Saiva · Madhya Pradesh
Mahakaleshwar Jyotirlinga, Ujjain
Mahakaleshwar (Jyotirlinga), the south-facing lord of time
Sani and Sade satiHealthPitru and ancestors
The temple in short
- Deity
- Mahakaleshwar (Jyotirlinga), the south-facing lord of time
- Where
- Madhya Pradesh · 23.18N 75.77E
- Usual hours
- 4 am Bhasma Aarti – 11 pm — hours change with festivals and the season; check before travelling. Were these right when you went?
- Grahas
- Sani Ketu
- Visited for
- The only dakshinamukhi Jyotirlinga, with the Bhasma Aarti before dawn. Mahakal is asked for long life and for release from untimely death; Maha Sivaratri and Nagpanchami are its days.
The sthala purana
Tradition, as it is told at the temple
The sthala purana tells of a demon who troubled the city of Avanti, and of a boy of the town who went on worshipping a clay linga through it. Sivan is said to have come out of the ground as Mahakala, ended the demon, and stayed at the request of the people.
He is Mahakala, the lord of time, and that is the reason people come here on behalf of someone facing an untimely death or a heavy period in a chart. The linga here faces south, which no other Jyotirlinga does, and south is the direction of Yama.
What is recorded
Documented history
Mahakaleshwar is one of the twelve Jyotirlingas and the only dakshinamukhi one among them. Ujjain is also one of the seven mokshapuris and one of the four cities of the Kumbh Mela, held here as the Simhastha once in twelve years.
The Bhasma Aarti, performed before dawn with ash, is the temple’s distinctive observance. It is limited in numbers and has to be booked in advance.
Ujjain matters to anyone who reads a panchangam for a second reason: the prime meridian of classical Indian astronomy ran through it, and the Vedh Shala observatory built by Jai Singh stands in the city with its instruments still in working order.
What there is to see
Description
The sanctum is below ground level and is reached by steps, so the temple is entered downward.
The Nagchandreshwar shrine on the upper floor is opened for one day in the year, at Nagpanchami, and the queue for it runs through the night.
The Kotiteertha tank is in the complex, and the Harsiddhi and Kaal Bhairav temples are a short ride away. The Vedh Shala observatory is on the other side of town.
The temple year
The days it is fullest
Maha Shivaratri is the largest day, and the month of Shravan brings the Sawari processions, when Mahakal is taken through the city on successive Mondays.
Nagpanchami opens the upper shrine. The Simhastha Kumbh, once in twelve years, is on an altogether different scale.
Getting there, and what else it is called
- Also called
- Mahakal, Ujjain Jyotirlinga, Avantika
- Reaching it
- Ujjain Junction is about 2 km from the temple. Ujjain is roughly 55 km from Indore, which has the nearest airport.
Where it is
Others within reach
Nearest first, by straight-line distance
Add what you know
Been to this temple? The things that change — whether the hours on this page were right, whether the sannidhi was open, how long the queue was on a Saturday — are exactly what no printed source keeps current, and what the next person travelling here needs.
- Were the hours right when you went?
- Is anything on this page wrong or out of date?
- A photograph of the gopuram, the tank, or the notice board
A contribution carries a name, so a reader knows whose account it came from. That is why it needs an account, and it is the only reason.
Parihaaram is traditional practice, offered for devotion and peace of mind; it is not a guaranteed cure of any condition. Temple hours change with festivals and the season, so check before travelling.