The Proteas will be aiming to end a 15-match drought in India when the two-match series starts at the iconic venue of Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Friday.
The last time the visitors won a game in the longest format in India was in 2010, while they have suffered seven defeats in their last nine Tests in the country with one draw.
Temba Bavuma's charges, however, have arrived in India as the World Test Champions and will have taken plenty of confidence after playing to a 1-1 draw in the most recent series in Pakistan.
Maharaj told reporters: "It's probably one of the toughest tours, if not the toughest tour in the Proteas calendar through various generations that have come.
"There's a real hunger and desire within the camp to obviously beat India in India.
"As a unit, we feel like it's one of our biggest tests. Whenever someone needs to put their hand up, it's shared amongst the group wholeheartedly.
"It will be a wonderful opportunity to grade ourselves, to see how far we've come. Slowly but surely, we started to conquer other parts of the subcontinent.
"And I feel like this is one assignment that we really, really want to take."
The pitches in India usually offers plenty of spin, especially when a South African team is in town, but Maharaj feels the home side might opt for a more traditional surface in the two matches.
The left-arm spinner is not expecting a raging turner from the first day and has backed the Proteas to continue to do the business that has seem them achieve recent success.
Maharaj added: "I think if you watched a bit of the West Indies series, now that India played against West Indies at home, it was good wickets that went, you know, almost to day four and five.
"I do believe that the sort of narrative is changing in terms of getting wickets. So, maybe the conditions are felt that we play on good cricket wickets and let the game deteriorate as it goes on.
"But, in regards to us, I think there's a real preciseness about how we've gone about our business throughout this cycle so far, and in the previous cycle in the sub.
"Just focusing on those things and focusing on the skills that we do really well as a unit. I think partnerships have been a big one for us, whether it be bowling or batting partnerships, it's important."
Proteas captain Temba Bavuma spent valuable time in the middle ahead of the Test series in India after scoring a fifty in South Africa A's record run-chase against India A in Bengaluru.
The Proteas suffered a calamitous batting collapse as Pakistan claimed a seven-wicket win in the third and final ODI in Faisalabad on Saturday and with it a 2-1 series victory.
Quinton de Kock produced a batting masterclass as South Africa crushed Pakistan by eight wickets in the second ODI in Faisalabad, chasing down 270 with nearly 10 overs to spare to level the three-match series 1-1.
The Proteas fought to the bitter end but ultimately fell to a two-wicket defeat with two balls to spare against Pakistan in the first ODI in Faisalabad on Tuesday.
