Omkareshwar Jyotirlinga

Oṅkāreśvara is on Mandhata, a rocky island in the Narmadā in Khandwa district of Madhya Pradesh. The river divides around the island, and its outline is popularly said to resemble the syllable Oṃ. The Oṅkāreśvara temple is on the island; across the water on the southern bank is Amaleśvara, called Mamleshwar today, and pilgrims visit both.

The Śiva Purāṇa tells that the sage Nārada once visited the Vindhya mountain. Vindhya boasted that he lacked nothing, and Nārada sighed and remarked that Meru stood higher and was counted among the gods. Stung, Vindhya went to the place called Oṅkāra, made a liṅga of earth, and worshipped Śiva without moving for six months. Śiva appeared and granted what he asked. The gods and sages who had gathered then prayed that Śiva remain there, and the text says the one liṅga became two: Oṅkāreśvara, in the sacred syllable itself, and Parameśvara, also called Amareśvara or Amaleśvara, in the earthen liṅga.

That pairing is what sets this shrine apart. One jyotirliṅga is honoured in two temples on either side of the Narmadā, and the well-known hymn of the twelve names it “Oṅkāram Amaleśvaram”. Walking the path around the whole island is a customary part of the visit. Tradition also holds that Ādi Śaṅkara met his teacher Govinda Bhagavatpāda in a cave here.