Introduction: Aurangabad is a place with good hotels and many excellent restaurants. This place is famous for its distinguished rock-cut temples of Ajanta and Ellora. The name of this city is derived from the last great mughal emperor in India Aurangzeb. It was known as Khadke in the earlier times in 1610 when Malik Amber founded it. Aurangabad is abounding with monuments including the mausoleum for Aurangzeb’s wife Bibi-ka-Maqbara looking similar to Taj Mahal. Aurangabad is popular for its Bidri work and Himroo products. It is regarded as one of the fastest growing city of India in terms of industries and education at present.

History: Aurangabad is named after Aurangzeb the great Mughal emperor. Aurangzeb was a popular Mughal emperor in Indian history. Aurangabad has been a very important place since history as it is the route to that goes across the Asian subcontinent to reach Europe. Textiles, fine embroideries and beads were exported to European countries. Aurangzeb promoted culture and learning amidst the dynasties of Satavahanas, Vakatakas, Challukyas and Rashtrakutas. Aurangzeb encouraged great poets, saints, and philosophers like Eknath, Ramdas, Wali, Siraj and Dhyaneshwar. Aurangzeb was the last powerful mughal emperor and his empire ended while fighting with the Marathas.

Places of interest: Aurangzeb built Bibi-ka-Maqbara for his wife Rubia Durrani. This is a very beautiful mausoleum comparable to Taj Mahal of Agra. This monument is built with the architecture of Persia. It is open from morning to night 10.00 pm. It looks awesome at night. Panchakki is a beautiful watermill of pre-mughal era, for grinding grains. It was built in memory of Baba Shah Musafir in the year 1624. Aurangzeb’s cave is three km north of Aurangabad. It is worth visiting. There is a History Museum in the Marathwada University where you can find things about Satavahana Dynasty, Marathwad sculptures, miniatures and paintings of several kingdoms.

Travel information: Aurangabad is an industrialized city with proper means of transportation and communication locating in the northern part of Maharashtra. It is hot in the summer. The best season to visit Aurangabad is during November to February. The airport is just 10 km away from the main city. It connects the city to Delhi, Mumbai, Jaipur and Udaipur. Aurangabad is also connected with the most of the Indian cities by railways. Railway network operate through Hyderabad, Secunderabad, Mumbai and Delhi. There is a good network of roadways too connecting Pune, Nasik, Indore and Mumbai.