Countdown begins for the most awaited event in which PM Modi will inaugurate the first phase of Mahakal temple corridor project in Ujjain, Madhya Pradesh.
After Vishwanath temple in Varanasi and the Kedarnath shrine in Uttarakhand, Mahakal temple is the third ‘jyotirlinga’ site to see a major upliftment exercise. The Rs 800-crore Mahakal corridor is four times the size of the Kashi Vishwanath corridor, which the PM had inaugurated late last year.
Notably, Mahakal is the only jyotirlinga facing the south, while all the other jyotirlingas face east. This is because the direction of death is believed to be the south. In fact, people worship Mahakaleshwar to prevent an untimely death.
It is worth mentioning here that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had visited Ujjain in 2004 during the annual Kumbh to take a holy dip. During his visit, he talked about the development of Mahakaleshwar temple complex and his vision has led to creation of Mahakal Lok corridor.
Major highlights of the corridor |
- The Mahakal Lok corridor is more than 900-metre-long
- It is one of the largest such corridors in the country
- The corridor spreads around the old Rudrasagar Lake which has also been revived as part of the redevelopment project around the famous Mahakaleshwar Temple, one of the 12 ‘jyotirlingas’ in the country which attracts a large number of devotees
- Two majestic gateways — Nandi Dwar and Pinaki Dwar — separated by a short distance
- The gateways have been erected near the starting point of the corridor
- It winds its way to the temple’s entrance and offers an aesthetic view along the way
- A colonnade of 108 ornate pillars made of intricately carved sandstones, gushing fountains and a running panel of more than 50 murals
- The murals depict the stories from the ‘Shiv Puran’ are among the major highlights of the Mahakal Lok
- The grand event is part of the Rs 856 crore Mahakaleshwar Temple corridor development project
- The first phase of ‘Mahakal Lok’ has been developed at Rs 316 crore