Mahakaleshwar Jyotirlinga — considered an avatar of Lord Shiva— is one of 12 such in India.
Devotees can only use water from the Reverse Osmosis (RO) machine for the jalabhishek at the Mahakaleshwar Jyotirlinga in Ujjain, as per the norms passed by the Supreme Court on Friday for worship at the historic temple.
Devotees can avail of the water from the RO machine installed during Simhastha (religious fair). Apart from this, the apex court also has also limited milk or panchamrut (mixture of honey, liquid jaggery, milk, yoghurt and ghee) offering to 1.25 litres per devotee at the Shiv lingam, which was rebuilt in the 18th century. Currently, during the bhasma aarti (special ceremony with sacred ash), half of the lingam is covered with cloth; now the entire deity will be covered.
Mahakaleshwar Jyotirlinga — considered an avatar of Lord Shiva— is one of 12 such in India. In order to check the corrosion of the deity by pollution, moisture and extensive worshipping, SC constituted a committee of officials from the Archaeological Survey of India, the Geological Survey of India and other experts to study the rate at which the corrosion is occurring and suggest steps to curb it.
The committee submitted 24 points to preserve the deity, of which only eight were passed by the bench made up of Justices Arun Mishra and L Nageswara Rao.
New fans and dryers have been installed to dry the lingam after jalabhishek, which ends at 5 pm everyday. After that, only dry puja will be permitted. The court has also banned the practice of rubbing sugar powder on the linga. Instead, devotees will be encouraged to use khandsari (unrefined raw white sugar).
"Bilva (bel) leaves and flowers shall be offered on the upper part of the Shiv ling to avoid obstructing the natural breathing of the stone," the resolution approved by Supreme Court said. "we have entertained this petition just to preserve the lingam. It cannot be denied that good work has been done by temple management and it is appreciable that they have accepted the recommendation of the expert committee in one stroke. It is a bold step," the Bench added.
Worship norms
- 500 ml of RO water per devotee
- 1.25 ml panchamrut or milk per devotee
- Only dry puja after 5 pm
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