Hindu mythology has it that Lord Rama, the King of Ayodhya, made Nashik his home during his 14 years in exile. At the same place Lord Laxman, by the blessing of Lord Rama, cut off the nose of Shurpnakha and thus this place was named as "Nasik"(From Sanskrit word 'Nasika'). Several other references to the Ramayan era can be found in Nashik, which includes the Sita Gumpha caves, from where Sita, Lord Rama's wife, was abducted by Ravana. Nashik in 150 BC was believed to be the country's largest marketplace.

Kumbhamella is a glorious gathering of Sadhus as well as Pilgrims at a place on some specific days. The gathering is of 10 to 15 lakh people on a day at Nashik. As per the legend, the Amrut was spilled in the Ramkunda and thus on a specific day, by taking bath on the Ghats, on attain 'Moksha'. This period is called Sinhastha at Nashik and Kumbhamella at other places. It is held after every 12 years. The other places where Kumbhamella is held are Ujjain, Allahabad & Haridwar. The 'Holy place' status thus attained is directly linked with the 'Holy dip' in the river at the 'Holy Ghats'. The river Godavari which passes through the city, is having length of 18 kms, in the Municipal Corporation area. There are few villages on the banks. Also the old part of the city is located on both banks. As per the religious beliefs, the stretch of the river from Ahilyabai Holkar Bridge to the Ram setu bridge is considered to be most sacred.

Temples :

• Kala Ram Temple - Year 1782 by Odhekar family
• Sunder Narayan Temple - Year 1756 by Peshwas
• Umamaheshar Temple - Year 1758
• Nilkantheshwar Temple - Year 1747
• Goreram Temple - Year 1720-1740
• Naroshankar Temple - Year 1747 by Naroshankar Rajebahadur

• Ramkunda - Year 1761-1772 by Peshwas
• Murudeshwar - Year 1770

Nashik is located in northern Maharashtra at 565m (1854 ft) from the mean sea level. The river Godavari originates from Trimbakeshwar (24 km from Nashik) and flows through various parts of the city. The river forms the northern boundary of the city in some areas and then flows through the old residential settlement in the city. Several small tributaries like the Nasardi and Waghadi merge with Godavari at Nashik. Nashik lies on western edge of the Deccan Plateau which is a volcanic formation. The soil here is primarily black which is favorable for agriculture. The total land area of the city (Municipal Limits) is about 259.13 km2 which makes it the third largest urban area of Maharashtra after Mumbai Metropolitan Region and the Pune and Pimpri Chinchwad Urban Region.

Nashik has pleasant climate for most time of the year except from March to mid-June. The period from June to September is the (South West) Monsoon Season. October is peculiarly hot and dry. Winter is between November and February. In 1914, social worker, Raosaheb Thorat founded the Nashik District Vidya Prasarak Samaj, the most prominent educational institute in Nashik.

The maximum temperature ever recorded in the city was 44.8 °C (108.3 °F) on 12 May 1960 in Nashik. The lowest temperature recorded was 0.6 °C (33.1 °F) on 7 January 1945 in Nashik. In 1930, the Nashik Satyagraha was launched under the leadership of Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar for the entry of Dalits in Kala Ram temple. In 1931, a meeting of the Bombay Province Charmkar Parishad was organised at Nashik to work out the Chambhars' position with regard to the Second Round Table Conference in which Babasaheb was going to participate. In 1932, Babasaheb organized his temple entry movement for the abolition of untouchability in Nashik.

The older quarters of the city are peculiar to many similar cities of Maharashtra such as Pune, Satara and Kolhapur. It is characterized by the wadas (a housing typology, wada would mean a courtyard house), narrow, shaded, winding streets, peculiar projections onto the street, streets swelling into a chowk (public courtyard) and the vibrant and active bazaar (market) streets leading towards the river (in many cases). Streets are identified by the goods they sell and still attract large number of buyers from the city and more so from adjoining towns and villages.

The planned areas of CIDCO :
About 396 Ha of land area of the city has been planned and developed by City and Industrial Development Corporation (CIDCO). This area (originally a part of Morwadi and Untwadi villages) abuts the two industrial areas of the city viz. Satpur and Ambad and is home to a large number of residents who work in the industries. Since the area is planned as a single exercise it has a peculiar visual character and a unique community mix.

New development: Sprawling single residences and apartments :
Areas like College Road, Mahatmanagar, Savarkar Nagar, Kathe Galli, Jail Road, Jaibhavani Road, Indira Nagar, Pipeline Road could loosely be categorized as the newly developed outer areas of Nashik. Quite a few prominent educational institutions are located in these areas and so are the modern day restaurants, coffee shops and hangouts of the young. Most of the construction in this zone has happened in the past 3 to 4 decades and comprises individual houses and multistory apartments. Almost all retail malls and multiplexes in the city are located in this zone.

