Paithan: between nature, tradition and history
Paithan is a small town located at south of Aurangabad.
A peaceful village which was the capital of the Satavahana Empire. This empire ruled the Deccan region between the 2nd century BC and the 2nd century AD. From this glorious past, today only the Paithani sari remained, which are the richest and most renowned saris in India.
According to legends, Paithan was built by King Ila. Ila, who was the king of Bahlika, lost his way in the forest of Shiva during a hunting trip. Shiva furious with this incursion curses the king. He therefore transformed into a woman. Thanks to his prayers to Parvati, the wife of Shiva, He remained alternately man and woman each month but not remembering the events of a stage in the other. As a woman, he married Budh (Mercury, one of the nine planets the “Navagrahas”) with whom he had a son (Pururavas). Helped by her husband who prayed a lot to Shiva, Ila regained his state of man. He left Budh and Bahlika to create the city of Paithan. After him, Pururavas became the king of Paithan.
The city was so rich that it appeared in the 1st Era Greek Book of the Eritrean Sea.
It is also a village that has housed many Hindu and Sufi saints. Religious activities are still very intense there.