India Guide
Madhya Pradesh
Ujjain
Situated on the banks of the sacred River Shipra, UJJAIN, 55km north of Indore, is one of India's seven holiest cities. Like Haridwar, Nasik and Prayag, it plays host every twelve years to the country's largest religious gathering, the Kumbh Mela, which in 2004 drew an estimated thirty million pilgrims here to bathe; naked sadhus are among the millions jamming the waterfront, waiting to wash away several lifetimes of bad karma. Outside festival times, Ujjain is a great place for people-watching, as pilgrims and locals alike go about the daily business of puja, temple visiting and chai drinking.
Down at the ghats, women flap wet saris dry while their soapy children splash in the water, and sleepy pujaris ply their trade beneath the rows of orange- and whitewashed riverside shrines. A mini-Varanasi Ujjain is not, but nonetheless the temples rising behind the ghats are majestic at dusk, and with the ringing of bells and incense drifting around, this atmospheric place can feel timeless.
The Western Railway cuts straight through the centre of Ujjain, forming a neat divide between the spacious and affluent residential suburbs to the south and the more interesting, densely packed streets northwest of the station. Unless you spend all day wandering through the bazaar, sightseeing in Ujjain usually means treading the temple trail, with a brief foray south of the ghats to visit the Vedha Shala observatory.
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