Mahakaleshwar

- The Mahakal Temple, one of the twelve Jyotirlingas, is a famous Shiva temple.
- It derives its name from "kaal" meaning end of life – death;
- Mahakal means Lord of Death.

Kapal Mochan
- Once, lord Shiva arrived at Mahakal forest with a skull in his hand.
- All the trees and vegetation were delighted to find him in their midst.
- They requested lord Shiva to remain their forever.

- Lord Shiva told them that it was not possible for him to stay there forever but on being
requested once again agreed to stay there for at least a year.

- After one year, when the time for departure came he released the skull from his hand as a
memorial.

Performance of Yajna
- When lord Brahma came to know of this incident, he instructed all the deities to reach
Mahakal forest without wasting any time
- so that a grand yagya could be performed at the
place where Shiva had left the skull.

- All the deities went to the said place and worshipped Lord Shiva by employing the rituals of
Pashupat vrata, which Lord Brahma had taught them.

Shiva’s protection
- Lord Shiva became pleased by their devotion and said–' Perhaps you all are not aware that
there was a specific objective behind my act of releasing the skull from my hand.

- This act of mine was done to protect your lives but it seems you are unaware of its
significance.

- Deities were amazed by Shiva's statements and were wondering what Shiva was trying to
convey.
- So, they requested Shiva to unravel the mystery so that they could understand what he meant
to say.

Shiva’s revelation
- Lord Shiva told them-' The followers of Maya were planning to kill you while you were busy
doing penance but no one of you was aware of their evil motive.
- I came to know about this in my deep state of meditation and dropped the skull from my
hand.
- As soon as the skull touched the ground a thunderous sound was made as the result of which
all the demons were killed instantaneously.'

- All the deities thanked Lord Shiva for protecting their lives.
- In course of time this particular place became famous as Kapalmochan and is presently
situated in Ujjain.

The Origin of Mahakaleshwar – Shiva puran

- There used to live a brahmin Vedapriya at Avantikapuri.
- He was a great devotee of lord Shiva
- He would make shivalinga & would worship daily by chanting mantras.
- This brahmin had four sons whose names were Devapriya, Medhapriya, Sukrit and
Dharmabahu.

- By the blessings of lord Shiva the brahmin enjoyed a very happy and contented life.
- After his death, the brahmin's son continued the tradition of Shiva's worship.

Demon Dushan
- There was a mountain named Ratnamala on which a demon named Dushan used to live.
- Being intoxicated by the boons received from Lord Brahma, he used to torment all the people.
- He had all the surrounding area under his control except the house in which the brahmin
family lived.

- Dushan ordered his fellow demons to bring the brahmin after capturing them.
- All the demons went to Avantikapuri and created havoc.
- They went to the brahmins and told them about Dushan's order.
- The brahmins were busy chanting mantras at that time so they did not give ear to their words.
The brahmins continued with their chanting.

- The demon became very angry and tried to attack them.

Shiva’s appearance
- Suddenly the earth cracked with a tremendous sound and lord Shiva manifested from within
the cracks.
- He shouted > I am mahakala, and destroy all of you demons.
- He killed all the demons.

- He then went to the Ratnamala mountain and killed Dushan.

- As the Sun destroys darkness, so mahakala destroyed all demons.
- Demigods showerd flowers and played drums.

- He again returned to the brahmins and expressed his desire of fulfilling their wishes.

- The brahmins expressed their desire of getting liberated from the bondage's of this world.
- They also requested him to remain at that place.
- Lord Shiva accepted their request and established himself in the form of Mahakala

Greatest Vaishnava
Nimna ganam yatha ganga, devanam achyuto yatha
vaisnavanam yatha sambhuh purananam idam tatha

- Just as the Ganga is the greatest of all rivers, Lord Acyuta the supreme among deities and Lord
Sambhu [Siva] the greatest of Vaisnavas, so Srimad-Bhagavatam is the greatest of all Puranas.
- Lord Siva is the greatest devotee of Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord Sri Krishna

- Lord Siva is one of the 12 mahajanas as described in Srimad-Bhagavatam (Bhagavata Purana)