Architecture :
Rock-cut architecture
Rock-cut caves called Pandavleni Caves relating to Hinayana Buddhism are located near Ambad, about 10 km from the city center. The caves are believed to be carved out between 1st century BC and 3rd century AD. There are 22 caves which comprise of chaitya and vihara with varying levels of carving and detail.

Temples of Nashik
The city is home to hundreds of temples and shrines notably at the Ghats near Ramkund (which is the stretch of the river considered holy as it changes its course from westward to southward). The Kalaram Temple, The Naroshankar Temple and the Sundernarayan Temple are most significant architecturally, all built in black basalt stone. Trimbakeshwar temple is 30 kms from Nashik.

Traditional Wada typology of old Nashik :
The old city's hosing quarters primarily comprise of the wada typology. These are built-to-edge courtyard houses with rooms built a central (multi-activity) courtyard opening onto a street. This typology is a fine example of climate control and resulted into the peculiar urban form of narrow shaded streets and public courtyards.

Contemporary Residential Architecture :
The urban form of outer Nashik used to be dominated by (generally) well-designed two story independent houses. As land costs soared these have been replaced by either row houses (houses with common side walls) or multistory apartments. The last decade has witnessed a trend of clusters of multiple buildings with a mix of typologies served by common amenities like a club and a swimming pool.

Contemporary Institutional and Public Architecture :
There are a few architecturally notable public buildings in Nashik like The Nashik Municipal Corporation Administrative Headquarter, The Kusumagraj Smarak and The Dadasaheb Phalke Memorial at the foothills of Pandavleni Caves. Some of the recent projects comprising educational campuses and corporate buildings have demonstrated reasonable architectural flair at par with national and international architectural trends.

Parks and Public Spaces :

• Dadasaheb Phalke Memorial
• Shivaji Garden
• Shagun Water park (Largest water park in Nasik)
• Jawaharlal Nehru Udyan
• Various Neighborhood Parks developed and run by the Nashik Municipal Corporation
• Goda Park
• Various Jogging Parks developed and run by the Nashik Municipal Corporation
• Dongre Vastigruha Ground
• Zilla Parishad Stadium Complex
• CIDCO Stadium
• Phalke Smarak
• Pramod Mahajan Udyan, Gangapur Naka

Auditoriums and Drama Theatres :

• Mahakavi Kalidas Natyamandir
• Parshuram Saikhedkar Natyagriha
• Dadasheb Gaikwad Sabhagriha
• Paluskar Sabhagriha
• Rasbihari International School

Cinema Theaters and Multiplexes :

• Ashok Theater
• ChitraMandir
• Vijayanand
• Damodar
• Anuradha, Nashik Road
• Prabhat Cinema
• Vikas
• Circle
• Mahalaxmi
• Cinemax, College Road
• Cinemax Regimental, Nashik Road
• BIG Cinemas (Adlabs)
• Fame Nashik
• Cinemax, City Centre Mall

Retail Shopping Malls in Nashik

• The Nasik City Centre (Largest in Asia ).
• The Zone (Big Bazaar), College Road
• Big Bazaar, Nashik Road
• SK Mall (College Road)
• Pinnacle Mall (Golf Club)
• Vishal Mega Mart (Bombay Naka)
• Nashik Central at Trimbak Naka
• R L Mall(Rajmal Lakhichand) (under construction) with 4 star hotel
• East End [ Mumbai-Agra Highway]
• Mall by Western India Properties at Satpur (on hold)
• Mall by Raheja in Amabad MIDC (on hold)
• Suyojit Mall one each in Shikhare wadi (6 lakh sq.ft)& Mumbai Naka (10 lakh sq.ft)
• Kakade Magnum Mall (proposed)
• Prozone Mall (proposed)

in addition to that there is a very good presence of chain stores like Reliance fresh, Spencer's, Spinach, Subiksha, More for you.

Cuisine :
Nashik traditionally boasts of a Maharashtrian cuisine with influences from Khandesh, Rajasthan and Gujrat. The modern city however offers a range of restaurants with cuisines ranging from Punjabi, South Indian to Chinese and continental cuisines.

Sports :
Cricket is the most popular sport in Nashik. The old city also patronizes traditional Maharashtrian sports like Kabbaddi and Kho Kho. The Nashik Gymkhana is the principal place for playing formal sports and also to get formal training. At least three swimming pools are run by the Civil administration which are extensively utilized by the people.

