Mahakaleshwar Jyotirlinga

Mahākāla is the lord of Ujjain, the ancient Ujjayinī or Avantī, on the Shipra river in the Malwa region of Madhya Pradesh. The city is one of the seven sacred cities of Hindu tradition and one of the four places where the Kumbh gathering is held.

In the Śiva Purāṇa, a pious brāhmaṇa of Avantī and his four sons spent their days worshipping a liṅga made of earth. A demon named Dūṣaṇa, made strong by a boon from Brahmā, attacked the city and ordered an end to all Vedic worship. The brothers were not shaken and went on with their pūjā. When the demon rushed at them, the ground beside the liṅga split open and Śiva rose from it as Mahākāla, destroying Dūṣaṇa and his army with a single roar. The devotees asked him to stay and guard them, and he did. The Purāṇa goes on to tell of King Candrasena of Ujjain and a cowherd boy whose simple worship of a stone won the same grace.

Among the twelve, this liṅga is known for facing south (dakṣiṇāmukhī), the direction associated with death, which fits the name Mahākāla, “the Great Time” who is beyond time. The temple is famous for the Bhasma Āratī performed before dawn, in which the liṅga is adorned with sacred ash. On an upper level is the shrine of Nāgacandreśvara, opened to pilgrims only on Nāga Pañcamī. The present building dates largely from the eighteenth century, when the Marathas rebuilt it.