Along the Godavari River 565m above sea level and about 185-km from Mumbai, is the important religious center of Nashik. Nashik has abundant forest wealth which is mostly on the west of the district. Jalgaon and Aurangabad districts lie to the east of Nashik, to its south is Ahmednagar, and Dhule district and a part of Gujarat lie in the North.
Nashik attracts thousands of pilgrims annually because of the sanctity of the Godavari River, which is called the Ganges of the south and also because of the legend that Ram, the hero of the Ramayana epic, had spent most of his banishment tenure here, with his wife Sita and his brother Lakshman. The Artillery school of Deolali, the MiG Aircraft Factory at Ozar and the internationally acclaimed grapes form Nashik have made the city popular.
The city, vibrant and active on the industrial, political, social and cultural fronts, has influenced the lives of many a great personalities. The River Godavari flows through the city. Temples and ghats on the banks of Godavari have made Nashik one of the holiest places for Hindus. All this territory was included in Ashok's mighty empire. From archaeological excavations it is found that the territory around Nashik was occupied in the early Stone Age. Its only real monuments are the rock-cut caves nearby Pandav Lena, these two-thousand-year-old cells dates back to the days when Nashik was the capital of the powerful Satavahana. It became very prosperous as it lay on the trade route to Broach. The city was named as Gulshanabad by the Mughals appreciating its rich natural wealth and renamed Nashik by the Marathas. Nashik played an important role in the freedom movement and after independence became the second largest district of Maharashtra.
