History, Importance, Timings, Festivals, Architecture, Interesting Facts and Travel Guide of Omkareshwar Jyotirlinga Temple, Khandwa, Madhya Pradesh, India
Omkareshwar Temple, one of the twelve Jyotirlinga temple of Lord Shiva is located on naturally Om shaped island of Mandhata or Shivpuri, on bank of river Narmada in Khandwa district of Madhya Pradesh, India. This is forth Jyotirlinga of Dwadasa Jyotirlinga of India and meaning of Omkareshwar is lord of Omkar or Omkaar sound. On the south bank of river Narmada, opposite to Omkareshwar temple, there is Mamaleshwar temple or Amareshwar temple which means Lord of Immortal. This temple hold same importance as Omkareshwar and also believed to be Jyotirlinga temple. The importance of place is mentioned in Skanda Purana, Vayu Puran and Shiv Puran, it is mentioned that 108 Divya Shivlinga, 33 Koti Gods and 68 tirtha located here in Omkareshwar. It is believed that Omkareshwar Jyotirlinga is split in nature. One half of the Jyotirlinga is in the Omkareshwar Temple and the other half in the Mammaleshwar Temple.
Omkareshwar is also the meeting point of river Narmada and Kaveri which makes place highly sacred and serene. It is adorned with two hills, between which the river Narmada forms a serene pool and it appeared as Om – Highly sacred symbol of Hinduism. 272 feet cantilever bridge which further enhances the scenic beauty of this island.
Omkareshwar temple is believed to be here on Om shaped island since the Satyuga time and over the period rebuilt many times. The temple has been renovated many times by different rulers like Paramaras in the 11th century, and the Ahilyabai Holkars of Indore in the 19th century. The present temple has five-stories, and the Lingam is in the first level. There are shrines for Lord Ganesha, Lord Karthikeya and Goddess Parvati. The temple has many beautiful carvings and images, and its architecture is truly exceptional. The temple has a beautiful hall, which is supported by 60 huge pillars of 14 feet height. Each five floor having a different deity, above the Omkareshwar linga is the Mahakaleshwar temple on second floor, Sidhnath, Gupteshwar and Dhwajeshwar temples are on the third, fourth and fifth floors respectively. Everyday three time puja is performed here, trust priest perform in morning, Pujari of Shindhia perform in afternoon and priest of Holkar state perform in evening. Every Monday, three faced gold idols of Lord Omkareshwar is placed in Palakhi and devotee along with Pujari takes part in palakhi yatra which reaches to various part of city. Laghurudra Abhishek, Maha rudrabhishek, Narmada aarti etc. are key rituals observed in temple.
Omkareswar kshetra parikrama is believed to be vary pious, thus devotee who visit Omkareshwar temple also did the Parikrama. The path is around 7-8 km which starts from Omkareshwar temple and completes after surrounding the hill and there are lots of small temple, ashram and resting place located on way. It said that the great sage Adi Shankaracharya did parikrama during his visit of Omkareswar Jyotirling. And at Omkareshwar Adi Shankaracharya met his Guru Sri Govindapada and learned Advaita from him. It is also believed that only Darshan of River Narmada is as sacred as holy dip in river Ganga and Yamuna.
Maha Shivratri is the main festival here at Omkareshwar temple which is celebrated with great devotion and worship and meditation is going on for full night. Maha Shivratri fair is also organized and temple trust organizes lots of feasts (Bhandara) for devotees. Millions of devotee and tourist from all over India visit here for Darshan of Omkareshwar and Mamleshwar Jyotirlinga. There is a big fair organized on the Kartik Purnima, Ganesh Chaturthi and Anant Chaudas also celebrated here with great zeal.
Tourist can visit Omkareshwar temple throughout the year but September to March is best time visit here as you can wetness of lush green hill, full of water in river. As Millions of devotee reach here, to facilitate them, lots of hotels, guest house and Dharmshala are built to accommodate and also there are lots of restaurant. You can reach temple via pedal bridge or by boating in river Narmada.
