Part of an ancient trade route, Ujjain was an important city under King Ashoka's father but was known as Avantika at that time. Later, Chandragupta II ruled from here instead of his actual capital Pataliputra. It was at his court that the famous poet Kalidasa, one of the Hinduism's most revered poets, wrote the Meghdoot with its famous lyrical description of the city and its people.
"The town fallen from heaven to bring heaven on earth" wrote Kalidasa about Ujjain. He added, "if heaven is a magnification of Ujjain, then it must be a very interesting place indeed. This is the home of Shiva as Mahakal, he who allocates the existential time of all cosmic manifestation". According to an ancient Hindu calendar, the first meridian of the planet earth passes through Ujjain, making Ujjain time the universal time coordinate.
