Nanded is a city and the headquarters of Nanded district situated in the south-eastern part of the state of Maharashtra. Bordering Andhra Pradesh on the east and Karnataka to the south, it is the second largest city in the Marathwada region. The name of the destination was derived from the place Nandi Tat on the River Godavari.
The region of Nanded is popular because of the Hazur Sahib Gurudwara built here where the last Sikh Guru, Shri Guru Govindsinghji Maharaj, passed away. Located around 650 km from Mumbai and 270 km from Hyderabad, Nanded is a place with religious importance because it is also the birthplace of three famous Maratha saint poets Vishnupant Shesa, Raghunath Shesha and Vaman Pandit.
Nanded was ruled by the Nandas. It was also a part of the Mauryan Empire when King Asoka ruled from 272 to 231 BC. The Andhrabhrtyas or Satvahanas took control of the city during the 1st century AD. The Chalukya King, Nanddeva, ruled the city during the 4th century AD.
Nanded is also a major learning centre of Sanskrit and is a popular educational centre of Maharashtra. Because of this students from the neighbouring regions of Nizamabad and Adilabad come to this place for education and especially for Sanskrit teachings. The population of Nanded comprises of different communities of Hindus, Muslims, Buddhists, Sikhs and Jains.
One of the popular places here is Takhat Sachkhand Shri Hazur Abchalnagar Sahib, which is also the main Gurudwara and a high seat of authority of the Sikh community. Surrounded by the river Godavari on three sides is the Nanded Fort, which is located at a distance of 4 km and is popular for its garden and water works inside.
Located at a distance of about 2.5 km from the village of Mahur is the temple of Renuka Devi. This ancient temple is said to be around 800 years old and was built by a Yadava King from Devgiri. Other than the ancient temple, there is the masjid of Hazrat Nawab Sarfaraz Khan that was constructed around 330 years back. The stone masjid was dedicated to Sarfaraz Khan, an officer in Aurangzeb’s army. Located 130 km from Nanded is Vajinath, which is an important pilgrimage centre.
Situated in the heart of the town is Kandhar, which is famous for its ancient forts. Rashtrakuta King Krishna III managed the construction and design of the fort and one of such designs was the ditch filled with water surrounding the fort. The popular fair, Malegaon Yatra, is held every year in honour of Lord Khandoba in Loha Taluka of Malegoan that is located 57 km from Nanded.
How To Reach :
By Road/Bus :
Nanded is situated at 651 kilometre away in south-east from Mumbai by road . It is on National Highway No.222 connecting Mumbai to Nirmal (NH7) in A.P. and about six-hour drive from Aurangabad , Hyderabad and 11-hour drive from Pune. Several passenger bus services operate from Nanded providing easy overnight connectivity with almost every major city in Maharashtra. These buses are reasonably priced and fairly punctual. The comfort level differs greatly from operator to operator.
National Highway 222 (NH222) passes through Nanded. NH 222 connects the city of Kalyan near Mumbai in Maharashtra to Nirmal near Adilabad in Andhra Pradesh. This is one of the longest highway in Maharashtra.
By Plane/Air :
Nanded Airport is well connected to Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore, Chandigarh, Goa, Jaipur and Nagpur. The City has daily flight service to Mumbai. Nearest international airport is Hyderabad(284 kilometre). Nanded has the distinction of having Marathwada region's first airport. As a part of JNNURM mission and Guru Ta Gaddi programe held in October 2008, it has been renovated and named as 'Shri Guru Gobind Singh ji Airport' and was re-inaugurated on 4 October 2008.
Kingfisher Co. has recently suspended some of its flights from Nanded to Mumbai and Delhi.
The airport has been upgraded at a cost of Rs. 940 million and the facilities available include a huge terminal building to handle 300 passengers and a runway to handle big aircraft like Boeing 737s and Airbus 319-320. It also now has three parking bays for large aircraft, six check-in counters, plush passenger terminals, fuelling stations and all other passenger and flight operations facilities, including night operations.
By Train/Rail :
Direct trains are available to Nanded from Mumbai, Aurangabad, Hyderabad, Bangalore, Nagpur, Patna, Delhi, Rameswaram, Pune, Visakhapatnam Sriganganagar, Tirupati, Shirdi, Orissa, Varanasi, Allahabad and Amritsar. Nanded is one of the Divisional Headquarters of South Central Railway. Soon Nanded will be a railways junction as a new rail line from Nanded-Yawatmal-Wardha connecting further to Nagpur has been announced and the work starts from February, 2009.
Nanded(NED) is the Divisional Headquarters of Nanded Division of South Central Railway (SCR) zone of the Indian Railways. The entire Nanded Division was a part of Hyderabad Division. In 2003, Nanded Division was carved from Hyderabad Division for administrative reasons.