Ujjain ke Mahakaal

Have you ever felt the pull of something deeper, something you cannot explain?

It was in December that I realised the calling for a religious trip after being constantly exposed to Mahakaal reels on Insta :P

I asked two of my friends who also seemed to be interested in this. Mahakaal is one of the 12 Jyotirlingas in India. Jyotirlingas are considered the most pious temples of Lord Shiva.

The best way to visit Mahakaal, Ujjain, is to station at Indore - from where it's around a one-hour drive. The point of making Indore as the base was also to facilitate easy visits to Omkareshwar (0.5) and Mamleshwar (0.5), which together constitute 1 Jyotirlinga. So, in this trip, our target was to complete the darshan of 2 Jyotirlingas.

Our booking for flights was pretty expensive, so we decided to make Indore as the base. Return flights from Bangalore to Indore were around 16k, maybe normal for the said route but felt pretty expensive to me.

Disclaimer: Before I start, I want to confess this was a very privileged trip due to some contacts my friend had at all these places (well, cannot disclose it, but just trust me haha).

Day-1:

We had booked a late-night flight from Bangalore (the cheapest available option) and landed around 10 pm in Indore. We had a driver waiting for us who took us to the hotel - Shreemaya (one of the best in Indore). We were very tired, so we just had dinner and went to sleep, as tomorrow we had to go to Ujjain for the most important moment of the trip: Mahakaal Darshan.

Day-2:

We left for Ujjain around 10; it does not take more than 1 hour to reach. The first thing we did was visit the Kaal Bhairav temple. He is known as the guardian of Ujjain, and you need to take his blessings to enter the city and partake in pilgrimages.

The offering made to the god is "ALCOHOL." Yes, you read that right. Outside the temple premises is literally an alcohol shop from where devotees purchase "daaru" as the prasad to be offered to the god. The variety varies from basic desi daru of 100 Rs to even 10,000 Rs whiskey. It's up to the devotee what kind of daaru they want to take home, and then the bottle is selected.

Due to the special treatment we were getting, we were directly escorted to the Garbh Griha of the temple. (Other devotees had to settle for darshan happening from a little far off.)

There, the panditji took the 3 bottles of daaru from us that we had bought and poured some alcohol onto a plate from each bottle. He then held this plate near the mouth of Kaal Bhairav lord, and we stared in awe when we witnessed for ourselves how the alcohol poured in the plate seemed to be sipped by the idol, it just evaporated from the plate. It was like real magic!!

I'm sure there will be some science behind it but the hype for this totally seemed worth it. The darshan was very good.

Kaal bhairav garbh grah

From here, we left for the Mangal Mandir, which is one of the most important temples for Mangal Bhagwan. People frequent here to get rid of the infamous 'Mangal dosh'. Here also, we had a quick darshan. The first floor of the temple was covered with mini hawans where people from far off had come to get freed from Mangal Dosh.

Mangal mandir

From there, we went to the famous "Ram ghat" along the banks of the Shipra River. This is where the evening arati happens (kind of similar to the Ganga arati). Unfortunately, the timing of this arati coincides with the evening Shringaar arati of Mahakaal. So, we decided to spend some time along the ghats and then move to the most anticipated moment of the trip - visiting the Mahakaal Mahadev Mandir of Ujjain.

One of the Saptarishi

On reaching the temple premises, we were in awe after seeing the newly constructed "Mahakaal corridor." This was inaugurated by Mr. Narendra Modi in October 2022. The corridor is adorned with statues/sculptures of prominent figures from Hindu mythology: Saptarishi, Ravana lifting the Kailash Parvat, Shiva consuming the 'vish' erupting from Samudra Manthan, Tripurantaka, and much more.

(Btw, are y’all interested in individual stories of these sculptures? Happy to do a separate piece around that :)

Before entering the temple, I had to throw a tantrum, insisting that I wanted to wear the traditional dhoti! Luckily, we found a store nearby, and I bought a red dhoti which the shopkeeper helped me drape then and there.

After this, we were directly taken to the Nandi Grah of the temple. Just to give a perspective: the closest you can get to any Mahadev temple is the Garbh Grah, where the idol or Shiva linga is kept. Next is the area where Nandi is seated (called the Nandi Grah), beyond which there is one more barricade where most devotees take darshan from.

Due to the special arrangement that we had, we were directly taken to the Nandi Grah (which is the closest anyone can go in the current circumstances; entry to the Garbh Grah is currently suspended).

