Nag Panchami Celebrations In MP's Ujjain; Temple Doors Open Only Once A Year

Ujjain (Madhya Pradesh): Over 7 lakh people had darshan of the presiding deities till 9 pm at the ancient Nagchandreshwar Temple here on Tuesday, on the Nag Panchami festival. 

On the festival, a special puja is done in Shivalayas and Nag temples. The doors of the Nagchandreshwar temple, located on the third floor of the Shri Mahakaleshwar temple in Ujjain, were opened at 12 am.

Mahant Vineet Giri of MahanirvaniAkhada performed the Trikal Puja. District Minister in-charge Gautam Tetwal and PHE minister Sampatiya Uike were also present. After the puja of Shri Nagchandreshwar’s idol, the Shivling of Shri Nagchandreshwar was worshipped before darshan was opened for general visitors. 

According to historians, this temple was built by King Bojraja of the Parmar dynasty around 1050 AD. The idol of Shri Nagchandreshwar has Shiva and Parvati on the seat of a snake with its hood spread.

While the idols of Parvati and Shri Ganesh are in a sitting posture, Lord Shiva is seen lying. The idol also has Saptamukhi Nag Devta, Nandi and a lion. Snakes are wrapped around Shiva’s neck and arms. 

It is on the top most section of Shri Mahakaleshwar temple, with the latter’s sanctum sanctorum at the bottom and the Omkareshwar temple in the second section. 

Despite the rain, there were 2 km-long queues of devotees at Gate No 4. The doors of Shri Nagchandreshwar temple are opened only once a year, for 24 hours, on Nag Panchami. As many as 200 senior officers, 2,500 employees, and 1800 police personnel were deputed and 560 CCTV cameras installed for crowd management and security. 

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Pujan was also done by the Mahanirvani Akhada at 12 midnight on Tuesday. In the evening, after the aarti of Lord Mahakal, the final puja was done by the priests and purohits. After this, the doors of the Nagchandreshwar temple were closed for another year at 12 am.

Every devotee was eager for a darshan of Lord Shri Nagchandreshwar.  Adequate arrangements of drinking water, lighting, electricity, fire brigade, and mobile toilets were made for the devotees.

Soldier faints on duty

A soldier on duty at Shri Mahakaleshwar Temple suddenly collapsed due to dizziness and was taken to the Charak Hospital. Durga (40), son of Mohanlal, a soldier of 24 Battalion of Jawra, was on duty at the exit point of Shri Mahakaleshwar Temple. At around 4 am on Tuesday, he fainted and fell. His colleagues posted there called the ambulance and took him to the hospital, where his condition was reported to be under control.