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Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Friday proposed the establishment of a new global time standard, ‘Mahakal Standard Time’ (MST), to replace Greenwich Mean Time (GMT), arguing that Ujjain in Madhya Pradesh was the original centre of time calculation in the ancient world.
Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav and Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan inaugurated an international conference titled ‘Mahakal: The Master of Time’ at the Planetarium Complex in Ujjain on Friday.
“Ujjain is the place where the Equator and the Tropic of Cancer meet and ancient world time calculations were made. Therefore, the time has come to logically establish ‘Mahakal Standard Time’ (MST) in place of ‘Greenwich Mean Time’ (GMT). Even modern AI
tools recognise that the original centre of time calculation is the area around Ujjain,” Pradhan said during the event.
Pradhan stressed the need to re-establish India’s scientific pride on the global stage. Strengthening the Science Centre and Planetarium in Ujjain, he said, was a “major step” towards inspiring future generations to adopt a scientific outlook.
LIVE: तारामंडल परिसर, उज्जैन में आयोजित अंतर्राष्ट्रीय सम्मेलन ‘महाकाल: द मास्टर ऑफ टाइम’ का उद्घाटन समारोह https://t.co/3SwBktkKHb
— Dr Mohan Yadav (@DrMohanYadav51) April 3, 2026
“Strengthening the Science Centre and Planetarium in Ujjain is a major step in this direction, enabling future generations to move forward with a scientific outlook. Ujjain is a place where the distance between spirituality and science disappears and a new vision is born,” he said.
Referring to a ritual at the Mahakal Temple, Pradhan highlighted the continuous pouring of water from an earthen pot over Lord Shiva from the first day of the month of Vaishakh. He described this not only as a religious tradition but also as a scientific response to the challenges of summer and environmental management.
“This demonstrates that our society has possessed scientific understanding of time calculation and adapting its lifestyle to the changes in nature for centuries. Environmental responsibility and a balanced life flow have always been central to the Indian knowledge tradition,” Pradhan said.
Linking these ideas to contemporary policy, Pradhan cited the National Education Policy 2020 and underlined the shift from rote learning to creativity, design thinking and critical thinking. In an era dominated by artificial intelligence and computational thinking, he said, new courses such as AI are being introduced at the school level to ensure Indian students remain competitive globally.
Pradhan also emphasised that no single language can monopolise knowledge. He said education is increasingly being integrated with Indian languages and folk cultures so that students can grasp complex scientific concepts in their mother tongues.
On the occasion, Pradhan and Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav released the Vidyarthi Vigyan Manthan website, brochure and booklet. A video film on this multi-level evaluation system, designed to nurture scientific leadership, was also screened.
Addressing the gathering, Chief Minister Yadav said Ujjain had been a global centre for timekeeping and astronomy since ancient times. “In Ujjain, timekeeping is not merely religious but also thoroughly scientific, as our ancestors established ages ago through texts like the Surya Siddhanta. Time and space are inextricably linked,” he said.
Yadav further claimed that the Indian system of measuring time, based on sunrise and sunset and closely aligned with planetary movement and the Earth’s rotation, is more accurate than GMT.
“Due to the intersection of the Tropic of Cancer and the zero longitude, Ujjain has been the global centre for time calculation. The MP government is committed to developing Ujjain as both a religious city and a science city. For this, a Science Centre, established at a cost of Rs 15 crore, has been inaugurated,” Yadav said.
