Rani Ahilya Bai fort- Maheshwar, Madhya pradesh

Rani Ahilya Bai Holkar (1725-1795)   the queen of  Malwa kingdom established her capital at Maheshwar 84 Kms from Indore. You may wonder why I am referring to a queen in my pilgrimage  post. This great  queen is pride of our country as she constructed  and supported to restore many Hindu temples especially after they were destroyed by the invaders

Some famous temples in that prestigious list are  Puri jagannath, Omkareshwar, Badrinath, Dwarka, Rameswaram, Haridwar. Every pilgrimage Centre in India received  contribution from Ahilya Bai  in one way or the other.

Most notable was the  Kasi Viswanath  temple which she rebuilt and restored after 111 years after its destruction by Aurangzeb . The Ghats which we see on the banks of Ganges today  were also  built by Queen Ahilya Bai hence I made a post in her name; without her contribution we would have lost our precious  gems forever .

Maheshwar fort or Ahilya Bai fort

There are several shrines within the premises of Maheshwar fort dedicated to Shiva, Vishnu , Ganesha and Narmada river on whose banks the fort stands. The ghat and fort view from the river is breathtaking and magnificent. Here are a few pictures . Camera was not allowed inside the queen's residence and could get only a picture from outside ( shot 1)

                                                                      Queen's Fort 

                                                                  Rani Ahilya Bai Holkar 

                                                         shrines inside from the fort 

                                                                      Ghat of the fort 

                                                  Fort view from Narmada river side

Chintaman Ganesha Mandir -Ujjain

Chintaman Ganesha temple is the biggest Ganesha Mandir  in Ujjain which dates back to 11 th century. It is just 6-7 Kilometres  from Ujjain Mahakal temple and near Kshipra river.This temple was constructed by Parmar Kings and later renovated by Ahilya Bai Holkar

It is believed that Sri Ram worshipped the Ganesha  here.

The idol here is believed to be a self manifestation and here we find  Icchaman Ganesha, Siddhivanayak and Chintaman Ganesha in the sanctum. In local parlance Ganesha is referred to as Chintaman as He is  the remover of worries and tensions and no wonder the temple gets crowded here everyday.

Photography is banned and I have just one picture to share from my visit, a distant view of the temple.

This picture is from Google .The Ganeshas in the sanctum.