Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar

Why Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar is famous

• •Founding and size: Established 1610 by MALIK AMBAR. Elevation 568 m. Population 1,175,116 at the 2011 census, 32nd in India. Nicknamed the CITY OF GATES. Largest city of the Marathwada region.
• •What it is: A UNESCO World Heritage site holding rock-cut caves of three faiths — Buddhist, Hindu and Jain. Its centrepiece is the KAILASA TEMPLE, described by one source as the largest single rock-cut sculpture on the planet.
• •What it is: A UNESCO World Heritage site holding Buddhist murals dated by one source to the 2nd century BCE. One source pairs them with Ellora as the two unmissable sites of the region.
• •The last Jyotirlinga: One of the twelve Jyotirlingas of the Shiva Purana, also called Grihneshwar or DHUSHMESHWAR. One source says the Shaivism tradition considers it THE LAST Jyotirlinga, and glosses 'Ghrineshwar' as LORD OF COMPASSION.
• •Less than a kilometre from a World Heritage site: Located at ELLORA, also called VERUL, less than a kilometre from the Ellora Caves, and about 30 km north-west of the city. One source calls it an easy combine with a morning at Ellora.
• •Devagiri Fort: A mediaeval fortress dating to the 12th century, 15 km from Ellora, capital of the YADAVA dynasty and later a strategic base for the Mughals and Marathas. Also known as Devagiri.
• •A working water mill: Described by one source as an ingenious 17th-century water-powered grain mill beside a tranquil fish pond and an ancient banyan tree.
• •A reclining Hanuman: At KHULDABAD. One source describes the idol of Hanuman in a RECLINING POSE — unusual iconography — and calls it a major pilgrimage destination, especially at Hanuman Jayanti and Ram Navami.
• •Naan qalia: Named by two sources as the city's signature dish, in a Mughlai-Marathi register.

History at a glance

1. 2nd century BCE onward
   The Ajanta caves are cut and painted, holding Buddhist murals one source dates from this period.
2. Rock-cut period
   The Ellora caves are cut — thirty-four excavations across Buddhist, Hindu and Jain traditions, including the Kailasa temple, carved downward from a single hillside.
3. 12th century
   Daulatabad, also called Devagiri, is established — capital of the Yadava dynasty, later a strategic base for the Mughals and Marathas.
4. 1610
   The city is established by MALIK AMBAR.
5. Aurangzeb's reign
   Bibi Ka Maqbara is built for Aurangzeb's wife — one source notes he raised almost no monumental architecture in half a century and that this was the largest structure to his credit.
6. 2023
   Aurangabad is officially renamed CHHATRAPATI SAMBHAJINAGAR, and the district with it. Osmanabad becomes Dharashiv in the same action.
7. Current
   Both names remain in active use — government and signage moving to the new one, the airport code, monuments, travel listings and everyday speech still using the old.

Best time to visit