Unplanned trips are the best , because planned trips never happens.
This quote is totally resembles to our one day trip of Ujjain and Omkareshwar Jyotirlinga!!
After the 2 successful failures of planning of Ujjain and Omkareshwar we almost loose the hope to plan our trip again.
Once our Former prime minister Dr Manmohan Singh jee, who while addressing the assembly in 1991 economic budget quoted that,
"No power on the earth can stop an idea whose time has come"
Same is happen with us, the idea and his time was came and no one had power to stop that ....haha.
Jokes apart, on the 18th of Sept. At afternoon we have decided to plan our trip. Since the destinations are fixed initially, we directly approach to the vehicle. All arrangements were made up to 8pm in the evening and we decided to leave the Shirpur around 11pm on the same day. Everything happens according to plan. And we leave for Ujjain around 11pm. And the rest is history!!!!
Now the question is Why Ujjain n Omkareshwar.
Since we all are thinking from couple of days to plan something for trip. All having different opinions. But we all are intersect at one point. Called Ujjain. Due to the wide fan following of deity Shiva everyone is attracted towards them.
I had read so many articles/threads/books/documentaries about the Jyotirlingas about Deity Shiva. And they always fascinates me. I feel more and more curious about Ujjain Jyotirlinga of Lord Shiva. I finally decided to visit this temple. We all discuss with each other and finally fix these destinations for our 1 day trip.
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| Lingam of Mahakaleshwar at Ujjain (Self orignated from land) |
Ujjain is located 55 KM from Indore in the Malwa region of the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. Ancient temples form an integral part of this city and continue its tradition of greatness. Desecrated time and again by Muslim invaders, the structures that stand today are of a more recent date, renovated or rebuilt over the years.
This ancient city is situated on the eastern bank of the sacred river Kshipra (or Shipra), the site of the grand Hindu spiritual festival – the Simhastha Kumbh Mela, which takes place once in twelve years in the Hindu calendar month of Chaitra (March–April). A celebration of faith in divinity and spiritual awakening which sees millions of devotees, including saints and monks across the country taking a dip in the holy Kshipra, the only river that travels straight from South to North. It is believed that by bathing in this river, one is blessed with divine energy. Offering prayers to the city’s presiding deity – Lord Shiva, meditation, attending discourses and sermons, reciting scriptures, chanting of hymns from holy books, serving the monks and the poor, observing fasts and practising spiritual discipline assume importance during the time period spanning from Chaitra Poornima (Full Moon in March-April) to Vaishakh Poornima (Full Moon in April-May). Ram Ghat is where millions of pilgrims gather during this event. The aarti here is renowned and the ghat is known to be the oldest bathing ghat in Ujjain. Devotees visit the Ram Ghat all year round for the ritual bath to wash away their sins.
Ujjain is an important place for major religious activities and is mentioned in ancient Hindu scriptures. It is one of Sapta Puris, the seven most revered pilgrimage centres of India, and home to the famous Mahakaleshwar Temple (also known as Mahakal), which enshrines one of the twelve Jyotirlingas (the sacred abodes of Lord Shiva). Moreover, it is situated on the line of Tropic of Cancer, and has greater importance compared to other holy cities of India because of its unique geographical position for calculation of time.
Ancient scholars considered Ujjain as the prime meridian (or zero longitude). The tilting of earth at an angle of 23.5 degrees on its axis and the line of Tropic of Cancer has a special cosmic influence, making Ujjain an ideal place for time calculation and creation of Panchang (Hindu calendar). Thus, this city situated on the intersection of the Tropic of Cancer and the meridian is also known as ‘Greenwich of India’. ‘Time’ in Sanskrit is called ‘kal’. Hence Shiva is worshipped as Mahakal, the God of Time.
According to legend, Lord Mahakaleshwar’s idol is situated at the intersection point of the tropic of cancer and the meridian, and it is in the centre of the Earth.
Indian astro-sciences regard Ujjain as central reference point. It has been the main centre of astrology since ancient times. The day used by ancient Indian astronomers began at sunrise at the prime meridian of Ujjain. The ancient Hindu book on astronomy, Surya Siddhanta, which postulated a spherical earth, long before the western world did, explained the prime meridian as passing through Avanti, the ancient name for Ujjain.
