The plan was to visit a few more temples in the morning. There is a temple called the “Kaal Bhairav” temple where the deity is offered liquor. Rituraj decided that he just had to offer liquor to this great God. So we went there, bought a small bottle of liquor, which along with other offerings is sold right outside the temple and dutifully offered it to the deity. The priest poured the liquor in a plate and placed it against the open lips of the deity who seemed to hungrily gulp it down. We were told that the deity has been “drinking” for hundreds of years and no one seems to know where the countless gallons of liquor has gone!!! Rituraj was mighty thrilled with the liquor drinking deity and promptly proclaimed that he shall worship this deity by imbibing some liquor every evening (which he is dutifully doing too).
Ujjain also has a temple dedicated to “Mangal” (Mars), as it is supposed to have been the birth place of the planet. It is said that this is the only place where people born “Manglik” can get rid of the ill effects caused by the angry planet. We wondered as to why Aishwarya Rai did not offer prayers here rather than getting married to a tree before her actual marriage to Abhishek!!! Or maybe she did. These stars can do crazy things!
Lord Krishna is also associated with Ujjain. He is supposed to have studied along with Sudama at the Ashram of Guru Sandipani. Ujjain also has a solar observatory like Delhi’s Jantar Mantar built by Sawai Jai Singh and is still functional.
To cut a long story short Ujjain is a historical and holy city and in case someone is religiously inclined, he can spend quite some time just visiting the various temples and earn eternal salvation. Ujjain is most famous, however, due to its association with Shiva – the Destroyer. For a detailed discourse on Shiva seek a prior appointment with Rituraj (charges shall apply).
Temple trotting was over by 10:00 hrs and by now our stomachs were angrily growling in protest, so we went to the city and had a hearty breakfast of Chhole Bhature. This was in an area called “Freeganj”. During the Sepoy Mutiny of 1857 Rani Laxmibai of Jhansi had appealed to the Scindias of Gwalior (yes the very same) for help against the British. However, the Scindias had demurred, aligned as they were with the British. Consequently, in the immediate aftermath, they were shunned by the Indians. Apparently, the capital of the Sindhias used to be Ujjain before being shifted to Gwalior later on. The then Maharaja had built a huge clock tower in Ujjain, but the stigma was strong and it was ignored. In order to make the clock tower the centre of attraction and to remove the stigma the Maharaja offered land to all and sundry free of cost around the tower. That is how “Freeganj” came into existence!! Today, however, it is one of the most sought after localities of Ujjain. The 150 year old munificence has turned the present generation into multi-millionaires.
Fortified by this amusing anecdote and the hot and tasty Chhole Bhature, the road to Bhopal beckoned.
Ujjain to Bhopal (23rd March, 2010)
Route
Ujjain – Dewas – Ashta – Sehore – Bhopal
We finally left Ujjain at 11:00 hrs for the approximately 200 Kms journey to Bhopal. Apprehensive of the road conditions we mentally prepared ourselves for another arduous journey with a disastrous lunch thrown in.
However, the road was amazing. Despite being only a State Highway it was four laned and as good as the best four lane National Highways. And there was practically no traffic. The drive, therefore, was a breeze. And the surprise did not end with the road either. Near a small hamlet called Dodi we found a lovely Motel (Highway Retreat) run by the MP Tourism. Unfortunately we were not hungry as yet, but we stopped and had a quick cup of tea.
Nugget of wisdom : While planning a drive do not be enamoured only with national highways. Take local advice. It is worth much more than the effort.
The road continued to beat all expectations and we were in the IPS Officers’ Mess, Bhopal by 14:30 hrs notwithstanding the mandatory one hour search!!
Bhopal is famous for its mosques, old palaces, havelis, the Nawabs (Nawab Pataudi and his son Saif Ali Khan belong to Bhopal) and the two huge lakes located bang within the city. We were now going to behave like avid tourists and so by 17:00 we were on the streets of Bhopal soaking in the sights. Our guide was a talkative police inspector who took us to some really vantage points, and we could view the lakes and the city in all its evening splendour.
Bhopal also has the distinction of having the largest mosque in Asia (and the third largest in the world) which can seat 1,16,000 people at a time. We did visit the Mosque called Taj-ul-Masajid (it is actually called Masajid rather than Masjid) but did not go really within the building fearing objections to a jeans clad Jenny being seen in a Mosque!! The crowning glory of our sight seeing was from atop a hillock, where a Birla Mandir (Birlas have constructed temples all over the country) is situated. No we did not go to the temple but could see the lights of Bhopal from this vantage point. This is a must see for anyone who ever visits Bhopal.
It was 20:00 by now and the tourist in us was quite satiated by the sights. Our stomachs were to be satiated soon hereafter. Rishi Shukla and his genial wife hosted us to a wholesome Chinese dinner as we finalised plans to visit Sanchi in the morning.
Back in the Officers’ Mess we saw a beautifully lit up temple across the lake, its reflection shimmering in the still waters. The photographer in Rituraj was awakened immediately. However, the results of this nocturnal adventure are not very promising, partly because he is not a great photographer anyway and partly due to the effects of rum sloshing in his stomach!!!
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