Ujjain

Ujjain, one of Hinduism's seven sacred cities, is home to the Mahakaleshwar Temple, one of the twelve Jyotirlingas of Shiva, and hosts the Simhastha Kumbh Mela once every twelve years, drawing millions of pilgrims to bathe in the Shipra river. The city's ancient significance as a centre of astronomy is reflected in the Jantar Mantar observatory, one of several such instruments built across India in the 18th century.

Ujjain's continuous religious and cultural significance across millennia — referenced in ancient texts as a centre of learning and the location from which India's traditional meridian was once calculated — gives the city a depth of history matched by few other places in the country, even as it functions today as a fairly modest, unassuming urban centre.

Ujjain has been considered one of Hinduism's most sacred cities for well over two thousand years, historically serving as a centre of astronomy, religious scholarship and, under various dynasties, as an important political capital in central India.

Ujjain has its own railway station; Indore's airport is about 55km away.