Ujjain- Mahakaleshwar ( Jyotirling)

Of the 12 jyotrilings in India, there are 2 in Madhya Pradesh, at Ujjain and Omkareshwar. I decided to visit both of them along with my parents. The date fixed was 30/12/08 till 01/01/09. I booked 4 tickets ( Ravindra Mishra/Parul Mishra/Sushila /Chotelal Mishra) in Avantika on 29th Dec 08. Daksh was also very excited although he was just 1 year and 11 months old. After finishing my office work, I left office early on 29th at 5.30 p.m. and by 6.02 p.m. was at home. After taking bath, since everyone else was ready, I immediately changed and we left at 6.15 p.m. The departure time of Avantika was 7.40 p.m. from Borivali. By 7.00 p.m. we were at Borivali station, well in time as there was no major traffic on the WE highway. We boarded the train and since it was an over- night journey, we had carried enough clothes since it was quite cold at night. The next day morning (30th Dec 08) by 7. 25 a.m. we reached Ujjain station. There were number of tourists alighting at this station. As we stepped on the station, I felt the freshness in the air, along with the cold breeze, which was quite enjoyable. The station was clean as I had thought and was not surrounded by coolies who actually harass passengers. After washing our face with the tap water on the station which was quite cold, I asked one of the station vendors of the way to MAHAKALESHWAR. Sine I had already done the booking of YATRI NIWAS—M.P. Tourism promoted hotel, we had to first check-in to the hotel. The vendor told us that the mahakaleshwar was to the west of Ujjain station, roughly around 2.00 k.m., whereas Yatri Niwas was on the east of Ujjain station and was around 05.00 k.m. As we stepped out of the station on the east side, there is an auto-rickshaw stand, after negotiation he agreed to carry us to Yatri Niwas for INR 50.00. The rickshaws in Ujjain carry 4 persons, and I seated myself next to the auto- driver. On the way to Yatri niwas, I could see most of the shops were closed, since it was just 7.40 a.m., however I could see small places selling TEA, POHA which were already opened and were surrounded by locals drinking tea. In 15-20 minutes we arrived at Yatri Niwas which was at Nana-Kheda bus stand, and on the way was GAIL guest house. I could find SBI ATM nearby Yatri niwas. The property was decent one away from the centre of the city and had a garden for children’s, a restaurant for dinner, lunch. We had to wait at the reception since the rooms had to be cleaned up as was taken up for some marriage functions earlier. We had to wait for almost 30.00 mns and finally by 9.05 a.m. we could check-in to the hotel. Our room was on the 1st Floor, bearing number 202 and 203. The room was ok with a front room having a TV (with cable connection), bedroom, a balcony and a bathroom with geyser facility. There is electricity cut from 7.00 a.m. to 10.00 a.m. on a daily basis as informed by the receptionist. In front of Yatri niwas there is a tea vendor and walking for another 1-2 mns one can find roadside shops selling pohas, samsoas, tea etc. We booked a TOYOTA QUALIS for INR 600.00 to visit all the religious places in and around Ujjain. Alternatively on can bargain with the auto-drivers for INR 300.00-350.00 for all the places. Madhya Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation (MPTDC) also arranges for DARSHAN to 15 religious places for INR 60.00 / person by bus. The timings are as under:
Shipra Residency (MPTDC-property) close to Ujjain station on the east side:
7.15 A.M. --- From Shipra
7.30 -7.45 A.M. ---From Ujjain Station
8.00 -8.30 A.M. ---From Mahakal Mandir
2.00 P.M. --- From Shipra
2.15 P.M. ---From Ujjain Station
3.00 P.M. ---From Mahakal Mandir
The government of MP also runs bus services for Ujjain darshan for INR 37.00 and the timings are as:
Devas Gate bus stand:
8.00 a.m. / 2.00 p.m. and 7.00 p.m.
Mahakal Booking:
8.30 a.m. / 2.30 p.m. and 7.15 p.m.