Healthcare :

• Regional Super Speciality Hospital (100 beds) run by the Government of Maharashtra
• Wockhardt Hospitals
• NDMVP's Medical College's Hospital, Adgaon
• Life Line Hospitals
• Apollo Hospital
• Sanjivan Hospital :- Orthopedic and Pediatric Hospital

Nashik today is one of the fastest growing cities of India and has even been identified as a tier-2 metro. The city's economy is driven chiefly by the engineering and manufacturing industry (which has been around since the seventies) as well as the progressive agriculture in area surrounding the city. Auto majors such as Mahindra & Mahindra, BOSCH and Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) such as VIP, Samsonite, CEAT etc. have their plants here and have spawned a huge network of auto component suppliers and engineering ancillary services. It is also a pharmaceutical hub with presence GlaxoSmithKline and Fem. In recent years, Nasik has also carved a niche for itself as India's "Napa Valley" and locally established wine brands such as "Sula" have attained international acclaim. Modern efforts are on to promote the growth of an export-oriented rose farming and wine industry in the district. Nashik is also deemed "the third most industrialised city of Maharashtra after Mumbai and Pune", mainly due to extensive industrial development in recent times. It is home to an important thermal power plant (Eklahare) and a National Treasury Printing Press (India Security Press at Nashik Road). There are five "Industrial Zones" in the Nashik area and its outskirts (Satpur, Ambad, Sinnar, Igatpuri and Dindori). Nashik has a number of sugar mills. It is also chief exporter of white onions and pomegranates.

Nashik today is one of the fastest growing cities of India and has even been identified as a tier-2 metro. The city's economy is driven chiefly by the engineering and manufacturing industry (which has been around since the seventies) as well as the progressive agriculture in area surrounding the city. Auto majors such as Mahindra & Mahindra, BOSCH and Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) such as VIP, Samsonite, CEAT etc. have their plants here and have spawned a huge network of auto component suppliers and engineering ancillary services. It is also a pharmaceutical hub with presence GlaxoSmithKline and Fem. In recent years, Nasik has also carved a niche for itself as India's "Napa Valley" and locally established wine brands such as "Sula" have attained international acclaim. Modern efforts are on to promote the growth of an export-oriented rose farming and wine industry in the district. Nashik is also deemed "the third most industrialised city of Maharashtra after Mumbai and Pune", mainly due to extensive industrial development in recent times. It is home to an important thermal power plant (Eklahare) and a National Treasury Printing Press (India Security Press at Nashik Road). There are five "Industrial Zones" in the Nashik area and its outskirts (Satpur, Ambad, Sinnar, Igatpuri and Dindori). Nashik has a number of sugar mills. It is also chief exporter of white onions and pomegranates.

In recent days, the government has decided to prepare IT parks in the city of Nashik Road. The V-Tech park is one of the largest IT parks of Maharashtra. Nashik is also emerging as a BPO/IT destination and is in list of the selected Tier II cities for BPO/IT companies. ; companies like Datamatics, WNS and gloStream have presence in Nashik.

Nashik is very famous for grapes, onions and tomatoes, all of which are grown in huge quantities. The wine culture is growing at an alarming speed for both growers and wine makers.
Nashik was famous for its table grapes for a very long time. In early 1925, the Table Grape revolution was started by Shree Ramrao Jairamji Gaikwad, who is known to have been the first person to commercially grow table grapes, in Ojhar, a small town near Nashik. He is known as the Father of Indian grapes and revolutionised not only grape growing, but also other crop cultivation practices. Today, table grapes are being exported in great quantities to Europe, the Middle East and Asia. They are used to make raisins and juices. Nashik also exports a reasonable quantity of onions. Agriculture contributes greatly towards the Nashik's economy.

Nashik has transformed from a small pilgrimage town to a modern mid-sized city in the last two decades or so. The growth of industries brought about a major growth in population resulting into expansion of the footprint of the city into the hinterland and resulted into growth of suburbs along the periphery of the city. The natural benefits of geography and climate and abundant availability of water catalyzed this growth. The retail revolution in India also left an impact on Nashik with multiple medium and large sized retail malls opening up in the city after the year 2002. Stand-alone branded apparel stores and food chains followed the trend and have opened up outlets to cater to the growing urban population. Some of the other statistics are given below:

• The literacy rate in Nashik is 85.67%.
• People living below poverty line: 5.6%
• Literacy rate: 85.67%
• Human Development Index(from 2001-2008):90.00%
• Infrastructure Development: 80%

Nashik has been a major transport node given its road and rail connectivity and geographic location

Nashik is one of the major road junctions of India. The Mumbai-Agra national highway(NH3) runs through Nashik. Nashik is also connected to Pune with NH-50. Nashik is a major road junction of major state highways. It is well connected to Surat, Aurangabad, Mumbai, Pune, Ahmednagar, Dhule and many other cities. It has been seeing reasonable grown in terms of road infrastructure in the past few years or so. Map of Nashik Taluka The National Highway Number 3 (NH3) is being converted into a multi-lane tolled road.