Along with Omkareshwar Jyotirlinga temple and Mamleshwar Temple, there are several other ancient sacred and historical place which you must have to visit. One of key attraction is 11th-century Gauri Somnath Temple that can be reach after climbing 287 steep stairs. Kajal Rani caves which showcase the rich history which attracts natural lover here is just 9 km away from Omkareshwar. Siddnath Temple popular for fascinating architecture of early medieval Brahminic style is another key attraction where you can find gorgeous carvings in entire temple campus. Satmatrika Temple, cluster of ancient temple built in 10th century is just 6 km from Omkareshwar. Sidhdhawarkut, major Tirtha of Jain where mainly pictures describes Tirthankara Lord Shri Shantinath ji is situated here where follower of Jainism across the world reach here. The cave of Govind ji, the Guru of Adiguru Shankaracharya and rinkmukteshwar Temple are situated here. Fanase Ghat and Peshawar Ghat built in bank of river Narmada where devotee can take holy dip in sacred water of river Narmada. Omkareshwar becomes alive during festivals such as Maha Shivratri, Holi, Diwali, Dusshera, Ganesh Charurthi, Anant Chaudas etc.
There is interesting legend behind the Jyotirlinga temples, as per the Shiva Purana, once Lord Brahma and Lord Vishnu had the tussle over their supremacy. To prove the supremacy, both Lord approaches Lord Shiva, then Lord Shiva takes the form of endless column of light and asked both Lord to find the roots. But Lord Vishnu and Lord Brahma were not able to find the roots of columns. So, Jyotirlinga are the shrines of Lord Shiva where he appeared in the form of a fiery column of light.
There are various tales and folklore associated with Omkareshwar, few of them are narrated as below.
The first one is related to the Vindhya- the deity of Vindhyachal Parvat who had prepared a Shivlinga and started worshiped Lord Shiva to cleanse his soul of the sins committed by him. Lord Shiva pleased with his worship and appeared before him in two forms- Omkareshwar and Amkareshwar. Parikrama around the island is believed to be very sacred and which helps in removing all the sins.
The other legend suggests that King Mandhata the ancestor of Lord Shree Ram from whom the island might known. King and his son Ambarish and Muchukunda were true devotee of Lord Shiva and worshipped with great devotion and thus Lord Shiva appeared and manifested himself in the form of Jyotirlinga. Thus Omkareshwar temple is also popular as Omkar Mandhata temple.
It is also said that lord Kuber did the severe penance of Lord Shiva here and installed Shivlinga here in Omkareshwar. Kuber blessed with boon of Lord Shiva and became the lord of wealth.
It is believed that in Satyuga, the island took the shape of a giant sparkling gem, in Treta Yuga it was a mountain of gold, in Dwaparyuga it was of copper and in Kaliyuga it has taken the shape of a rock.
It is believed that Lord Shiva comes to Omkareshwar Mamleshwar temple daily after traveling on the Earth for the rest of the night. That's why daily temple priest does Shayan Arti of Lord Shiva.
How to reach Omkareshwar Jyotirlinga temple, Mandhata or Shivapuri Island, Khandwa, Madhya Pradesh, India
As Omkareshwar is home to one of the twelve Jyotirlinga and ancient historical sacred site of Madhya Pradesh, India, where millions of devotee around the year reaches. You can reach temple by pedal bridge or via boat in river Naramada. Thus it is very well connected with all major cities of India via Road, Rail and Air network. The nearest airport is in Indore at just 75 km from Omkareshwar. From where you can get private cabs and bus to reach here easily. Omkareshwar Road Mortakka, railway station is just at 12 km from Omkareshwar which connects major cities of Madhya Pradesh by rail line. And major closest Railway Junctions are at Khandwa and Indore at around 72 km. Omkareshwar is situated at 78 km from Indore, 70 km from Khandwa, 137 km from Ujjain, 219 km from Jalgaon, 257 km from Bhopal, 201 km from Ratlam, 110 km from Dewas. You can easily reach to Omkareshwar by state highway and national highway.
