Mahakaleshwar , Lord Shiva's temple is situated in ancient Ujjain city . It is one among the 12 Jyothirlingas ; the most sacred abodes of Shiva. The Shivalinga here is a swamybhu and is situated near Kshipra river.
As per Shiva Purana once Brahma and Vishnu had an argument to find who among them was the supreme one. Lord Shiva in order to test them, became a column of light and asked them to find the beginning and end of the light. Vishnu gave up as he could not see end of the column of light and he conceded defeat but Brahma lied and Shiva was furious with Him. Shiva cursed Brahma that He won't be worshipped on earth but Vishnu would be worshipped till the end of all Yugas.
The temple of Mahakal attracts huge crowd and one can find long lines of devotees waiting to catch a glimpse of God. The Bhasmarti worship is very famous here which is conducted every morning at 4 am. The aarti rituals are spectacular which goes on for about 2 hours and devotees can book tickets online for the same. Bhasmarti is adorning Mahakaleshwar with ash followed by Alankara and worshipping with Maha aarti. Do watch the You tube video in the link by Health Vatika to understand and get a feel of the aarti.
Electronic gadgets and bags are not allowed inside the temple. Temple administration has made locker facilities for safe keep of the belongings of devotees.
Check here my earlier posts on Jyothirlings temples of Ramanathaswamy - Rameshwaram
No photos to share on Mahakaleshwar temple.
Thank you for the nice post
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