Ujjain Introduction:-
A city that is one of the oldest in India. Where time starts and ends. Which is mentioned in literatures and all major Indian scriptures. Today let me take you to Ujjain in Shravan month. It is Located on the coast of Shipra River, it’s one the seven sacred pilgrimage of India.
History of Ujjain:-
Ujjain history is so old that if you look at Indian cities, this is one of the oldest cities. Ujjain and Varanasi are two of the oldest cities in the world. If we explore a little deeper in ancient history, we find NBP (Northern Black Polished Ceramic Ware) in the excavations here, and this links Ujjain with North India. Nearby Ujjain, we have found PGW, which means Painted Grey Ware and that is also another reason that you can see the continuity of this relationship between North and Central India. So, the oldest historical reference that we get in any literature is a Buddhist text Angutara Nikaya. It mentions that out of the 16 Mahajanpadas in India, which were mainly located in North India, Central India and West India, one of them was Avantika and it’s capital was Ujjain or Ujjaini. We already know that in 600 BCE Ujjain was already a big city and a flourishing urban centre. Apart from that we get references to Ujjain in many Hindu texts like in the Purana, Mahabharata & Ramayana. It is quite clear that Ujjain has always been a very important religious centre and also an important centre of literature, art and trade.
The great king of India, Ashoka, has a deep connection with Ujjain. After Ashoka’s Mauryan Empire, there was the Shunga Empire than the Gupta Empire. During the Gupta Era, they had two capitals. Their first main capital was Pataliputra, which is Patna, the second capital was Ujjain. Ujjain’s greatest king is Vikramaditya who had nine gems in his court, one them was Kalidas. There’s a deep connection between them and we’ll discuss this later. In 7th century, Chinese Buddhist monk, visited reign of King Harsha and also came to Ujjain and he also wrote a lot about this city. From 13th century, the dark ages of Ujjain started. This is the time when Delhi Sultanate attacked Ujjain and destroyed many temples. In 18th century, Ujjain become a part of Maratha Empire. And most of the buildings, structures and temple you see here were built in the same period.
Shri Kala Bhairav Temple:-
We are starting our Ujjain exploration from this temple. This temple is actually, in a way, the second most important temple in Ujjain after the Mahakaleshwar Temple. Kala Bhairav is the protector of Ujjain so many believe that one has to come here first. And then visit Mahakaleshwar temple after taking permission from Kala Bhairav. Another interesting tradition is to follow tantric practices, here as it’s a tantra temple. And there are five tantric offering made to the god. These five offerings are the five ‘Ms’. These are alcohol, meat, fish, money and sexual intercourse MADH, MAAS, MEEN, MUDRA, MAITHUN.
People also believe that when a priest offers alcohol to God, God accepts it and it disappears.
The city of Mahakaal:-
Ujjain is the city of Mahakaal. You can go to any corner of India. The Mahakaleshwar Temple is one of the Jyotirlinga’s of India. This is a swambhu Shivling which means it is made by itself it’s not made by a sculptor. The Shivling here is a dakshinamurti. It means it is facing south which is not seen in the 12 Jyotirlinga’s.
Who is Mahakaal
Mahakaal is a form of Shiva and what is the speciality of this form? Mahakal is made up of two words. Maha means great and Kaal means time or death. Mahakaal is the one who is beyond time and death. Mahakaal is Shiva himself and that’s why he’s also called Mahakaleshwar.
History of Mahakaal:-
There is no proof of how old this temple is, but perhaps Mahakaal has been worshipped here for 2000 years. It is also mentioned in the great poet Kalidas Meghdootam and from his description, it is known that at the that time the temple didn’t have a spire. The temple in which we worship today was built by Maratha General Ranoji Shinde in 1734.
Ticket:- ticket price 250 RS Gate No. 1
Online Booking:- shrimahakaleshwar.com/bhasmarti
And free Darshan available.
Attend Bhasma Aarti in the month of Shravan is an experience of a lifetime.
