BharatSangraha

Marathwada · Deccan Inland Plateau

Terrain and eco-zones

Semi-arid to dry sub-humid, and defined by what the Sahyadri takes out of the monsoon before it arrives. Rainfall runs from roughly 600–700 mm in the western uplands of Beed and Dharashiv up to 950–1,000 mm at Nanded in the east, because the eastern districts pick up more of the Bay of Bengal arm. The number matters less than its variability — the long-term average is workable and the year-to-year spread is not.

Landforms

Deccan trap basalt flows, stepped and flat-topped, at 400–700 mRegur — the black cotton soil weathered from the trap, high in clay, moisture-retentive, and it cracksThe Ajanta range along the northern rim, carrying the Tapi–Godavari watershedThe Balaghat ridge through Beed and Dharashiv, dividing Godavari from Manjra and Bhima drainageMurum — the shallow, gravelly weathered-trap horizon on the scarps, where only jowar and pulses go in

Rivers and waters

Godavari — the region's axis, dammed at Paithan to form the Nathsagar reservoirPainganga — the northern and eastern boundary river, and the line where Marathwadi speech gives way to VarhadiManjra — rises in the Balaghat, loops out through the southern uplands and returns to the GodavariPurna, Dudhna and Sindphana — the Godavari's northern feeders through Jalna and ParbhaniTerna and Benithora in the south, draining towards the Manjra

Through the year

SeasonMonthsTypicalWhat it is like
WinterNovember–February10–30 °CThe hurda season. Jowar reaches the tender-green stage in December and January, and the ears are roasted in the field. Every pilgrimage and wedding falls in this window.
SummerMarch–early June25–44 °CHot and very dry. Village kitchens shift to ambil, buttermilk and thecha; the Kesar mango comes in from the Jalna and Beed orchards from the second week of May.
Monsoonmid-June–September22–33 °CArrives around the third week of June and is decided by two or three specific weeks. A dry spell at flowering costs the whole kharif, which is why the region's agrarian history reads the way it does.
Post-monsoonOctober18–33 °CRabi sowing on stored soil moisture; the clearest light of the year for the caves.

Best time to visitNovember to February for Ellora, Ajanta and the Godavari towns. Late June to September if the point is to see the Ajanta gorge with water in it, though the light inside the caves is worse. May if the point is Kesar mangoes.

The climate, landforms, rivers and seasons of Marathwada, and the best time of year to visit. (4)