text: Of note, even to this day, the Sahasrarjun temple at Maheshwar lights 11 lamps in honour of Lord Agni blessing the Kingdom. Alternatively, this tradition is attributed to Sahasrarjun queens humiliating captive ten-headed Ravana by lighting up candles on his foreheads.
  In the late eighteenth century, Maheshwar served as the capital of the great Maratha queen Rajmata Ahilya Devi Holkar. She embellished the city with many buildings and public works, and it is home to her palace, as well as numerous temples, a fort, and riverfront ghats (broad stone steps which step down to the river).
  Jagadguru Kripaluji Maharaj has performed various akhand (continues) sankirtan outside the Shiva temple at Maheshwar for more than months. Even though Kripaluji was from mahu (30 km from Maheshwar), he frequently visited this place in his early life with devotees of lord Krishna to perform sankirtan on the banks of the Narmada river in Maheshwar.
  Demographics
  India census, Maheshwar had a population of 24000. Males constitute 51% of the population and females 49%. Maheshwar has an average literacy rate of 67%, higher than the national average of 59.5%: male literacy is 75%, and female literacy is 59%. In Maheshwar, 14% of the population is under 6 years of age.