Mahashivratri celebrations: 2.1 million earthen lamps to be lit in Ujjain

Bhopal/Ujjain: As many as 2.1 million earthen lamps were expected to be lit on Mahakaleshwar Temple premises on the banks of the Kshipra river in Madhya Pradesh’s Ujjain as part of Mahashivratri celebrations on Tuesday evening. The celebrations began at the temple on Tuesday morning as devotees started visiting the temple at 3 am.

Ujjain municipal commissioner Anshul Gupta said the state government is trying to make a record of lighting the highest number of lamps to beat the record of Deepotsav at Ayodhya. “As many as 14,000 volunteers are participating in it. They have already placed the lamps,” said Gupta.

Ujjain collector Asheesh Singh said chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan will also light an earthen lamp.

The temple has been decorated with imported flowers and a special puja will begin there with the lighting of lamps at 7 pm. With the sound of a siren at Ramghat, volunteers will light the lamps in 10 minutes. A team of Guinness Book of World Records will film the event. Lamps will also be lit at different public places in the city.