Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday will inaugurate the first phase expansion and revamp of the ancient Mahakaleshwar temple in Madhya Pradesh’s Ujjain, a popular pilgrimage place, officials said.
Under the cultural revival programme, the Mahakaal corridor, which will be known as Mahakaal Lok, has been developed with a cost of ₹351 crore. The corridor provides a glimpse of sanatan dharma where 76 big idols of 18 to nine feet and about 110 small idols have been installed. A theme park have been constructed in 900 metre area to explain different mythological stories.
According to Madhya Pradesh government officials, the Prime Minister will spend three hours in Ujjain on Tuesday during the inaugural function, during which a special prayer will be conducted by 200 saints and priests.
The officials said that around 700 artists from six different states will perform and special focus would be on performance of tribal artists from Jharkhand who will present ‘Bhasmasur’ play in front of the PM.
MP chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said history will be created on October 11 when Mahakal Lok will be inaugurated and asked all residents of the state to celebrate the inauguration by lighting of diyas at their homes.
Under the Mahakaleshwar temple development plan, the area of the temple is being expanded by eight times in two phases. The entire project will cost ₹800 crore. “Mahakal Lok has been constructed with 15,000 tonne stones from Rajasthan,” said Ujjain collector Ashish Singh.
“A 384-meter-long murals wall has been built in Mahakal Lok. There are a total of 81 murals across the campus. The walls have 25 different stories of Lord Shiva. Research was done to build murals. Before making the mythological scriptures and murals, the temple committee, priest, cultural committee and experts approved every design,” Singh said.
Giving more details, Singh said there are 108 pillars at the Nandi gate, which is at the entrance of the temple. Each pillar has a different posture of Nataraja form of Lord Shiva. Shiva gatha (Lord Shiva story) has been engraved on the 25 feet high wall, he added.
Apart from murals and idols, he said the major change is a cleaner Rudrasagar, which had turned into a drain. Sewage from about 12,000 houses were getting discharged into the lake without any treatment. “Now, sewage is being treated and a separate pipeline has been built to bring fresh water for the lake from Kshipra river,” he said.
A Mahakaal forest was also developed where special plants from Hyderabad and other plants having religious importance including Shami, Belpatra, Neem, Peepal, Rudraksh and Banyan tree have been planted.