India's wine country and a Jyotirlinga site — Trimbakeshwar Temple is built over the source of the Godavari river, grapes from 80 vineyards become award-winning wine, and Kumbh Mela recurs here every 12 years
Nashik (pop. 1.5 million) in the Western Ghats of Maharashtra sits at the source of the Godavari — the second-longest river in India after the Ganga — and has emerged as the country's wine capital. The Nashik plateau (600 meters elevation) produces India's highest-quality grapes; approximately 80 vineyards now operate within 50 km of the city, with Sula Vineyards (established 1999) having demonstrated that India could produce internationally competitive wines. In parallel with this modern industry, Nashik remains one of India's most important pilgrimage cities — the Trimbakeshwar temple (26 k…
Nashik is one of the cities mentioned in the Valmiki Ramayana as a site where Rama, Sita, and Lakshmana lived during their exile in the Panchavati area — the Sita Gupha (cave) where Sita is said to have resided is still a pilgrimage site in the city. The Trimbakeshwar temple in its current form was rebuilt in 1755 by Peshwa Nana Saheb (the Maratha Empire's chief minister), though the Jyotirlinga site predates this structure by millennia. The Godavari river that originates at Trimbakeshwar supplied water to the Krishna-era Deccan kingdoms, the Satavahana empire (2nd century BCE – 2nd century C…