A Visit to City of Gods: Ujjain in India

The State of Madhya Pradesh in India is full of pilgrimage places and the beautiful sites seeing places all along the coast of holy River Narmada. The city of Ujjain is one of the worth visiting places due to the famous temple of Mahakaleshwar. This ancient Lord Shiva temple is one of the twelve jyotirlingam temples of India. I have visited this ancient city during last summer and had enjoyed the beauty of this ancient city of temples. Ujjain is also known as the city of gods. This city of Ujjain was called Avantipur up to twelfth century.

Ujjain is situated at the bank of holy River Shipra. The famous king Vikramaditya ruled this city of Ujjain for many years. Ujjain is well connected by air, rail, and the road. The nearest airport is Indore, which is around 36 miles away from Ujjain. Ujjain also is situated on the main railway line between Mumbai and Delhi. There are regular State Transport buses available from all the major cities of Madhya Pradesh. There are very nice hotels available here at Ujjain for the tourists like Hotel Ajay, Hotel Ashray, Hotel Shipra, and the guest house operated by the State government. We had stayed at Hotel Ajay as it is located very near to the railway station. It offers excellent three star facilities and charges around Rs.3000 ($62) per day for a nice double room.

The famous Lord Shiva temple of Mahakaleshwar is the most vital place to be visited at Ujjain. This temple is amongst one of the twelve swayambhoo jyotirlingam temples and was built in eighteenth century. The Lord Shiva lingam is in the underground room. There may be a large wait and the queue for entering inside this temple during morning and evening arti rituals. The tourists must not miss the early morning arti of ash, which is held at 4 am in the morning. This arti is performed with the ashes of the dead body, which was burnt last in the previous day evening. Only men are allowed to attend this royal arti. Hence, I was unable to view this fantastic arti during our visit to Ujjain.

The Lord Shiva Lingam at this temple is completely covered by the king Cobra made of solid silver. The continuous abhishek of the milk and water is done on the Lord Shiva Lingam with the help of silver containers placed above it. The tourists visit the shore of the River Shipra after the darshanas of Lord Mahakaleshwar. The view of River Shipra during evening hours is gorgeous and the tourists can get the mental peace and solace by relaxing for around half an hour here. The evening arti of River Shipra is also worth attending and must not be missed at any cost.

The tourists can also visit the vital places like Bade Ganeshji ka Mandir, Harsiddhi Mata temple, Kalidas Palace, caves of Lord Bhartru Hari, Kalbhairav temple, and the Lord Matsyendranath temple during their stay here. The temple of Kalbhairav is really worth seeing. The Prasad of alcoholic liquors is presented to Lord Kalbhairav at this temple and surprisingly, the liquor placed in the mouth of the statue of Lord Kalbhairav disappears inside the mouth. The temple of Harsiddhi Mata must also be visited. Harsiddhi Mata was the Kuldevi of King Vikramadditya.

The Ardh Kumbh and the Maha Kumbh fairs are also held here at Ujjain every six and the twelve years respectively. Try to avoid visiting city of Ujjain during the time of these fairs as there is a very heavy rush of pilgrims here at that time. The tourists can easily get all types of Indian food delicacies here at Ujjain. However, nonvegetarian items are strictly banned within the city limit of Ujjain. It is better to visit Ujjain during the winter months from November to March as the summer is extremely severe here. Around two days stay may be sufficent here at Ujjain to cover most of the site seeing places.

I am sure this article shall encourage many of my AC friends and readers to visit this city of gods at least once during their life. If any of my readers have any doubts or queries, they are free to contact me.