Under the project, the temple precinct will be expanded nearly seven times. According to the Prime Minister’s Office, phase-I of the ‘Mahakal Lok’ project will help in enriching the experience of pilgrims visiting the temple by providing them with world-class modern amenities.
Here are 10 things to know about the Mahakal Lok project:
- The development project is aimed at decongesting the entire area and puts special emphasis on conservation and restoration of heritage structures.
- The existing footfall of the temple, which is currently around 1.5 crore per year, is expected to double.
- The more than 900-metre-long Mahakal Path (corridor), one of the largest corridors in the country, spreads around the old Rudrasagar Lake that has also been revived as part of the redevelopment project around the famous Mahakaleshwar Temple.
- Two majestic gateways — Nandi Dwar and Pinaki Dwar — separated by a short distance, have been erected near the starting point of the corridor, which winds its way to the temple’s entrance and offers an aesthetic view along the way.
- The Mahakal Path contains 108 stambhs (pillars) which depict Anand Tandav Swaroop (Dance form) of Lord Shiva. Many religious sculptures depicting the life of Lord Shiva are installed along the Mahakal Lok corridor.
- The mural wall along the corridor is based on Shiva Purana stories such as the Act of creation, the Birth of Ganesha, Story of Sati and Daksha among others.
- The plaza area, which is spread over 2.5 hectares, is surrounded by a lotus pond and contains the statue of Shiva along with fountains.
- The entire premise will be monitored 24×7 by Integrated Command and Control Centre with the help of artificial intelligence and surveillance cameras.
- Several domain experts who were part of the Mahakaleshwar Temple corridor project had travelled to Varanasi, Haridwar and Akshardham temples in Delhi and Ahmedabad while conceptualising its thematic design.
- The inauguration ceremony of the corridor was telecast live in 40 countries.
It was our scheme, claims Congress
Meanwhile, the opposition Congress in Madhya Pradesh has claimed the scheme for the development and extension of the famous Mahakaleshwar Temple in Ujjain was made during the Kamal Nath-led party government in 2019, but the ruling BJP has dismissed the claim.
State home minister Narottam Mishra said the proposal for the Mahakal temple development was prepared in 2017 and its detailed project report (DPR) was ready in a period of one year when Shivraj Singh Chouhan was the CM. In 2018, tenders were floated for it when Chouhan was the CM, Mishra added.
“During their (Congress) regime, it was put on the backburner and it was revived again when Chouhan came back to power in 2020 with a total project cost of Rs 856 crore. Rs 351 crore was earmarked for the first phase while Rs 310 crore is kept for the second phase,” Mishra said.
(With inputs from agencies)
