Ujjain, Madhya Pradesh: Mahakal Lok corridor Vijay direction of death is believed to be the south. In fact, people worship Mahakaleshwar to prevent an untimely death. A local legend says that there once was a king called Chandrasena who ruled Ujjain and was a Shiva devotee. The Lord appeared in his Mahakal form and destroyed his enemies. Upon the request of his devotees, Shiva agreed to reside in the city and become its chief deity. The Mahakal te mple finds a mention in several ancient Indian poetic texts. In the early part of the Meghadutam (Purva Megha) composed in the 4th century, Kalidasa gives a description of the Mahakal temple. It is described as one with a stone foundation, with the ceiling on wooden pillars. There would be no shikharas or spires on the temples prior to the Gupta period. The city of Ujjain was also one of the primary centres of learning for Hindu scriptures, called Avantika in the 6th and 7th centuries BC. Later, astronomers and mathematicians such as Brahmagupta and Bhaskaracharya made Ujjain their home. Also, as per the Surya Siddhanta, one of the earliest available texts on Indian astronomy dating back to the 4th century, Ujjain is geographically situated at a spot where the zero meridian of longitude and the Tropic of Cancer intersect. In keeping with this theory, many of Ujjain temples are in some way connected to time A TO Z INDIA NOVEMBER 2022 PAGE 6