The name Maharashtra first appeared in a 7th century inscription and in a Chinese traveler's account. Its name may have originated from rathi, which means, "chariot driver". The capital of Maharashtra, Mumbai, earlier known as Bombay, is India's most dynamic and cosmopolitan city. Mumbai is also home to the world's biggest cinema industry, popularly known as Bollywood.
Festivals are a result of intermingling of different religions and communities. In Maharashtra festival of Lord Ganesh (Ganesh Chaturthi), is the most popular & exciting festival in Pune.

Culture
Hindus form the majority of Maharashtra population & the culture of Maharashtra reflects that. There are many temples in Maharashtra some of them being hundreds of years old. These temples are constructed in a fusion of architectural styles from borrowed from North India and South India . The temples also blend themes from Hindu, Buddhist and Jain cultures. The temple of Vitthala at Pandharpur may be considered the most important to the Maharashtrian Hindu population. Many of the temples are tourist attractions with the most famous amongst them being the Ajanta and Ellora Caves near Aurangabad. A famous example of Mughal architecture is the tomb of the wife of Aurangzeb called Bibi Ka Maqbara also located at Aurangabad. The landscape of Maharashtra is dotted with many forts, like Raigad and Pratapgad which played an extremely important part in the establishment of the Maratha empire and also sea forts like the one at Sindhudurg.

Maharashtra encompasses an area of 308,000 km˛ (119,000 mi˛),and is largest state in India. Maharashtra is bordered by the states of Madhya Pradesh to the north, Chhattisgarh to the east, Andhra Pradesh to the southeast, Karnataka to the south, and Goa to the southwest. The state of Gujarat lies to the northwest, with the Union territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli sandwiched in between. The Arabian Sea makes up Maharashtra's west coast.