Mahakaleshwar Temple, Ujjain

Mahakaleshwar at Ujjain, Madhya Pradesh — ancient Avantika on the Shipra — is the third jyotirlinga, and the only one where the linga faces south: dakshinamukhi, the face of Shiva as Mahakala, Time itself, lord of death and of the city that once set India's meridian. Its daily bhasma-arati is among the most famous rites in India. Sacked in 1234–35 during Iltutmish's raid on Ujjain, the shrine was raised again in 1734 under the Marathas of the Shinde (Scindia) house — another link in the chain of rebuilders that runs through these twelve.

This page awaits its full Indopedia treatment — history from inscriptions and chronicles, period images with provenance, and the chain of builders and rebuilders, in the manner of Somnath Temple — The Shrine Eternal. To take up this temple, see Indopedia:Contribute.