Eklingji Temple

Eklingji Temple, near Udaipur

Twenty-two kilometres north of Udaipur, and not an ordinary temple: in the Mewar tradition Eklingji is the actual ruler of the kingdom, and the Maharana has always served as his regent.

👑 The deity who ruled Mewar

Eklingji — a form of Shiva — is the state deity of the Mewar dynasty, and the tradition runs deeper than patronage: the kingdom is held to belong to the deity, with the Maharana acting as his dewan, his minister. Treaties and administration were historically conducted in the deity's name, and the reverence is alive today — the descendants of the royal family traditionally visit every Monday to offer prayers.

The temple's founding is attributed to Bappa Rawal, the founder of the Mewar dynasty, in 734 CE, as recorded in the Ekalinga Mahatmya, the temple's own early-fifteenth-century chronicle. The original shrine did not survive the centuries in its first form; the present temple is largely a fifteenth-century rebuilding under Maharana Raimal, whose inscription remains on the southern wall.

🕉️ The four-faced lingam

The temple tower rises about fifty feet, and beneath it the sanctum holds the striking four-faced black marble image of Eklingji.

The four faces look to the four directions — Surya the sun in the east, Brahma in the west, Vishnu in the north, and Rudra in the south — with the raised apex above them representing Sadashiva with his consort. A silver serpent coils around the lingam, and a silver Nandi, Shiva's bull, faces the sanctum from the hall, with two further Nandis in black stone and brass nearby.

The effect is of a deity assembled from the whole cosmos rather than a single image — which suits a god who is meant to be ruling rather than merely residing.

🏯 One hundred and eight temples

The walled complex holds 108 temples, large and small, clustered around the main shrine — shrines, courtyards and tanks rather than a single building. The town around it is called Kailashpuri, after Shiva's mountain, and lives for the temple.

🕉️ A state run in the deity's name

The arrangement was not only devotional. For centuries the Maharana of Mewar administered the kingdom as the deity's minister — campaigns, treaties and grants carried out in Eklingji's name, and the shrine's chronicle, the Ekalinga Mahatmya, frames the dynasty's legitimacy itself as service to the deity.

The temple's custodianship has its own history: the shrine was long served by the Pashupata sect, then by the Nath tradition, and since the sixteenth century by the Ramanandis, who serve it still — an unbroken sequence of worship at one of Rajasthan's oldest living Shiva shrines.

What this means for a visitor is that Eklingji is not a monument with worshippers attached, but a working temple with a state attached — the difference shows in the fullness of the morning aartis on any ordinary day.

🕒 Timings

Darshan runs in three sessions daily: roughly 4:30 to 7:00 AM, 10:30 AM to 1:30 PM, and 5:00 to 7:30 PM, with the temple closed between them.

Aartis thread the day — morning aartis around 5:30, 8:15, 9:15 and 11:30 AM, afternoon aartis around 3:30 and 4:30 PM, and evening aartis around 5:00 and 6:30 PM. The midday gap between the second and third sessions is long enough for a meal in Kailashpuri, and the evening session under the lamps is the one to keep if you can only manage one. On Mondays the temple traditionally opens a little early for the deity's own day. Crowds build through the morning sessions on weekends and festival days, when the halls fill with pilgrims from across the region. The most atmospheric visits are early morning, when the first aartis are sung, and the evening session under lamps.

Entry is free. Mobile phones are not permitted inside, and photography is strictly prohibited.

🌕 Mahashivratri and the year

Mahashivratri, in February or March, is the temple's greatest festival, when the complex fills with pilgrims from across Mewar and beyond. The Eklingji Patotsav, the temple's own anniversary observance, is the other principal occasion, with special rituals for Navratri, Pradosh and through the month of Shravan.

📍 Getting there and pairing

Kailashpuri, 22 km north of Udaipur — under an hour's drive, and the standard circuit is Eklingji with Nathdwara, the Krishna shrine further east, and the Haldighati pass on the way — a full and satisfying day out of Udaipur through the Aravalli hills.

Carry nothing you cannot pocket, since phones stay behind, and dress modestly — shoulders and knees covered as at any major Shiva shrine.

The drive out of Udaipur is part of the visit: the road climbs north through the Aravalli hills past villages and marble country, and most travellers take in the whole Eklingji-Nathdwara-Haldighati arc in a loop, returning to the city by evening. Start early enough to reach Eklingji for the morning session, when the aartis are sung and the complex is at its most alive, and let Nathdwara take the afternoon.

Last verified: 2026. The 734 CE founding attributed to Bappa Rawal, the fifteenth-century rebuilding under Maharana Raimal with his inscription on the southern wall, the four-faced black marble image with its directional faces and silver Nandi, the 108 temples of the complex, the three darshan sessions and the aarti times, the free entry, and the prohibition on phones and photography are documented; timings extend on festival days and the temple's own notice is authoritative.