Ujjain

The ancient town of Ujjain is one of the holiest cities for Hindus. It is situated on the bank of the sacred river Shipra.

Mangalnath temple, situated at the place where the first meridian is said to pass the earth; Chintaman Ganesh, the temple said to have been established by Lord Ram himself; Har Siddhi Mata, the family goddess of King Vikramaditya; and deep in the bazaar, Gopal Mandir, a Krishna temple. A popular local saying has it that even if one came with two cart loads of grain and offered only one handful at each temple one would still run short of offering.

While Mahakal is undoubtedly the presiding deity of Ujjain, the other gods of the Hindu pantheon are also well represented in the hundreds of other temples all over the town. One of the major attractions of the town is the Bhasma Aarti held every dawn at the Mahakal temple.