Location:
Location:In Ujjain, on the banks of Rudra Sagar Lake, Madhya Pradesh
Dedicated to: Lord Shiva
Significance: One of the twelve Jyotilingas of Shiva
HOW TO GET THERE :-
By Air : Indore- 53 Km
By Rail : The nearest railway station is Ujjain
By Road : Well connected to all cities.
Introduction:
Shri Mahakaleshwar Jyotirlinga is situated in the ancient city of Ujjain in the state of Madhya Pradesh, India. It is a very important religious place for Lord Shiva devotees. There are numerous stories associated with this Jyotirlinga in Ujjain.
The Mahakaleshwar Jyotirlinga is situated below the ground in a Garbha Griha. This Jyotirlinga is big in size and is encircled by a silver snake. On one side of the Shiv Linga there's the idol of Lord Ganesha and on the other side the idol of Parvati and Kartikeya.
History & Stories
There are numerous stories associated with this Jyotirlinga in Ujjain.
According to legend, there was a ruler of Ujjain called Chandrasen, who was a pious devotee of Lord Shiva and worshipped him all the time. One day, a farmer's boy named Shrikhar was walking on the grounds of the palace and heard the King chant the Lord's name and rushed to the temple to start praying with him. However, the guards removed him by force and sent him to the outskirts of the city near the river Kshipra. Rivals of Ujjain, primarily King Ripudaman and Kind Singhaditya of the neighboring kingdoms decided to attack the Kingdom and take over its treasures around this time. Hearing this, Shrikhar started to pray and the news spread to a priest named Vridhi. He was shocked to hear this and upon the urgent pleas of his sons, he started to pray to Lord Shiva inside the river Kshipra. The Kings chose to attack and were successful; with the help of the powerful demon Dushan, who was blessed by Lord Brahma to be invisible, they plundered the city and attacked all the devotees of Lord Shiva.
Upon hearing the pleas of His helpless devotees, Lord Shiva appeared in his Mahakal form and destroyed the enemies of King Chandrasen. Upon the request of his devotees Shrikhar and Vridhi, Lord Shiva agreed to reside in the city and become the chief deity of the Kingdom and take care of it against its enemies and to protect all His devotees
There is yet another story behind Shri Mahakaleshwar Jyotirlinga. There was once a Brahmin living in Avanti, who had four sons. All were great devotees of Lord Shiva. Dushanan, a demon was giving trouble to everybody, disturbing all good & religious activities. The Brahmins from all over the city got together with the four sons & performed pooja to Lord Shiva. The spot where they had taken mud to make the Lingam had become a huge pond. When Dushanan came to disturb their pooja, Lord Siva rose from this pond as Mahakaleshwarar & destroyed Dushanan. On the request of the Brahmins, Lord Shiva gave darshan to devotees at this place one of the Jyotirlingas
The temple
The idol of Mahakaleshwar is known to be dakshinamurti, which means that it is facing the south. This is a unique feature, upheld by the tantric shivnetra tradition to be found only in Mahakaleshwar among the 12 Jyotirlingas. The idol of Omkareshwar Mahadev is consecrated in the sanctum above the Mahakal shrine. The images of Ganesh, Parvati and Karttikeya are installed in the west, north and east of the sanctum sanctorum. To the south is the image of Nandi, the vehicle of Lord Shiva. The idol of Nagchandreshwar on the third storey is open for darshan only on the day of Nag Panchami
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