The stretch from Mumbai to Bhiwandi is already a four-lane road. Work is in progress for the four-laning of the stretch between Bhiwandi and Gonde. This stretch passes through the Kasara Ghat Section (known as Thalghat traditionally). It is understood that the stretch between Gonde and Pimpalgaon Baswant (near Ozar Airport), which actually passes though Nashik city, is proposed to be a six-laned highway with multiple flyovers at key intersections. The work of the road beyond the one described above (Pimpalgaon Baswant to Dhule) is nearing completion. The NH50 to Pune is a traditional two-laned road up to Rajgurunagar (Pune District) and four laned further till Pune.

Buses:
MSRTC (State Run) Efficient and punctual buses are run by the Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation to various cities, towns and villages around Nashik. They operate services from multiple bus terminals (New and old Central Bus Stand or CBS, Mela Sthanak, Mahamarg Bus Stand and Nimani Bus Stand) primarily based on geographic locations of the destinations. The new CBS (also known as Thakkar Bazaar) is the principal bus terminal from where one can get to travel to Mumbai, Pune, Kolhapur, Satara, the Konkan Region, Aurangabad and so on. Semi-luxury buses are available to some of the important locations. Nashik to Pune is a special semi-luxury service which runs decently built buses at half-hour intervals from 5.30 in the morning to 12.30 in the midnight. The Mahamarg bus stand caters to services departing for Ahmednagar, Solapur, Kasara and Shirdi. Other bus stands cater to district level traffic to small towns and villages.

Private Buses :
Several private bus operators run services with good quality buses (Air-conditioned buses in many cases) although to large cities around like Mumbai, Pune, Nagpur, Ahmedabad, Surat, Vadodara, Indore, Kolhapur etc.

Air conditioned Taxis :
Popularly knows as cool cabs (blue and silver colored), these services are available to Mumbai, Thane, Shirdi, Pune and a few other locations. These serve as a good option in case of unplanned travel decisions and available round-the-clock at stipulated taxi-stands located conveniently in the city. Taxis could be hired fully or on seat-basis. One could walk up to the taxi stand or call for the taxi at desired location although at an additional cost.

Railways :
Nashik Road Railway Station is an important railway station on the Mumbai-Kalyan-Manmad-Bhusaval (and further to Delhi or Kolkata) sector of the Central Railway] Division of Indian Railways which was the first ever electrified section in India. The railway station is about 11 km away from the city center (and hence called Nashik Road instead of Nashik). Most of the trains halt at Nashik Road station although generally for a short duration(2 to 5 minutes). Deolali is another station (about 10 minutes train travel towards Mumbai) which serves the population residing in the Deolali Cantonment Area and the adjoining towns like Bhagur etc. Interestingly, a horse-drawn tram used to ply between Nashik Road Station and the Nashik City between 1889 and 1933.[21] More than 50 trains pass through this station daily and it is thus connected to Mumbai, Aurangabad, Nanded, Hyderabad, Bhopal, Agra, Delhi, Nagpur, Kolkata, Guwahati, Jammu, Madgaon, Mangalore and so on. Although the station connects to most northern and eastern parts of the country, major passenger traffic is between Mumbai and Nashik. Fast-moving intercity trains like the Panchvati express and the Godavari Express connect this station to Mumbai. These trains originate from Manmad and principally cater the large number of business travelers from Manmad and Nashik to Mumbai and suburban area.

Airways :
Kingfisher Airlines runs two daily flights to Mumbai from Nashik's Ozar Airport located at some 24 km from the city center. Deccan Airways also used to operate a flight to Mumbai from Ozar airport a couple of years ago which was later taken off due to lack of passengers. Nashik has another airport at Gandhinagar with a shorter runway and hence unfit for modern-day passenger aircrafts. The government run Vayudoot used a operate a service to Mumbai from this Gandhinagar Airport during the 1980s.

Intracity Travel :
Nashik has been having a reasonably reliable and punctual bus based intra-city transport system which is operated by the state run MSRTC. The principal operating hub is at Panchvati. Other key city bus nodes are Nashik Road (Railway Station), Satpur, Central Bus Stand and Shalimar. Buses ply to almost all parts of the city. The MSRTC has been requesting the [Nashik Municipal Corporation] http://www.nashikcorporation.com/ to take over the bus service but that has not happened till date. Peculiarly painted Taxis (Black and Yellow) are available for point to point (unmetered) travel to destination within the city and to nearby tourist attraction like Trimbakeshwar and Someshwar or the Railway Station. Metered and unmetered auro-rikshaws ply in the city and are available with reasonable ease.