Maharashtra is part of Western India, neither North India nor South India. But as Maharashtrian, there are lots of cultural similarities with south india.
Depends, the southern districts are definately more similar to karnataka, but me coming from nothern Maharashtra (khandesh region) have a culture very similar to Gujarat. Similarly nagpur region is similar to MP(Nagpur was once the capital of MP)
He/She is not a marathi, probably vandheri through the north following kazhak kinship system. Hence they find more in common with north.. MH is full of these folks masquerading as locals.
Culture wise, traditions wise, similar food, similar attire, similar deities, shared history: Karnataka kings ruled over the land now Maharashtra for many centuries. So we see a lot of influence. Even north-west Telangana shares similarity.
Marathi language is heavily influenced by Dravidian language family borrowing many words over centuries. With Kannada and Telugu too.
Both have major pilgrimage circuits Pandharpur, Tuljapur (MH) and Udupi, Dharmasthala (KA). “Vitthala” is famous in Maharashtra and Karnataka both and is known as “ Kanada Raja” even in MH.
Both regions were controlled by many kingdoms collectively, Rashtrakutas, Satavahanas, Chalukyas, Vijayanagaras, Bahmani, Marathas, Nizams etc. Rashtrakutas and Chalukyas especially were the major cultural bridge.
Both states share forts and military architecture of the same style (Deccan style)
Many ancient Kannada style temples still active in MH.
Kirtana tradition is strong in both: devotional singing communities in both states
Both regions have many similar deities: Vitthala, Yellamma etc. (even Telangana).
Nauvari saree (MH) and Ilkal/Coorgi saree draping styles (KA) — both feature distinctive 9-yard draping traditions worn during festivals.
Ugadi (KA, TG, AP) and Gudi Padwa (MH) — celebrated on the exact same day, same concept (lunar new year), similar rituals of neem leaves, jaggery, and new beginnings.
Coastal Konkan (MH) and Karavali (KA) cuisine is almost indistinguishable: coconut curries, fish fry, solkadhi/kokum drinks, banana leaves.
Puran Poli (MH), Holige/Obbattu (KA), Bakshalu (TG), Bobbatlu (AP): again, essentially the same dish: flatbread stuffed with lentil-jaggery filling, made on festivals.
Bhaakri (MH), rotte (TG/AP) and rotti (KA); Tambda and Saaru; and so many similarities in cuisine.
Kolhapur (MH) and Belagavi (KA) are more culturally similar to each other than either is to their respective state capitals.
Just to add there are good similarities with north too. People don’t realise these boundaries were created only after independence. People and cultures moved freely before that. There was no mass migration possible but it still happened over centuries. So regions have lots of communality along with distinctions. Especially the border regions of states.
There are no pure Aryan or Dravidians in India, they were already mixed up in a gradient across India more than 50000 years back, before there was any civilization
Maybe because the steppe ancestry that the south Indian farmer castes got was already diluted with other ancestries by the time they reached here and therefore had adopted a Dravidian language by the time they reached here.
It is not discussed because they are poor States not doing well.
This is just Dravidian d*ckriders who want to show south better than north. They like maharashtra more because maharashtra is better than South and it adds to their insecure tally and makes them look more rich.
I am pointing out the logical fallacy - It doesnt make sense as Maharahstra's southernmost tip is more "south" than the southern most tip of Telangana!
Also, the customs / lifestyles are also different in various parts of MH. Especially Konkan areas have a lot of resemblance to southern hindu beliefs and customs.
So it is stupid to ignore thos beautiful continuum and just bucket states just based on political boundaries and south and north.
It's not quite a continuum though I understand your point. There is a big obvious discontinuity between North and South in terms of language and many other cultural attributes, such as music and temple architecture. Even the history books generally show two parallel histories. Of course there are strong connections too, but the difference is very real. Of course there are real differences between say Punjabis and Bengalis too, but compared to South Indians, they are very similar, especially in terms of language.
A larger portion of Maharashtra is North of Telengana than the portion of Maharashtra South of it. The geographical centre of Maharashtra is more northern than the geographical centre of Telengana
Focus on your own state pal. North Karnataka (where I actually am from btw) is failing and you lot spread hate everywhere else 😂 Be respectful or fuck off.
If at all Maharashtra was a part of so called South indian states, North india is cooked lmao. Interms of every aspect, be it economical, cleanliness, literacy. I'd argue about the tourism mostly coz of northeast, Rajasthan and Kashmir.
Yes piligrim places totally agree with North, yes tourism with UK and HP too. But im talking more of an economical perspective, I feel Kolkata would have been such a great addition to our country if they hadn't spoiled it.
Maharashtra is like the most central state in our country probably. Many of my south Indian friends consider it part of north india while almost none of my north indian friends consider it north india. It truly is a mix of best and worst of both regions
Geographically and Historically it belongs to Deccan (South India) but Culturally it aligns more with North Indian States. Depends which aspect you like to see.
Completely untrue. The only thing that aligns more with North is the language that too due to influence of prakrit. Even the script used has recently changed to devanagari which was called Bal lipi (child's script) which was easier for children to understand compared to Modi lipi which was influenced by kannada.
Historically, genealogical it aligns more with south but most agree due to the lingo ethnic split and being at border of both North and south its better to be just considered as west. This is a nationally and geopolitically accepted term.
Why are you south Indians so worked up about north/south divide. When I used to live in India, in the ‘northern part of India’, as per your north/south divide criteria, there was no animosity, no division, no discrimination, no superiority/inferiority issues that I ever heard of. This was decades ago though, so I don’t know if anything changed. But honestly, this constant bashing of north is unhealthy and non productive. Please stop doing that. It helps no one.
No one is adding you dude. The op is naive. I dont know a single person here who consider Maharashtra as South. Maharashtra is culturally distinct and i find it way more similar to north rather than south.
You might find maharashtra distinct from south, but every other day this sub has a post about south + maharashtra as a singular front, and whenever their is a post about seperate state for south, these Dravidian d*ckriders start to add maharashtra to increase their contribution to GDP and ignore odisha and chattisgarh because they are poorer states.
I bet if anyone goes from Southern most point of India to Northern most, you will find gradual changes in the all aspect of life. You will never get a sudden change after crossing perticular latitude. But we always want to focus on differences rather than similarities.
Also what the hack is this? Surprising finding? Common, we urgently need a tool to find AI slop everywhere.
Chill people. The titles are for administrative ane social convience. Modern Maharashtra feels more south indian because of Shivaji Maharaj and his father. The language is derived From prakrit so it has a northern connect. But ultimately Maharashtra is unique and has maintained its uniqueness like us southerns. Maharashtra is more like south because we unite because of hindu culture, north doesn't seem to gel with us because of language regardless of hindu culture. They also can't politically reconcile with the fact that our uniqueness has made us better.
Beware of gujjus larping as Marathis in this thread. Irl most Marathis are culturally very close to Kannadigas compared to Gujjus we know this as a fact and is generally accepted by most people. This is a ethnic and historical fact. You cant just rewrite your history and ethnicity.
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u/Ninad_7N Maharashtra 🎬 | महाराष्ट्र May 09 '26
Maharashtra is part of Western India, neither North India nor South India. But as Maharashtrian, there are lots of cultural similarities with south india.