Maharashtra (Marathi: महाराष्ट्र mahārāṣṭra, IPA: [məharaːʂʈrə] (help·info), translation: Great Nation) is India's third largest state in area and second largest in population after Uttar Pradesh. It is bordered by the states of Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Goa and the Union territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli. The Arabian Sea makes up the state's western coast. Mumbai, India's most populous city, is the capital of Maharashtra. Mumbai is a cosmopolitan city, and serves as the financial and entertainment capital of the country.

Maharashtra was known as Rashtra in the Rig Veda^{{needs citation},} Rashtrik in Ashoka's inscriptions, and Maha rashtra afterwards, as attested by Hiuen-Tsang and other travellers. The name appears to have been derived from Maharashtri, in an old form of Prakrit, an ancient Indian language. However, there are other theories put forward by different schools of thought. One possible derivation is believed to be the corruption of the term Maha Kantara, which means "Great Forest".^[2]

Source: www.wikipedia.org