Ujjain: Mahakaleshwar Jyotirlinga temple
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A backgrounder
Divya A, Oct 11, 2022: The Indian Express
After Vishwanath temple in Varanasi and the Kedarnath shrine in Uttarakhand, Mahakal temple is the third ‘jyotirlinga’ site to see a major upliftment exercise. The Rs 800-crore Mahakal corridor is four times the size of the Kashi Vishwanath corridor, which the PM had inaugurated late last year.
Why does the Mahakal temple in Ujjain hold a high significance in Hinduism? We explain.
Puranas say that Lord Shiva pierced the world as an endless pillar of light, called the jyotirlinga. There are 12 jyotirlinga sites in India, considered a manifestation of Shiva. Besides Mahakal, these include Somnath and Nageshwar in Gujarat, Mallikarjuna in Andhra Pradesh, Omkareshwar in Madhya Pradesh, Kedarnath in Uttarakhand, Bhimashankar, Triyambakeshwar and Grishneshwar in Maharashtra, Viswanath at Varanasi, Baidyanath in Jharkhand, and Rameshwar in Tamil Nadu.
Mahakal is the only jyotirlinga facing the south, while all the other jyotirlingas face east. This is because the direction of death is believed to be the south. In fact, people worship Mahakaleshwar to prevent an untimely death.
A local legend says that there once was a king called Chandrasena who ruled Ujjain and was a Shiva devotee. The Lord appeared in his Mahakal form and destroyed his enemies. Upon the request of his devotees, Shiva agreed to reside in the city and become its chief deity.
The Mahakal temple finds a mention in several ancient Indian poetic texts. In the early part of the Meghadutam (Purva Megha) composed in the 4th century, Kalidasa gives a description of the Mahakal temple. It is described as one with a stone foundation, with the ceiling on wooden pillars. There would be no shikharas or spires on the temples prior to the Gupta period.
The city of Ujjain was also one of the primary centres of learning for Hindu scriptures, called Avantika in the 6th and 7th centuries BC. Later, astronomers and mathematicians such as Brahmagupta and Bhaskaracharya made Ujjain their home.
Also, as per the Surya Siddhanta, one of the earliest available texts on Indian astronomy dating back to the 4th century, Ujjain is geographically situated at a spot where the zero meridian of longitude and the Tropic of Cancer intersect. In keeping with this theory, many of Ujjain temples are in some way connected to time and space, and the main Shiva temple is dedicated to Mahakal, the lord of time. In the 18th century, an observatory was built here by Maharaja Jai Singh II, known as the Vedh Shala or Jantar Mantar, comprising 13 architectural instruments to measure astronomical phenomena.
It is said that during the medieval period, Islamic rulers gave donations to priests for offering prayers here. In the 13th century, the temple complex was destroyed by Turk ruler Shams-ud-din Iltutmish during his raid on Ujjain. The present five-storeyed structure was built by the Maratha general Ranoji Shinde in1734, in the Bhumija, Chalukya and Maratha styles of architecture. A century later, its marble walkways were restored by the Scindias.
Rules, practices
Apportionment of RO water
The Supreme Court gave its nod to new norms for worshipping at the ancient Mahakaleshwar Jyotirlinga temple in Ujjain city of Madhya Pradesh, including allowing only 500 ml of reverse osmosis water for the ceremony .
The apex court approved eight points of the resolution passed by the temple management committee in consonance with the recommendation of an expert committee of officials of the Archeological Survey of India and Geological Survey of India. A bench of Justices Arun Mishra and L Nageswara Rao said the recomendations of the expert committee need to be implemented to preserve the lingam (symbol of the deity). As per the new approved norms, the devotees would be permitted a fixed amount of water measuring 500ml in an appropriate small pot per person for Jalabhishek (worshipping by offering water). It said that the water for Jalabhishek shall be taken from the Reverse Osmosis (RO) machine installed during Simhastha (religious fair), 2016, for which aconnection shall be provided near the sanctum sanctorum.
The new resolution says that from now on, during the Bhasma Aarti, the lingam would be fully covered with dry cotton cloth during the prayers. Curbs were also placed for Abhishek and only up to 1.25 litres of milk or panchamrut (mixture of honey , liquid jaggery , milk, yogurt and ghee) per devotee shall be allowed. After the Jalabhishek which concludes at 5pm every day , the lingam will be cleaned and dried to minimise water content.
