Journey 2

                                         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.