Places make people. Strange is such a place that enshrines a laser-sharp light towards a gap in between your tightly knitted psyche and just makes a space for itself - slowly one wonders how he missed it, how he missed such a gap or knew that it ever existed. It is only when an individual is fortunate enough to visit such a place - does he realise that there is more to experience than what is truly perceived within the walls of the 5 senses.
The Mahakaleshwar temple in Ujjain is a boiler pot of energy, although it seems like it is made up of walls, stone, cement etc it really is built with an abnormal sense of devotion. It felt as if thousands of individuals stretched their hearts out - made into one tool to construct this relic.
Before I present you with the history of this temple, it's important to understand that nothing inside this structure is temple-like - at least not in the traditional sense. Usually, we label one thing as holy and the other as unholy on the other hand the dust in this temple shines as the gold one adorns on his body - the remarkable scent of the walls reminded me of the hearts that yearned for Shiva in all their glory. The undevoted and commoners might look at Shiva as their god or Messiah but not these kinds - they consider Shiva as their lover, their guru and most importantly a highly competent individual whom one cannot ignore. It is easy to distance someone by imagining that they appear millions of light years away in space or heaven but the devotees of the Mahakaleshwar temple still live as if he is sitting here between them, it is their love that makes his presence vibrant.
A bulky man smeared in Ash whilst clothed in a rugged Dhoti held a huge lamp containing vast amounts of ghee and suddenly circulated it in front of the Shiv Ling in front of us. I sat recording and observing the reactions of those around me who were quite close to the Garbhagriha (sanctum sanctorum) - knowing this was an onset of a ritual 30 metres in front of me, I didn’t bother much; until something strange started happening - I could feel a gentle warmth on right side of my upper back, “Maybe it’s the crowd”, I thought to myself. The warmth started spreading, beginning from the right it gently manoeuvred itself to the left and guided itself to my lower back after which it was no longer gentle - the heat was getting intense, almost uncomfortable. At one point I started caressing my hands all over my back trying to find out the source of this heat yet it was pointless. 25 minutes after my ordeal suddenly movement settled between the centre of my back - in the past, it seemed to spread itself out until now when it concentrated itself on one spot, unable to do or say anything, I sat, watching and trying to understand what this was all about.
My eyes were fixed on the movement of the Aarti, I could sense its directions in my nerves; to my surprise, it wasn’t random. A peculiar pattern related to the sign of infinity emerged, and his movement resonated with it - the sign of infinity, “That’s it! I thought. It is this infinity that these people are praying to.” Maybe that is the function of a 'Pooja' - to give you a glimpse of the infinite within you.
Things that are often written, are born out of the mind of the writer and not out of his experiences. My experiences, unfortunately, cannot be expressed in one article therefore see you in the second part ;)
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