It is the fifth-largest city in Madhya Pradesh by population and is the administrative center of Ujjain district and Ujjain division. It is one of the Hindu pilgrimage centres of SaptaPuri famous for the KumbhMela held there every 12 years. The famous temple of MahakaleshwarJyotirlinga is located in the center of the city. The city has been one of the most prominent trade and political centers of the Indian Subcontinent from the time of Ancient Mahajanapadas up until the British Colonization of India.

According to Puranic legend, Ujjain, along with Haridwar, Nashik, and Prayag, is one of four sites where drops of amrita, the elixir of immortality, accidentally spilled over from a kumbha (pitcher) while being carried by the celestial bird Garuda during the SamudraManthana, or the churning of the ocean of milk. Ujjain has been selected as one of the hundred Indian cities to be developed as a smart city under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s flagship Smart Cities Mission.