Ujjain (Madhya Pradesh): Devotees can now donate to the Ann Kshetra (community kitchen) of Ujjain’s revered Mahakaleshwar Temple through online means.
The new facility has been introduced at the temple to ease the donation process for devotees and is expected to start from next Monday, i.e. May 4.
According to assistant administrator Simi Yadav, the Ann Kshetra runs completely on donations.
Around 9,000 devotees are served food daily in 2 shifts. To involve more devotees, the donation process is being shifted online.
How to donate?
Devotees can donate through the official website of the temple: https://www.shrimahakaleshwar.mp.gov.in. The donation amounts have been fixed at ₹1,10,000 for full-day meals, ₹51k for one-time meals, and ₹21k for sweets.
Earlier, donations were only accepted offline, where devotees had to visit the Ann Kshetra in person.
Now, people will be able to book donations in advance for any date of the year. They can also arrange food offerings on special occasions like birthdays or anniversaries.
Specially, donors will also get a chance to attend the Bhog Aarti and personally offer food to Lord Mahakal during the ritual.
At the temple, Lord Mahakal is offered food every day at 10 am, which includes roti, dal, rice, and two vegetable dishes.
Sometimes sweets offered by devotees are also included in the bhog. After the aarti and offering, the food is distributed as prasad to devotees.
The Shri Mahakaleshwar Temple Management Committee had started a new 24-hour laddu prasad counter.
Online prasad counter introduced in 2025
Similarly, an online prasad counter was set up at Mahakal Temple in 2025, outside the Padma Bhushan Pt. Suryanarayan Vyas Guest House, near the Harsiddhi Temple.
From this counter, devotees were able to receive besan and ragi laddus as prasad of Lord Mahakaleshwar at any time of the day or night.
