THE HOLY TOWN OF UJJAIN



 

Located around fifty five km faraway from Indore, Ujjain is one of the India’s holiest cities. Famed for temples, it's far thronged by pilgrims every year who also take ritual baths at the ghats at the Shipra River. It is revered through fans of Shiva, Vaishanavism and Shakti. 

An important city from the days of the Maghada kingdoms and Mauryan Empire, Ujjain turned into plundered by Iltutmish of Delhi Sultanate who destroyed the temples. The town turned into revived by the Marathas with a few of the temples rebuilt by means of the Scindias of Gwalior. Also check: Hotel in Ujjain near Railway Station

Start your tour at the Mahakaleshwar Mandir, set on a peak above the river. The temple soars over its crowded surroundings with a huge saffron-painted sanctuary tower. The temple is entered through marble courtyards, with water tanks and fountains, leading to the main shrine which has one of the one among India’s twelve jyotrilingas. 

It is taken into consideration to be one of the maximum effective Shivalingas by way of Tantric followers. From right here, take the road to the Rudra Sagar tank and the Harsiddhi Mandir, erected by using the Marathas inside the eighteenth century. The temple functions Marathi lamp towers and the sanctuary has pics of Mahalakshmi, Annapurna and Saraswati. 

From right here, you may preserve to Chattri Chowk and Gopal Mandir, erected by way of Scindia queens in the early nineteenth century with Moghul domes, moorish arches and a Hindu sanctuary tower. The sanctum has silver doors which are stated to had been rescued from looters in Lahore by way of the Scindia rulers main to the shrine room with marble, silver and mother-of-pearl decorations. 

The major deity Gopal or Ganesh is shown together together with his mother and father, Shiva and Parvati. Another essential temple is the Chintaman/Ganesh Temple. There are rankings of Hindu shrines along the banks of the river Shipra.

Apart from the temples, the major appeal of Ujjain is the observatory constructed in 1725, called the Vedha Shala. Though smaller than the Jantar Mantars of Delhi and Jaipur, the Vedha Shala is unique in being nonetheless utilized by the astronomers – the instruments, called yantras, are used to formulate charts predicting the positions of the planets.