem

    A small fort north of Nashik that Aurangzeb's army attacked in 1682 and could not take quickly.

  • Ratnagiri Fort

    Ratnagiri · Maharashtra · Local gem

    Ratnadurg, on the headland above Ratnagiri, with the Bhagawati temple inside it.

  • Salim Ali Lake

    Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar · Maharashtra · Local gem

    A Mughal tank at Aurangabad renamed for the ornithologist, with a bird park round it.

  • Sassoon Docks

    Mumbai · Maharashtra · Local gem

    Five in the morning, and the whole city's fish.

  • Sawantwadi

    Sindhudurg · Maharashtra · Local gem

    Ganjifa cards and lacquered wooden fruit.

  • Sevagram Ashram

    Wardha · Maharashtra · Local gem

    Gandhi's last ashram, and his hut.

  • Shinde Chhatri

    Pune district · Maharashtra · Local gem

    Mahadji Scindia's memorial at Wanowrie, Anglo-Rajasthani, with the cremation platform inside.

  • Sitabuldi Fort

    Nagpur City · Maharashtra · Local gem

    The hill in the middle of Nagpur where the Bhonsles lost to the British in 1817.

  • St Patrick's Cathedral, Pune

    Pune district · Maharashtra · Local gem

    A cathedral of 1850 in the cantonment, and the seat of the diocese.

  • Tarkarli Beach

    Malvan · Maharashtra · Local gem

    Clear water and a sand spit where the Karli river meets the sea, with scuba over the Sindhudurg reef.

  • Thanale Caves

    Raigad district · Maharashtra · Local gem

    Twenty three Buddhist caves above the Sudhagad valley, reached through a stream bed.

  • Tikona Fort

    Pune · Maharashtra · Local gem

    A triangle above the Pawna backwaters.

  • Tulja Caves

    Pune district · Maharashtra · Local gem

    Buddhist caves near Junnar with a circular chaitya ringed by twelve pillars.

  • Tulsi Lake

    Mumbai · Maharashtra · Local gem

    One of the three lakes that water Mumbai, inside the national park and closed to visitors.

  • Tung Fort

    Pune · Maharashtra · Local gem

    A steep cone of a fort in Pune district, called Kathingad, which means the difficult one.

  • Vajreshwari Temple

    Palghar district · Maharashtra · Local gem

    A temple built on a hill of volcanic rock by a Maratha general, near the hot springs at Ganeshpuri.

  • Venna Lake

    Satara district · Maharashtra · Local gem

    A lake dug by a Satara raja in 1842 at Mahabaleshwar, with boats and horses round it.

  • Worli Fort

    Mumbai · Maharashtra · Local gem

    A small British fort of 1675 on a rock above a fishing village, now surrounded by the city it was built to watch.

Collecting in Maharashtra

What are the best places to visit in Maharashtra?

LOQAH lists 240 places in Maharashtra. The best known include Ellora Caves, Ajanta Caves, Chandoli National Park, Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya and Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus. Each has a stamp of its own to collect when you are there.

How many LOQAH stamps are there in Maharashtra?

240, and more are added over time. Each place has LOQAH's carefully crafted stamp of its own.

How do I collect a stamp in Maharashtra?

Open LOQAH at the place and get its stamp. LOQAH checks where you are once, at that moment; at the place itself the stamp is confirmed on site, with a gold badge.

I have been to places in Maharashtra before. Can I add them?

Yes. In Earlier trips, choose Maharashtra and swipe through its stamps, or import your Google Timeline. Each one goes into your volume with the date, if you know it.

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Collect your first stamp.

LOQAH is free on iPhone and Android, in India and 20 more countries, with more countries on the way. Stand at a place, collect its stamp, and keep every trip in a passport that grows.