The origins of the Mahakaleshwar Temple are not known but earliest references to the Mahakal date back to the 6th century BC. The temple structure was built by different ruling kings. It was renovated in 11th century AD by the ruler of Paramar dynasty. During 1234-35 AD, Sultan Iltutmish of Delhi attacked Ujjain and knocked down the temple. Over the centuries, the temple faced destruction, reconstruction and renovation. In the 19th century, the last ruling dynasty of the region, the Scindias, took over the temple’s restoration work. In 1948, the princely state of the Scindias merged with Independent India.
The present five-level temple, situated near the Rudra Sagar lake, was reconstructed in 18th century AD. It is a mix of the Paramara, Chalukya and Maratha styles of architecture. The underground level houses the garbhagriha (sanctum sanctorum). The presiding deity, Shiva in the lingam form, is believed to be swayambhu, deriving currents of power from within itself as against the other images and lingams that are ritually established and invested with mantra-shakti. Mahakaleshwar’s idol is said to be dakshinamurti, i.e. facing the south. This is a distinctive characteristic endorsed by tantric traditions, visible only at this jyotirling. (Among other 11) Within the temple complex, there is a kunda (reservoir), which is considered holy.
The most important and unique pooja at Mahakaleshwar temple is the Bhasma Aarti, which takes place at 4 AM every day. At this ceremony, bhasm (ash) brought from the crematorium is applied on the lingam of Lord Mahakaleshwar. It is nature’s law that for every death, there is a new birth. So at this jyotirling, Mahakal is the Lord of Earth and Lord of Death as well. The lingam is bathed ritually and worshipped with different kinds of offerings special to the Lord, including bhaang (prepared with leaves and flowers of Cannabis plant).
On Mahashivaratri (the Great Night of Shiva), a major festival celebrated in honour of the god Shiva in February/March, a huge fair is held near the temple, and worship goes on through the night. This is all about what I hear what I read and what I saw (in documentaries) about the temple.
We reach Ujjain around 3:45am on 19th of Sept. We planned our trip in such way that we can't miss the famous Bhasma Aarti which is held at every morning on 4:00am. We get ready by taking a cold water shower around 4:15am and leave for the temple. When we reach towards the entrance of temple the queue of around 1.5km is ahead of us and we're join them at the end of last man standing in the queue. Within four to five minutes we feel that the queue is again lengthens by 2 km.
This only shows the craze of Mahakal of Ujjain. It takes us around one and half hour to get entry into the Sanctum Santorum (गर्भगृह) of temple.
The view inside the Sanctum Santorum was purely eye-catching. It reminds me that whatever I hear, whatever I read and whatever I saw everything is meets the reality. I saw the Jyotirlinga from very close angle. It was purely a blissful. It gives an eternal peace to my soul.
We leave the Sanctum Santorum immediately after offering our prayers. We came outside of temple. There were many sadhu baba's are around the temple which are quite attractive for tourist like us. The atmosphere around the temple is totally holy and pure. It was eternally seren and solace experience for me. The another thing I noticed about the temple is that, the flag which is tied at the top of temple is always flowing in air whether there is air or not in the atmosphere.
After Darshan we spend around 2 hours at this holy site, then we took a glimpse of remaining temples in Ujjain like, famous Kal-bhairav, Bada Ganesh Mandir etc.
Finally after visiting these destinations we leave for our next destinations which is Omkareshwar Jyotirlinga.
I will never ever forget the experience of Mahakaleshwar Jyotirlinga in my lifetime.
A soul-stirring and mystical vacation await you at this pristine temple and if you are seeking solace then you this is the place to be at!
Below, some are the glimpse from our Ujjain visit.
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| At Bhasma Aarti Quque |
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| Night Aarti at bank of Kshipra, Ujjain |
I highly recommend you to visit this pilgrimage site once in a lifetime and plan it in such way that you never miss to attend Bhasma Aarti.
--Jay Mahakal--
Adios then,
Until next time..
-Gaurav💕
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