This article was lying around on my blog unpublished until today, when I decided to try to publish all the unpublished work. This piece of work should have been made public long ago. But alas, who has the time these days. So I decided to make this public with some modifications.
This is a temple in Ujjain named Karkrajeshwar which I visited few years back. This place is of immense importance as the picture shows (Picture taken by me). Karkrekha (Tropic of Cancer) passes horizontally above Ujjain from this point. Over the years, things have changed but the history is worth a mention.
A little background about Ujjain: It is an ancient city (also known as Ujjayini, Avantikapuri etc) which used to be Ashoka's capital of the time. The city also comes with religious background and people continue to carry the heritage. There are temple at every corner of the block. Hence the article about this temple in outskirts of Ujjain.
Honestly, I never heard of such a place in and around Ujjain where I grew up. This temple is nothing but a forgotten infrastructure and perhaps carry more history than you and I can imagine it to. But there was not enough element of surprise for me to notice the garbage lying around like petals of flowers, on the ground filled with Desh ki mitti, which has lost it's meaning over the years for some of us or most of us. Surrounding it, is a river, the condition of which is worst than the temple itself. As far as my memory goes, there was no pavement, no secured fences and why would there be any, there was almost no trace of water.
Everyone talks about patriotism but no one is ready to take a step to make this great historical place a place which can stand up for itself and boast about its existence. I wonder and question myself, why the government or the citizens have never bothered to pay the slightest of its attention to a small structure like this. Who can tell what it takes to keep the history alive and recognizable in it's original form?
I've not been to this place in ages but I hope it is still there in the same shape if not better or worst.
