MP: Six new idols of 'Saptarishis' to be installed at Mahakal Lok post August 15

Ujjain (MP): Six new idols of "Saptarishis" will be installed at the Mahakal Lok corridor, developed on the Mahakaleshwar temple premises in Madhya Pradesh’s Ujjain city, between August 15 and 20, an official said on Monday.

Six out of seven idols of "Saptarishis" (seven sages) collapsed due to gusty winds in the city on May 28. The 10-feet idols were not located inside the Mahakaleshwar temple, but in the Mahakal Lok corridor developed around it.

“Six idols made of fibre-reinforced plastic (FRP) are being readied in Mumbai and they will reach Ujjain before Independence Day. They will be installed in Mahakal Lok between August 15 and 20,” Ujjain collector Kumar Purshottam told PTI.

A team has visited Mumbai where the idols are being carved. The contractor and supplier have been asked to send best quality idols, he said.

According to sources, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan had asked the authorities to get new idols installed, instead of repairing the ones that were damaged in the collapse.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had inaugurated the first phase of the Mahakal Lok corridor project in October last year.

The total cost of the Mahakal Lok project is Rs 856 crore with the first phase costing Rs 351 crore.

The corridor, said to be one of the longest in the country, traverses the old Rudrasagar lake which has been revived as part of the redevelopment project around the Mahakaleshwar temple, one of the 12 'jyotirlingas' in the country.

Measuring more than 900 metres in length, the corridor has around 108 aesthetically ornate pillars made of intricately-carved sandstones that depict the Anand Tandav Swaroop (a form of dance of Lord Shiva), 200 statues and murals of Lord Shiva and goddess Shakti.