Mahakaleshwar Temple situated in Ujjain finds mentioning in ancient scriptures as one of the 12 Jyotirlingas, is situated here. Let’s find out 8 amazing facts about the temple:
- The lingam at the Mahakala, one of the 12 Jyotirlingas in India, is believed to be swayambhu (born of itself)
- Here, Lord Shiva is worshipped as Mahakaleshwar form which is the fierce form of Shiva
- The Mahakaleshwar form also finds mentioning in ShivPuran when Ujjain was called Avanti
- The shivling in the sanctum sanctorum is Dakshinamurti ( facing South)
- Bhasma aarti is the most important rituals followed in this temple which is performed at 4.00 am
- Earlier, the ash collected from funeral pyre was used for the bhasma aarti but in the present day, the bhasma is made of cow dung
- The temple is believed to be a five-storey building enjoying the presence of the Gods including Ganesh, Parvathi, Karttikeya, Nandi and Nagchandreshwar.
- The Nagchreshwar temple gets opened only on the Nag Panchami day