Purushottam Sagar

Purushottam Sagar is one of the Sapt Sagar — the seven sacred tanks that thread through the old temple-city of Ujjain, each a quiet pool of memory in a landscape otherwise dominated by the roar of the Mahakaleshwar shrine and the Shipra ghats.

• Stone-stepped and unhurried, this tank takes its name from Purushottam, an epithet of Vishnu, and it is during Purushottam Maas — the intercalary "extra" month that the Hindu lunisolar calendar inserts every few years, also called Adhik Maas or Mala Maas — that the tank comes fully alive.
• By tradition the surplus month is dedicated to Vishnu, who is said to have adopted the otherwise "unclaimed" period, and pilgrims gather here to bathe, circumambulate, and perform the merit-earning observances that the month is famed for.
• The tank's most distinctive custom is the offering of malpua.
• During Purushottam Maas devotees prepare the sweet saffron-tinged pancakes and, after a ritual bath, present them — the well-known rite involves handing a set of malpuas across a chalni, a fine metal sieve, as a symbolic act of charity to a recipient or deity.
• The number and manner of the gift follow local vows, and the practice ties this modest sheet of water to a devotional calendar shared far beyond Ujjain.
• Between such seasons the sagar is a serene, low-key stop: a place to watch the reflected sky, trace the weathered steps, and sense how Ujjain layered its faith onto water long before the crowds of the Simhastha Kumbh arrived.
• Come at sunrise or the golden hour, keep your voice low, and treat the ghat steps and any ongoing worship with courtesy.
• For food, stay in the pure-vegetarian old-city lanes that lead toward Mahakaleshwar, where Ujjain's beloved poha-jalebi, sabudana khichdi, and malpua are everyday fare.
• Seek out a clearly pure-veg bhojanalaya for an unhurried sattvik thali, and confirm the kitchen is fully vegetarian before ordering; for drinks, choose plain, bhang-free thandai or a fresh sweet lassi from a trusted counter.