Ujjayinī, also called Avantī and Avantikā (modern Ujjain), is one of the seven sacred moksha-purīs (cities that give liberation) of Bhārata. It stands on the banks of the Kshiprā river, also written Śiprā, in the Malwa region. It is the home of the Mahākāla Śivaliṅga, also called Mahākāleśvara.

The sacred city

Ujjayinī lies on the eastern bank of the Kshiprā. It is one of the great centres of the worship of Bhagavān Śiva in Bhārata. Its centre is the Mahākāla jyotirliṅga, one of the twelve jyotirliṅgas and the only one in the madhyadeśa (the central regions). The city is ancient. The Purāṇas and the Mahābhārata praise it.

In the Brahmoṭṭara Khaṇḍa’s teaching on Pradosha, the city is the seat of a king who follows dharma, and his devotion draws the direct protection of Bhagavān Śiva.

The Nārada Mahāpurāṇa, in its Uttarārdha, Chapter 78, calls Avantikā uniquely powerful in granting liberation at death, second only to Kāśī. Avantikā was the site of the famous astronomy centre, and the prime meridian of traditional Indian astronomy passed through Ujjain. In later tradition it was the city of King Vikramāditya. Through the age of the Purāṇas it was a centre of Śaiva worship.

The river Kshiprā

The Kshiprā, also written Śiprā, is the sacred river on whose banks Ujjayinī stands. Its waters are described as purifying. In the Candrasena narrative, Śrīkara worships a stone on the bank of the Kshiprā. The Kshiprā is central to the Simhastha Kumbha Melā, one of the four great Kumbha Melā sites.

Mahākāleśvara Jyotirliṅga

Mahākāleśvara is one of the twelve Jyotirliṅgas. These are the self-manifested liṅgas of Bhagavān Śiva that appeared at certain places as pillars of endless light, without beginning or end. The name Mahākāla means “the Great Time” or “the Great Death”. It is Bhagavān Śiva in the form that goes beyond time and rules it. Worship of Mahākāla destroys the fear of death and gives liberation. Bhagavān Śiva is the presiding deva here, as Mahākāleśvara, the master of time and death.

The Nārada Mahāpurāṇa gives this origin. Bhagavān Śiva appeared here as a blazing pillar of cosmic fire when his devotees prayed to him. They were besieged by the forces of adharma (the opposite of dharma). In some versions the asura Dūshaṇa is named. Bhagavān Śiva appeared as Mahākāla and destroyed these forces. Then he made his home at this spot for ever as a liṅga.

Liberation at Avantikā

The Uttarārdha says that whoever dies in Avantikā is freed from all bondage of karma and reaches Śiva-loka or Vishṇu-loka. This is the same teaching of mukti (liberation) at death that is given for Kāśī. After Kāśī, Avantikā is the most prominent city to carry it.

Those who bathe in the Śiprā, have darśana (sight) of Mahākāleśvara and keep the prescribed rites receive:

freedom from all stored pāpa (sin)
freedom from punarbhava (rebirth)
the fruit of a thousand Aśvamedha yajñas for one circumambulation of the kshetra

Avantikā among the seven moksha-purīs

Avantikā is traditionally listed among the seven cities (saptapurīs) whose very name destroys pāpa and gives liberation. They are Ayodhyā, Mathurā, Māyā (Haridvāra), Kāśī, Kāñcī, Avantikā and Dvārakā. The Uttarārdha’s account of Avantikā confirms this standing and adds to it by linking it to the permanent presence of the Mahākāleśvara liṅga.

The Candrasena narrative

In the Skanda Mahāpurāṇa, Candrasena is the king of Ujjayinī. He owned the Cintāmaṇi, the wish-fulfilling gem, which he had from Maṇibhadra, the chief of the Yakshas. The gem made Ujjayinī bright and rich. The neighbouring kings envied it, joined together and besieged the city.

At this time of danger King Candrasena worshipped Bhagavān Śiva with a sincere heart at the Pradosha hour, the twilight of Trayodaśī. The light of the Cintāmaṇi lit the temple.

A young cowherd boy named Śrīkara watched this worship from far off. It moved him deeply. He went to the bank of the Kshiprā and began to worship a stone as a Śivaliṅga. He was wholly absorbed and sincere, and he stayed in worship all night.

Bhagavān Śiva answered Śrīkara’s simple devotion by sending his gaṇas to guard Ujjayinī. The enemy armies were put to flight without a battle, and the city was saved.

Hanumān’s prophecy

The narrative ends at Ujjayinī with the coming of Hanumān and his prophecy. In the eighth generation from Śrīkara the cowherd, Kṛshṇa, the full avatāra of Bhagavān Vishṇu, would be born. This prophecy was spoken at Ujjayinī within a Pradosha story.

The origin of Mahākāleśvara in the Koṭi Rudra Saṃhitā

The Koṭi Rudra Saṃhitā of the Śiva Purāṇa gives the whole origin of Mahākāleśvara in two chapters.

Chapter 16: the Dūshaṇāsura narrative

The asura Dūshaṇāsura terrorised Avantī. He broke up all Vedic practice and imprisoned the community of brahmins. Four brahmin sons, Devapriya, Priyamedha, Sukṛta and Dharmavāhi, kept up their daily worship of the pārthiva liṅga (a liṅga made of earth), though Dūshaṇāsura threatened them. When the asura came forward to destroy both the worshippers and the liṅga, Bhagavān Śiva burst out of the pārthiva liṅga as the fearful Mahākāla and destroyed Dūshaṇāsura. The four brothers asked Bhagavān Śiva to stay in Avantī for ever. In this way the Mahākāleśvara Jyotirliṅga was established.

Chapter 17: the Candrasena and Gopabālaka narrative

A second narrative from Avantī shows the grace of Bhagavān Śiva toward simple devotion that no one taught. The cowherd boy Śrīkara was moved by watching King Candrasena’s pūjā. He took up an ordinary stone and began to worship it as Bhagavān Śiva, wholly absorbed. His mother threw the stone away and dragged him home. Śrīkara fell into grief, as if parted from Bhagavān Śiva himself. The next morning he woke and found that his stone had become a true Śivaliṅga, with a divine temple around it. Bhagavān Śiva had answered the child’s simple, natural worship. This narrative also tells of Hanumān present as a witness, and of the prophecy of Kṛshṇa’s birth in Śrīkara’s eighth generation.

Sources

Skanda Mahāpurāṇa, Brahma Khaṇḍa, Dharmāraṇya Khaṇḍa, Uttarārdha, Chapter 5 (the Brahmoṭṭara Khaṇḍa’s Pradosha teaching)
Nārada Mahāpurāṇa, Uttarārdha, Chapter 78
Śiva Purāṇa, Koṭi Rudra Saṃhitā, Chapters 16–17