                Nandi Grah of Ujjain Mahakaal

We had reached just in time for the arati to begin, and it did in a few minutes. I cannot describe in words the atmosphere that is created during the arati. It is magical; you are sent into a trance, with the crowd clapping, chanting, the sounds of drums, the pandit’s chanting mantras, the flame rotating, and the beautiful decoration of the Shiv ling. All this culminating is an experience that is superior to most I have had in life.

Another interesting fact about Mahakaal is that it is decorated daily with 'BHANG' in a different look, all of which are very beautiful.

After this once-in-a-lifetime experience, we headed back to Indore and enjoyed at the famous "Chhappan Dukaan".

Chhappan Dukaan is a historically constructed line of shops (originally 56 in number, but later several shops occupied more than one shop area-wise, so the actual number is quite less now).

I liked the overall vibe that they have created here. Not sure if that was the scene because it was Saturday night, but they had subtle Hindi songs playing on the speaker, and many people had gathered around the place. They had tons of offerings in food, from local Indore delicacies to Chinese food, and the weather was very good.

Day-3:

This was planned for visiting Omkareshwar and Mamleshwar jyotirlings. I made it a point even today to wear the traditional dhoti (i kinda started linking it tbh :P).

I wore it under my t-shirt so the total exposure was limited.

Similar to Ujjain, we left in the morning and reached Omkareshwar around 1 pm. Had lunch and headed straight for the darshan.

Omkareshwar gets its name from the fact that it is situated on an island around which the Narmada river makes a shape loosely resembling ॐ.

There is also an interesting story regarding the Garbh Grah of this temple. On the entrance of it, there is a 'Jhula' which is decorated every night after the 'shayan pooja' (after which the doors of the Garbh Grah are closed). And when the pandit opens the door the next morning, all the decorations appear to be out of place, indicating that someone had been there overnight. It is believed that Shankar and Parvati visit and play here at night, giving it a supremely auspicious status.

Separated by a bridge over the other bank of the Narmada is the Mamleshwar Shiv Ling. This also has a very interesting story. Once there was an argument between Brahma and Vishnu regarding who is more superior. The argument soon turned out of hand, and to settle this once and for all, Mahadev took the form of an infinite Shiv Ling and declared that Brahma should travel north to find the tip of the Shiv Ling and Vishnu to travel south to the base of the Shiv Ling. Whoever reaches their destination first will be declared as superior. Both started their respective journeys. Vishnu soon realized that this was a futile exercise and there was no way he could reach the base as this was a mighty infinite Shiv Ling. He returned and confessed that he couldn’t find the base. Brahma, on the other hand, was traveling north and found a floating ketaki flower mid-way. Brahma grabbed the flower and carried it with him to the starting point. There he declared that he found the flower on top of the Shiv Ling and he was successful in finding the top.

Shiv instantly realized that Brahma was lying and furiously cut off Brahma's 5th head, which was facing the top! (Oh yes, Brahma originally had 5 heads).

This is the place where Shiv extended into the never-ending Shiv Ling!

Such stories might not seem believable to everyone, but they are what instill devotion and faith in millions of people!

Post this we left back to Indore, it took us nearly 4 hours due to some shit traffic situation. Had dinner at the hotel itself and slept off.

Day-4:

On our last day in Indore, we had reserved for exploring locally. We started the day pretty late and headed straight to the "Khajrana Temple" of Indore. This was supposedly the favorite temple of the local friend we had. Well, it's a newly constructed temple and it is quite good. Maybe not a must-visit, but very good overall. Next, we went to the famous "Sarafa Bazaar". This bazaar comes to life after 11 pm until 2 am. This is the time when all the tasty delicacies are sold. Due to the lack of time, we went in the afternoon. There, we ate 'kachori' and 'bhutta ka kiss' at the very famous Joshi Wada. Easily the best Kachori I’ve had in my life. A must-eat in Indore.

Post this, we went to do some Namkeen shopping at 'OM Namkeen'. For all those of you who don’t know, Indore is very, very famous for Namkeen - Bhujia, Shev, Chips, Roasted masala peanuts, and so much more.

Had lunch and headed straight to the airport for boarding our flight. We also attempted visiting the Rajwada palace, but sadly it was closed owing to it being Monday :(

The overall trip was a religious marvel. I'm not saying I got any epiphany in the course of it, but it was a very energizing trip. The craze with which people worship is just mind-boggling. I'm more and more convinced of the fact that worshipping and going to religious places is like therapy; it resets your mind, gives you a new perspective, and prepares you for the future.

There was something on my mind which I wanted to pray for, and I am glad I got to do that in one of the most pious places of God Shiv.

A most recommended trip for everyone!!

You'll be witnessing the strongest power of Mahadev. 🙏🏻

Ending the blog with HAR HAR MAHADEV!!