Modi to inaugurate Ujjain’s Mahakal Corridor project today

Prayers will be held at temples in all villages and cities of Madhya Pradesh coinciding with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s programme to inaugurate the first phase of the Shri Mahakal Lok corridor in Ujjain on Tuesday (October 11) evening.

A state government release said locals will gather in one temple of each village and offer prayers. Similar programmes will also be organised at big temples in every ward of the urban areas along with the grand event in Ujjain. The programme will be telecast live on LED screens at these places, it said.

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Also, devotees from each village panchayat of Ujjain and Indore divisions will reach the venue of the programme where Modi will dedicate to the nation the first phase of the Mahakal Lok corridor, the release said.

More than 60,000 people are expected to attend the programme at the Kartik Mela Ground in Ujjain, while about one lakh devotees will watch it on LED screens put up at all ghats of the Shipra river in Ujjain, it said. All the state government-managed religious places will be illuminated by lighting diyas, the release said. Cultural and devotional programmes will also be organised in all big temples of the state dedicated to Lord Shiva, including the Bandakpur temple in Damoh district and the Jatashankar temple in Chhatarpur. There will also be arrangements for bhajan (devotional songs) recitation along with bhandara (mass feast) at these places, the release said.

What’s the project all about?

The more than 900-metre-long Mahakal Lok corridor, built as one of the largest such corridors in the country, 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, an official said. Two majestic gateways – Nandi Dwar and Pinaki Dwar – separated by a short distance, have been erected near the starting point of the corridor, which winds its way to the temples entrance and offers an aesthetic view along the way, he said.

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A colonnade of 108 ornate pillars made of intricately carved sandstones, gushing fountains and a running panel of more than 50 murals depicting stories from the Shiv Puran are among the major highlights of the Mahakal Lok, the official said. The grand event is part of the ₹856 crore Mahakaleshwar Temple corridor development project. The first phase of Mahakal Lok has been developed at ₹316 crore.