According to the Puranas, Lord Brahma established the first temple in the Mahakaleshwar temple complex. The old coins of Ujjain dating back to 4 BC have images of Lord Shiva. Kalidas has depicted the fame of the Mahakaleshwar temple in many poems like Meghdootam..etc.
The famous temple of Mahakaleshwar Jyotirlinga is situated in the middle of the city. An ancient city situated on the eastern bank of the Shipra River, Ujjain was for most of its history the most prominent city on the Malwa Plateau of central India. It emerged as the political center of central India around 600 BCE.
With an aim to boost tourism in the holy city of Madhya Pradesh, Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurate the first phase of the Rs 850 crore Mahakaleshwar Temple Corridor Development Project.
According to the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), the first phase of the ‘Mahakal Lok’ project will help in enriching the experience of the pilgrims by providing them with world-class modern facilities.
Ancient history says that this temple was destroyed and later rebuilt by Udayaditya and Narvarman in the 11th century.
Several dynasties like Gupta, Maitraka, Chalukya, Kalachuri, Pushyabhuti, Gurjara Pratihara and Rashtrakuta have ruled Ujjain at different times. According to several poetic texts, the temple was destroyed by invaders during the Parmara period. In the later years of the eleventh century, it was renovated by Udayaditya and Naravarman. The Lingam of the Mahakaleshwar temple is swayambhu i.e. it appears in nature itself. That’s why Mahakaleshwar is called the God of Kaal. Here the lingam is facing west, it means death (death), hence the lingam is also known as Dakshinamurthy. The Jyotirlinga of Mahakaleshwar is the largest of the twelve Jyotirlingas.
Mahakaleshwar Jyotirlinga Temple is situated on the banks of Rudra Sagar Lake.
The temple complex of Mahakaleshwar consists of 40 temples around it, which were built around the 10th century. The Mahakaleshwar temple has a three-storey morphology, the first floor shows the lingam of “Mahakaleshwar”, the second floor has the lingam of “Omkareshwar”, and the third floor shows the lingam of “Nagchandeshwar”, the Nagchandeshwar lingam which is the third. Nagpanchami is specially opened.
Ujjain Mahakaleshwar Mandir Bhasma Aarti Overview
Mahakaleshwar temple is characterized by rituals especially Bhasma Aarti, in ancient days Bhasma Aarti was performed using human ash, now presently it is performed with ash made from cow dung (Veeboothi). The other feature of the Mahakaleshwar Jyotirlinga temple is that it is the only temple where Lord Shiva is seated on the throne of a ten-headed snake (serpent). Each floor of the temple is unique and special in itself.
Read in Hindi: उज्जैन के महाकालेश्वर मंदिर महादेव में 84 तीर्थों का वास है