Around Mahakal, the Shipra, Harsiddhi, Kaal Bhairav and Sandipani

Read along

Namaste, and welcome to our fourth sitting. Let us take a breath and let the day settle for a moment.

So far in this series we have stayed close to the temple of Mahakaleshwar. We heard the Purana's stories of Avanti, we sat with the name Mahakala, and last time we stood in the dark before dawn for the Bhasma aarti. Today we step outside the temple walls. Ujjain is a city with sacred places in every direction, and a pilgrim who only sees the main temple misses much of what makes it Ujjain. We will visit four of them together: the Shipra river, the temple of Harsiddhi, the temple of Kaal Bhairav, and the ashram of the sage Sandipani.

A word before we begin. Many of the stories we will hear today are local traditions, told and retold by the people of Ujjain and by the priests of these temples. Where a story comes from a scripture we will say so. Where it is a local tradition, we will say that too. Traditions differ, even within one city, and we share them with respect for all of them.

Let us begin at the river.

The Shipra, sometimes called the Kshipra, flows past the old city. For Ujjain, this river is what the Ganga is for Kashi. Pilgrims bathe in it before going to the temple, families bring their elders here, and the great gathering of the Simhastha, which we will hear about in our last sitting, happens along its banks.

The best known stretch of the river is Ram Ghat, a set of stone steps leading down to the water. A ghat is simply a flight of riverside steps. In the early morning you will see people standing waist deep in the water, offering water to the rising sun with folded hands. In the evening, an aarti is performed to the river itself, and small lamps set on leaves drift away on the current. It is a quiet, ordinary kind of devotion, repeated every day by people who have done it all their lives.

If you go to bathe, please be careful. River currents and wet steps can be dangerous, especially for children and elders. Stay where others are bathing, hold on to the chains or rails where they are provided, and do not go deeper than you are comfortable with.

Not far from the Mahakaleshwar temple, a short walk away, is the temple of Harsiddhi, a form of the Goddess.

Many devotees count Harsiddhi among the Shakti Peethas, the places connected with the story of Sati, Shiva's wife in an earlier age, where parts of her body are said to have fallen as Shiva carried her in his grief. One tradition says that her elbow fell here. Different lists of the Shakti Peethas name different places, and scholars and devotees have long discussed them, so we mention this as a tradition that is widely held in Ujjain.

The first thing most visitors notice at Harsiddhi is the pair of tall lamp pillars standing in the courtyard. They are covered with small niches for lamps, and on certain festival nights they are lit from top to bottom, hundreds of small flames rising up into the dark. People in Ujjain wait for those nights, and many say it is a sight they never forget.

Local tradition also links Harsiddhi with the legendary King Vikramaditya of Ujjain, who is remembered as a great devotee of the Goddess. There are many stories about Vikramaditya in Ujjain, and they belong to the city's long memory. We hear them as traditions, told with love.

Now let us go a little further out of the old city, to the temple of Kaal Bhairav.

Bhairava is a fierce form of Shiva. In many Shiva towns, Bhairava is honoured as the guardian of the place. In Ujjain, local tradition calls Kaal Bhairav the kotwal of the city, its guardian and keeper of order, who watches over Ujjain on behalf of Mahakal. For this reason many pilgrims make a point of visiting Kaal Bhairav when they come to Ujjain, as part of their visit to Mahakal.

One custom here surprises many first-time visitors. At this temple, liquor is offered to Kaal Bhairav as part of the worship. This is a long-standing local practice, followed for generations. We mention it so that you are not caught unawares, and we leave its meaning to the priests of the temple and to those whose tradition it is. Visitors do not have to take part in any custom they are not comfortable with. It is enough to stand with folded hands, offer a prayer, and move on with respect.

Our last stop today is a place of learning. A little way from the centre of the city is the ashram associated with the sage Sandipani.

The Bhagavata Purana tells that after Krishna and his brother Balarama left Mathura, they went to Avantipura, which is Ujjain, to study with the sage Sandipani. The Bhagavata says they were model students, serving their teacher with humility, and that they learned the sixty-four arts in sixty-four days. When their studies were over, they asked the teacher what he would like as guru dakshina, the gift a student offers the teacher at the end of learning. The teacher and his wife asked for their son, who had been lost in the sea. The Bhagavata says Krishna and Balarama brought him back.

Later in the Bhagavata, a poor brahmin friend of Krishna comes to visit him in Dvaraka, and the two of them remember their days together at their teacher's home, gathering firewood in the forest and being caught in a storm. In popular tradition, this friend is known as Sudama, and so Ujjain is also remembered as the place where Krishna and Sudama became friends.

At the ashram today, local tradition points to several places connected with these stories. There is a small tank called Gomti Kund, and a spot called Ankpat, where, it is said, the young students washed the numbers and letters off their writing slates. These are local traditions, and they are told fondly. Even a visitor who is not sure of the details can feel something in standing at a place that people have remembered for so long as a school.

What moves many devotees here is the picture of Krishna as a student. He sits on the floor, listens to his teacher, fetches firewood, and learns patiently like any other pupil. It is a gentle reminder that learning was held in great honour in this city.

There are many more sacred places in Ujjain than we can visit in one sitting, and we will mention just two more, briefly.

On a rise above the Shipra stands the temple of Mangalnath. A local tradition, drawn from the Avanti Khanda of the Skanda Purana, holds that this is the birthplace of Mangal, the planet Mars as honoured in the tradition. It fits well with what we heard in our second sitting, about Ujjain's long connection with the study of the sky.

And there is the temple of Gadkalika, a form of the Goddess Kali. A much-loved local tradition says that the poet Kalidasa was a devotee of the Goddess here, and that his gift for poetry came through her grace. Scholars know very little for certain about Kalidasa's life, so we hold this as a story the city tells about its favourite poet. It is a story told with great warmth, and it is easy to see why Ujjain wants to keep it.

If you do visit Ujjain, give yourself time. Walk, or take a slow ride, between these places. Notice the small shrines in the lanes, the shops selling flowers and lamps, the elders sitting on the ghats. The sacred city is found in these in-between places too.

Let us gather what we heard today.

The Shipra is Ujjain's river, and Ram Ghat is where many pilgrims bathe and where the evening aarti is offered to the river. Harsiddhi is a temple of the Goddess, counted by a tradition among the Shakti Peethas, known for its tall lamp pillars. Kaal Bhairav is honoured in local tradition as the guardian of the city, with customs of its own. And the Bhagavata Purana tells that Krishna and Balarama studied with the sage Sandipani here, at the place remembered today as his ashram.

One thing to take with you. When you next visit a temple, anywhere, take a few extra minutes to walk around its neighbourhood. Greet the flower seller, sit near the water if there is water. The temple lives in the town around it.

In our last sitting, we come to the Simhastha, the Kumbh at Ujjain, and what this great gathering on the Shipra means.

Keep going

• Listen: Around Mahakal, the Shipra, Harsiddhi, Kaal Bhairav and Sandipani
• Previous: Ash before dawn, understanding the Bhasma aarti
• हिन्दी में पढ़ें
• All episodes of Ujjain: Mahakal's court