ABSTRACT
Location: In western India, approximately 110 miles northeast of Bombay, on the banks of the holy Godāvari River, which flows through the Deccan Plateau to the Bay of Bengal.
Description: One of the cities of the Kumbh Mela, Nāsik is a major Hindu pilgrimage site. The city has a history of continuous settlement that dates at least to the second century B.c. It now incorporates the ancient village of Pancavatī, where Rāma, protagonist of the Rāmāyana, is said to have lived for a time. A group of ancient Buddhist and Jain rock-cut monasteries and temples lies a few miles from Nāsik.
