The story of the Mahakal temple being built, demolished and rebuilt: Demolished by Muslim rulers; Built by the king of Dhar, the princely state of Scindia

The Mahakal temple of Ujjain is the only south-facing Jyotirlinga among the 12 Jyotirlingas across the country. The temple looks as it is today, it was not so in the olden times. After demolishing the temple of Ghazni’s general in the 11th century and Iltutmish, the ruler of Delhi in the 13th century, it was rebuilt by many kings.

Let us inform that on October 11, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is coming to Ujjain to inaugurate ‘Mahakal Lok’. He will dedicate it to the nation. After this the Mahakal Lok will be opened to the public. With the expansion of Mahakal, the area of ​​the temple will increase from 2.8 to 47 hectares. This is a 9 times bigger project than Kashi Vishwanath Corridor.

Do you know when the Mahakal temple expanded?

The temple is before the Dwapar era
Culture and archaeologist Bhagwati Lal Rajpurohit told that the temple was attacked and destroyed by Muslim rulers, then many dynasties got it rebuilt. According to mythology, the Mahakal temple was established before the Dwapara Yuga. When Lord Krishna came to Ujjain to receive education, he sang the Mahakal stotra. Goswami Tulsi Das has also mentioned the Mahakal temple. The Mahakal festival took place in the sixth century during the time of the Buddha king Chandrapradyota. This means Mahakal festival was celebrated during that time also. It was mentioned by Ban Bhatt in the inscription.

Raja Bhoj built
A detailed description of the Mahakal temple is found in the 7th century Kadambini of Baan Bhatta. In the 11th century, Raja Bhoj built many temples, including the Mahakal temple. He had raised the peak of the Mahakal temple further.

When and when the Mahakal temple was attacked?
If we look back in history, Ujjain was ruled by the Yavanas from 1107 to 1728 AD. During his reign, an attempt was made to break and destroy the ancient religious traditions and beliefs of Hindus for 4500 years. The temple was damaged by the general of Ghazni in the 11th century. After this, in 1234, the ruler of Delhi, Iltutmish, attacked the Mahakal temple and massacred here. He also destroyed the temple. The Muslim historian himself has mentioned this in his book. King Depaldev of Dhar went out to stop the attack. Before they could reach Ujjain, Iltutmish destroyed the temple. After this Depaldev got the temple rebuilt.

…when the blood of King Scindia boils
Maratha kings invaded Malwa and established their suzerainty on 22 November 1728. After this the lost glory of Ujjain returned again. From 1731 to 1809, this city remained the capital of Malwa. Two important events took place in Ujjain during the reign of the Marathas. The first of these – Mahakaleshwar Jyotirlinga was re-established. Second- Arrangements were made for bathing in the Simhastha festival of Kumbh Mela on the banks of river Shipra.

The temple was rebuilt by Maharaja Ranoji Scindia, the founder of the Scindia dynasty of Gwalior. Later, on his inspiration, the Simhastha Samagam was also re-started here. According to historians, the Jyotirlinga of Mahakal was worshiped in the ruins of the temple for about 500 years. When Ranoji Scindia, the then Subedar of Gwalior-Malwa and the founder of the Scindia dynasty, set out for the expansion of the Maratha Empire, on his way to the conquest of Bengal, he stopped at Ujjain, seeing the plight of the Mahakal temple, his blood boiled. He ordered his officers and the merchants of Ujjain here that a grand temple should be built for Mahakal Maharaj till his return from the Bengal conquest.

Rajmata Vijayaraje Scindia has written in her autobiography ‘Rajpath Se Lokpath Par’ that when Ranoji reached back to Ujjain after fulfilling his resolve, he worshiped Mahakal in the newly built temple. After this, Rano ji also started the Simhastha event, which was closed for 500 years.

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Maharajadhiraj Mahakal, who lived in water samadhi for 500 years
In that dark age of the history of India, Sultan Iltutmish of Delhi had demolished the Mahakal temple during the invasion of Ujjain. At that time the priests hid the Mahakal Jyotirlinga in the pool. After this Aurangzeb had a mosque built on the ruins of the temple. Ranoji Scindia had demolished that mosque before the temple was rebuilt and the Jyotirlinga was re-consecrated.

Tomb of the founder of Scindia dynasty is built in Shujalpur
Ranoji died in Shujalpur while returning from a victory yatra after the Bengal conquest and the re-establishment of the Mahakal temple and the resumption of the Simhastha. His tomb was erected there. His kirtigatha on Samadhi was also engraved in Marathi. The tomb of Ranoji Scindia still exists in Shujalpur.

Ranoji died in Shujalpur. Here is his tomb.