Next day (30st Dec 08) we started at 10.30 a.m. and our first stop was Mahakaleshwar temple (jyotriling) and it took us 2-2.30 hours to complete the darshan. There one can find pujari asking for rudra-abhisekh from INR 500.00 to 15000.00.In addition to the main temple there are other 10-15 temples within the same premise which can be visited. There one can buy prasads for INR 25.00/ packet and 25.00/ packet for ladoo packet. Outside the temple one can find small vendors selling shivlings, bangles, sindoors and photos of gods. The next stop was Bada Ganpati which was having big idol of lord Ganesha and was very close to Mahakaleshwar. The next place was Harsiddhi temple and was quite exhilarating and the next visit was Chipra River. The river was having water and one can take bath over here, and as such there is no temple over here. On the way there was a Chardham temple which was closed by the time we had reached and the temple is closed after 12.00 p.m. The next stop was Bhurtari caves which was away from the city. The place was quite calm, quiet and worth a visit since it has caves basically caves 1and 2 and this was the place where it is said Raja Bhurtari used to pray and meditate. Kindly avoid taking elderly person since the way inside the caves is somewhat difficult and narrow. One can find vendors selling butter-milk for INR 5.00 and is worth drinking. The next stop was GADH-KALIKA and after this we proceeded to Kal- Bhairav, a unique experience since people offer alcohol to God and it’s believed that Kal Bhairav actually drinks the alcohol offered. I myself saw the priest offering the alcohol and Kal Bhairav was drinking the alcohol. Outside the temple one can find vendors selling Brinjal which can be offered to Monkeys for INR 5.00. The next stop was Sidhwath mandir and after this was Mangalnath temple and finally we arrived at Sandipni Ashram. Thus we completed all the places and finally we reached the city at around 5.10 p.m. We were asked to take the lunch at PAVITR BHOJNALAY, and the thali cost was INR 30.00 which consists of 2 vegetables, 1 dal, kadi, chapattis and rice. The food was simple and good without too much oil. Papad is charged and is not offered free. Just near this bhojnalay one can reach the CHATRI CHOUK, one of the main markets of Ujjain and has shops of utensils, novelty, saree shops, and hardware stores. One can find all the desired items in this market along with an ATM of Bank of India. On the other side of this is SAHI MASJID and just behind this is Shri Dwarkidesh Gopal Mandir. On the way towards Char dham is jawahar marg which has shops on both sides of gold ornaments and just beside is patri bazaar selling utensils. On this road one can find SBI/Axis ATM, however one has to take an auto since it is far off and the final stop of CHAR DHAM was worth the visit. This temple has 7-8 jhankis and one would love visiting the place. We then took an auto and reached the hotel by 9.00 p.m. One can take dinner at yatri niwas and the rate is nominal with vegetables costing INR 50.00 and total food cost would be around INR 200.00 for 2 vegetable, 6 chappati, and rice.
We could not visit the shani temple which was outside the city limit and an auto would take INR 80.00 for round trip to shani temple from yatri niwas. The distance would be around 3-4 k.m. There is also an ISKCON temple on the road ahead of yatri niwas and could be visited if time permits.
Thus came the journey of Mahakaleshwar to an end, however would remain in my mind for ever for the peace one gets over here. We left yatri hotel next day (31st Dec 08) at 9.00 a.m. morning and arrived at the Ujjain station to catch the intercity to reach Indore for our next journey to Omkareshwar. The station on the west side has Canara and Dena ATM.
Few hotel names one can try:
· Hotel Chandragupta---0734-2557012
· Hotel Shrinath---0734-2526376
· Vikram Lodging—In front of Ujjain station
· Adarsh Gupta Lodging—In front of Ujjain station
· Hotel Kalpvruksh---0734-2563054

Key-Take aways: Start the darshan at around 9-9.30 a.m., look for stay around mahakaleshwar and one may go without earlier booking since it’s easy to find accommodation for INR 400-500/ day.