Mahakaal Lok:-
Mahakaal Lok is located next to Rudra-Sagar Lake and this corridor that takes you to Mahakaleshwar Temple. Shiva has been made in many forms here and I would recommend coming here in the evening. This place looks very beautiful after the light are on. It is not allowed to take DSLRS or mirror-less cameras here, but you can take as many photos as you want with your mobile.
There are 84 special Mahadev temples and they are all numbered from 1 to 84. You’ll see this number outside when you visit the temple.
Shri Gautameshwar Mahadev Temple:-
This is the temple of Gautameshwar Mahadev on the banks of Shipra River.
Shri Doordeshwar Mahadev Temple:-
This is one of the four protectors of Mahakal in Jethal. These are spread in four different directions like guards. One can get rid of curses here at this temple.
Triveni:-
There is a statue of Lord Shiva but there’s no Nandi here. The statue of Lord Nandi is near Mahakaal temple. There’s distance of 3-4 km between Shiva’s statue and his Nandi.
ISKCON Temple:-
You can go in evening time. Very beautiful places it will be feeling ‘magical’ .
Shri Chaubis Khamba Mata Temple:-
This place used to be the main gate Mahakaleshwar Temple back in the days.
Zero Meridian:-
It is an arbitrary line, which goes from North to South, from North Hemisphere to South Hemisphere, or from South to North. And this line is considered the beginning of time. The Prime Meridian that we use today is called IERS, Reference Meridian and it is based on the Greenwich time meridian.
But in ancient time, it was not like this. In ancient time, there are many reference that there is a line from Ujjain which is considered the zero meridian here . It is also mentioned in the Surya Siddhanata written between 4th to 5th CE. Some people believe that Surya Siddhanta is much older and people knew about it long before that, and we know that the history of Ujjain starts at-least from 600 BCE. Maybe this has been zero meridian in India for a very long time-way be for 2500 years, which is insane. We don’t just get the reference of Ujjain being the Zero prime meridian in Indian literature. A very famous Greek philosopher, mathematician, scientist, Ptolemy also mentions how Zero meridian passes through Ujjain. North to South, East to West than middle point call zero point.
- VEDIC CLOCK
- BHITTI YANTRA
- DIGANSHA YANTRA
- NADI VALYA YANTRA
Siddhi Mata Temple:-
This temple is at walking distance from Mahakaleshwar temple and it is one of the 51 Shakti Peethas. It is also believed that all your wishes get fulfilled here. 0:27:42.960,1193:02:47.295
It’s a beautiful temple, especially for evening prayers so you can plan to go there next.
Most popular Temple list:-
Madan mohan temple:-
Kark Rajeshwar Temple:-
Harsiddhi Mata Temple
Mangalnath Temple:-
Shipra River:-
Shipra river starts from a hill in Vindhyan mountain, Kakri-Tekri and then it meets Chambal river near Rajasthan border. Geographically it’s a unique river as it flows from south to North which is rare in the Indian subcontinent. Every 12 years Kumbh Mela is celebrated on Shipra river. It’s a big festival in Ujjian and the next Kumbh Mela was in 2008. It’s also believed that taking a dip in the river can rid you of your sins and you can attain moksha.
Ram Ghat:-
It’s believed that Shri Ram immersed his father Dashrath’s ashes here and that’s how it got the name. Either you come in the morning, after the early morning sunrise, or you come in the evening.
Dharmraj Chitragupta Temple:-
People who are suffering from physical ailments come here and light lamps. It is believed that by lighting a lamp, you will either get rid of your suffering or you will get salvation. Don’t forget to attend Shipra aarti in the evening.
Sandipani Ashram:-
You can find painted grey were artifacts and PGW era here which links it to North India, which is quite amazing. If you look at PGW, you can see a lot of it around Mathura. But this place is very famous today because it is believed that Shri Krishna and his friend Sudama came here to study. Here, of course, there is a school like space, a learning centre, a temple.
Guru Akhara:-
Ujjain Guru Akhara is an example of this where even today the special teacher student relationship is maintained.