Canto 6, chapter 3, verses 20-21.
svayambhur naradah sambhuh kumarah kapilo manuh
prahlado janako bhismo balir vaiyasakir vayam
dvadasaite vijanimo dharmam bhagavatam bhatah
guhyam visuddham durbodham yam jnatvamrtam asnute

- Lord Brahma, Bhagavan Narada, Lord Siva, the four Kumaras, Lord Kapila [the son of
Devahuti], Svayambhuva Manu, Prahlada Maharaja, Janaka Maharaja, Grandfather Bhisma,
Bali Maharaja, Sukadeva Gosvami and I myself know the real religious principle.

History
- There was a ruler of Ujjain called Chandrasena, who was a pious devotee of Lord Shiva and
worshiped him all the time.
- Shiva’s associate Manibhadra offered him a special gem called ‘Chintamani’ which was highly
auspicious.
- King Chandrasena accepted it gratefully and wore it on his neck as Shiva’s mercy.
- Seeing such valuable gem, other kings became envious of him.
- One day, when the King was absorbed in chanting the Lord's name and offering his prayers…
- Rivals of Ujjain, primarily King Ripudamana and King Singhaditya of the neighboring kingdoms
decided to attack the Kingdom and take over its treasures around this time.

- the news somehow reached to a priest named Vridhi.

- He was shocked to hear this and upon the urgent pleas of his sons, started to pray to Lord
Shiva at the river Kshipra.

- The enemy Kings chose to attack and they plundered the city
- They attacked all the devotees of Lord Shiva.

Appearance of Mahakala
- Upon hearing the pleas of His helpless devotees, Lord Shiva appeared in his Mahakala form
and destroyed the enemies of King Chandrasena.

- Upon the request of his devotees Vridhi, Lord Shiva agreed to reside in the city
- He become the chief deity of the Kingdom and took care of it against its enemies to protect all
His devotees.

Shiva linga
- From that day on, Lord Shiva resided in His light form as Mahakala in a Lingam that was
formed on its own from the powers of the Lord and His consort, Parvati.
- The Lord also blessed his devotees and declared that people who worshipped Him in this form
would be free from the fear of death and diseases.

Sanat Kumar Glorifies Mahakaal Teertha

- Once, Goddess Parvati requested Shiva to describe the significance of Mahakaalteerth.
- Lord Shiva replied-" Once, Sanatkumar- one of the manasputras of Lord Brahma had gone to
his father's abode, situated at a place near Meru mountain.
- Sage Vyas arrived there and asked him the same question.

- Sanatkumar had revealed to him that all kinds of sins loosed their evil influence at
Mahakaalteerth.
- Anybody, who is fortunate of leaving his mortal body at this holy-place, is freed from the
vicious cycles of birth and death.
- This place is very dear to Lord Shiva and is also called by various other names like Mahakaal-
 van and Vimukti-kshetra.

Dkashin Mukhi
- The Siva-linga in this temple is the only Jyotirlinga which faces south and hence it is known as
Dakshin mukhi or the south-facing lingam.
- Nandi is placed at south.
- Ganesh, Parvati, Kartikeya are at west, north, east.

- Lord Mahakaleshwar is the presiding deity of the city.

- A large-sized kunda known as Koti Tirtha is also found in the temple.

Koti tirtha
- This Kund was established by Hanuman a great devotee of lord Ram.
- For the coronation of Sri Ram, Hanuman went to collect all holy tirthas.
- In his travel, he stopped at Ujjain, and offered some water here also from his Kalasha.

- having bath in this Kund is similar to having bath in at many spiritual places.
- Koti tirtha means millions of tirthas

Multi Storied Temple

- The Temple is multiple storied.
- In the basement is huge deity of Mahakaleshwar,
- on the ground floor is Omkareshwar and
- on first floor is Nagachandreshwar.

- both Mahakaleshwar and Omkareshwar remains open throughout the year,

- Nagachandreshwar temple opens once only on Naga Panchami day.

- Also visit Swapneshwar Mahadev temple