Time After Time

A town of innumerable legends, an ancient metropolis, venue of the Maha Kumbh, home to the great poet Kalidasato sum up thesignificance of Ujjain in a few words is perhaps impossible it was the keeper of time itself!

- Anurag Mallick & Priya Ganapathy

The greatness of Ujjain is immense on so many different planes. As per Hindu mythology, this is one of the four places where drops of nectar fell from the kumbha (pot) carried by Jatayu, sanctifying it as a holy teertha. Located on the banks of the sacred Kshipra river, Ujjain is the venue of the Maha Kumbh or Simhasth Mela that takes place once every 12 years when millions come for a ritual bath as Jupiter transits through Leo (simha). It is home to one of the 12 jyotirlingas in the country (and perhaps the most powerful), with the Mahakaleshwar temple spire looming large over town. After the killing of Kamsa, Lord Krishna is believed to have come here for his martial education.

Historically, Ujjain was one of the 16 mahajanapadas (great metropolises) in ancient India and the capital of the western province under the Mauryan rule. Ashoka served as its viceroy and his children, Mahendra and Sanghamitra, were born here. As Avantika or Ujjayini, it was the capital of legendary ruler Raja Vikramaditya whose folk tales live on in ‘Betal Pacheesi’ and ‘Singhasan Batteesi’. It was at the Gadhkalika Mandir that Kalidasa worshipped the deity of Kali and received her blessings to become India’s greatest Sanskrit poet laureate. It was another great monarch, Harsha, who renovated the shrine.

From a spiritual and religious context, Ujjain is home to various Hindu sects and akhadas. The Nath Sampradaya’s tools than (origin) is located here and Baba Matsyendranath’s samadhi is here too, as is Indian yogi Lahiri Mahasaya’s. The Harasiddhi temple where Sati’s elbow is supposed to have fallen is the hallowed centre of the Shakta cult. Ujjain is also a famed seat of