Maharashtra's heritage appeal centres on two UNESCO World Heritage cave complexes near Aurangabad (Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar): Ajanta and Ellora, each remarkable in different ways.
Ajanta comprises around thirty Buddhist caves carved into a horseshoe-shaped cliff, celebrated above all for their ancient mural paintings depicting the life of the Buddha — among the best-preserved ancient paintings anywhere in the world.
Ellora, by contrast, is defined by scale: thirty-four monolithic Hindu, Buddhist and Jain temples and monasteries carved directly from the rock face, including the Kailasa Temple, the largest single monolithic rock excavation on earth.
Both sites are best visited as full, separate days rather than combined into one — Ajanta requires a roughly two-hour drive each way from Aurangabad and rewards unhurried time inside the caves.
Aurangabad itself adds Bibi Ka Maqbara and Daulatabad Fort as worthwhile half-day additions, making a well-paced Maharashtra heritage stay around three to four nights based in the city.