What makes the exploration of places interesting? It is worth visiting new places with glimpses into history, with the insights from literature, culture, and religion. A blend of ancient and contemporary cultural values presents a colorful canvas to the explorer.
Historically, Ujjain is a very significant
place located in the west central part of Madhya Pradesh, in India, and I
wanted to see this place very much. Many times, I had come across this word
called Ujjain in the pages of history, in the context of Mythology, in the
context of Kalidas Literature, in
the context of the important play named Mrichhakatika of Shudraka. During the Mouryan period, Ujjain was a centre
place for administration, politics, religion and culture. Through the pages of history, we come to know
that the famous king Vikramaditya ruled his kingdom from Ujjain and it was a political
centre during 6 BCE. It seems early urbanization started from Ujjain
in 7
BCE.
Now some part of the city presents an ancient look with age-old architecture at
the both sides of the road. The ancient temple architecture in the city gives a
splendid look to the city. The roads are wide but very dusty. The whole city is
covered with big and small temples as shaivism, vaishnavism and shakta cults
have been followed here. The sight of people with sandalwood paste on their
foreheads is quite common in Ujjain. Since many rulers with religious bent of
mind reined their kingdoms from this place, the people of this place are very
religious, and as a result, many temples have come into existence in this place
according to one’s faith, in the following years.
The literary people
of this place are so much enamored with the literature of the famous Sanskrit poet
kalidasa that without reference to this poet they won’t spend a single day. Kalidasa’s
play Abijnanashakuntala is the first
Sanskrit play to be translated in English. From the records, it seems Kalidasa
lived during the reign of Chandragupta II, in 4 c.C
E,
and spent a part of his life in Ujjain. Some other speculations lead to that
Kalidasa lived during the reign of king Vikramaditya.
The people of Ujjain have tremendous respect for poet Kalidasa and his works,
which remain a source of inspiration for them till today. What makes these
works stand the test of time? The underlying philosophy of the work, space and
time used in a unique way, have continued to retain their charm for the upcoming
writers of Ujjain and other writers in India till today.
Mrichchhkattika,
a Sanskrit play, is written by a renowned philosopher and writer named
Shudraka, who happened to be a king and used to write in the name of Shudraka, which means a servant. Critics are of the opinion that this play reflects
the political and social cultures of the period then in Ujjain and the
play deviated from the main trend by focusing on the peasant people and
highlighting their language called Prakrit rather than the noble class and
their language. In northern India, this is a well known play and the play is made into film called Ustav, which is directed by Girish Karnad.
Women
draped in colorful saris, faces covered with sari pallu, go about their daily
errands in Ujjain. Each city has its culture and the culture of Ujjain built
over a period of time speaks volumes through architecture, literature and local
people with their faiths and living habits. In all the restaurants and small
eating joints at the road sides, Poha dish is quite common and available all
the time and is prepared in huge quantity. Sweet like Jilebi too is quite common
and one sees people enjoying it almost everyday. Poha is usually consumed with
chopped onions, fried green chilies and shevu, which is prepared from besan. The
preparation of Poha seems similar to the south Indian preparation. Each city
develops its food culture according to its geographical and climatic
conditions. Milk and curds are available in abundant quantity but people don’t consume
curds and butter milk during winter season. Sesame is used regularly in almost
all dishes. To feel a city in a true sense, one has to stay for some time and
explore the different areas and corners of the city and interact with local people
to know about its culture and significance.
There is a well known
temple called MahaKaleshwara. The lingam at Mahakala, one of the twelve
jyotiralingas in India, is self manifested and is known for its power. The architecture
of this temple is very beautiful which was reconstructed by Scindias at the
later stage. Many references have been made to this temple in Puranas and the poet
kalidasa too has referred to this temple in his works. Many pilgrims visit this
temple throughout the year. Kala Bhairava temple dedicated to Kal Bhairav, is
very beautiful and active. Sandipini Aashram is also an important place where pilgrims
desire to visit. Acharya Sandipini was teacher to lord Krisna, whose
Bhagavad-Gita is world famous.
Rama Ghat is place, which offers rich visuals of
religious rituals taking place at the bank, everyday.The beautiful old
architecture which stretches along the river bank offers a magnificent visual
and it takes one to the by-gone period.
An old palace named
Kalideh, built on the lines of Persian architecture, is in a pretty bad
depleted condition, but stands alone on the outskirts of the city but majestically
reminding of the luxurious life style enjoyed by the rulers. This palace was
built by the sultan of Mandu in the year 1458 AD. The Persian inscriptions in
the palace suggest the visits of Mogul emperors like Akbar and Jahangir. The
morning light was playing very playfully on the old structure of the palace and
on the two ponds which were right opposite to the palace, with old unused stone
structures in the middle, when we visited that place. The sight was magical.
Each city has its
history, politics, literature and culture to count on. History and literature
denote how cities have evolved gradually, within space and time.
