The tree Parvati planted

We reached the Siddhavat at about 7:30 in the evening, after a day of temples and crowds. It is on the bank of the Shipra at Bhairavgarh, a few kilometres from the Mahakaleshwar temple, and in the photographs the first thing is two big banyan trees lit bright green against the dark.

This is the bar ka ped. It is believed that Mata Parvati planted it for Bar Amavasya pooja, and it has been here ever since. It is one of the sacred banyans of Ujjain. Other stories are told about it as well. In one, Lord Ram performed the last rites for his father Dasharatha here. In another, a ruler had the tree cut down and covered the stump with seven iron plates, and it grew back anyway. I read these in tourism and devotion pages, not in anything I could check, so I tell them as stories.

At the ghat

Below the tree the steps run down to the Shipra, and that night the water was covered with floating marigolds and diyas. An idol of the goddess had been set up between two columns of marigold garlands, and people stood in a ring photographing her. I took the picture of the tree at 7:48 pm, from behind the railing, with the dark river below. Then we all sat on the steps for a family photograph, with the flowers on the water behind us.

My parents, my bhua and my father's friend's family were all there. The family photograph on the steps is from the same evening, and after it we went on to Kaal Bhairav.