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Music: From My Heart
Musician: BDKSonic
Narmada Parikrama is considered to be one of the holiest Parikrama where people covers 7 km clockwise starting from Omkareshwar temple to Omkareshwar Jyotirling Dharshan and Jal Abhishekam.
Hope you know, Narmada is considered as one of the holiest rivers in India and it is also compared with Ganga with respect to its value. It is also called the lifeline for the people of Madhya Pradesh. Do you know the reason behind it? Okay then, I am coming to this point later.
Kedareshwar temple was built by Parmar rulers on 13th century AD. Once you reach to this temple simply sit for sometimes on the temple ground or beside the neem tree or you can meditate also. Feel the divine vibes around this temple. Not much people do the Parikrama so chaos will be very less throughout.
You know on the way you will find the variety of temple what you don’t find commonly anywhere else. I have never seen Gayatri mata temple before. Here I found one.
Even though few believe it’s Kaveri and Narmada on the both sides, but I prefer to follow geography and say only Kaveri is flowing around. Let's come back to the topic where I wanted to tell you why Narmada river is so important for the people of Madhya Pradesh. In Puran there is a story behind how Narmada river formed. There was a time when Lord Shiva and Mata Sati longed to perform the pilgrimage in that area. During the journey a drop of sweat of Shiva fall to Amarkanta which is situated in Anuppur district of Madhya Pradesh. From that sweat dorp Narmada river formed and people worship her as Maa Narmada. Lord Shiva also consider her as his daughter and gave her the name Narmada. This is the river in India which flows in opposite direction from east to west. It is also said Maa Narmada was unmarried in her entire life. Pilgrims practice a rituals called Narmada parikrama where they complete a round trip based on the river and collect river water to do Jalavishekam of Omkareshwar after they come back.
I started Parikrama a bit late as I did not plan for it. It was 12 in afternoon. That time sun was above my head, weather was too hot, but it did not bother too much as the marg has its own vibes which will keep you walking having maa Narmada flowing beside you.
Next I came across one of the precious temple in Parikrama marg. Gauri Somnath temple. After coming here suddenly the weather gets changed and all my tiredness go away.
The temple was built in Parmar period in 10-11 century AD. This is a 3 storey pancharatna type temple with Bhumij style. On the base you will see a huge Jalhari Shivalinga made of Black granite stone. It is believed that previously the shiva linga was white in form and it had a power that through it you could see your future life. Aurangzeb who was one of the destroyers of Mandhata was curious to see his fate on it and as a reflection he saw a pig. Being angry he ordered to extract the shiva linga and threw it to the fire. Since then the linga became black in colour and lost its power forever. It has been renovated 16th century AD. And its Shikhar was built during Maratha period.
In the end I went to the first and second floor of the temple. There also you will get to see Shiva linga on each store. You have to be very careful while climbing up and down using the stare case.
Next you will get to see Patali Hanuman where Hanuman ji is lying down on a bed.
Next is Raj Rajeshwari mandir. One the opposite there is a Shiva temple where camera is not allowed. But you must visit inside to be a witness of the shrines. In the middle you will get to see Shiva Parvati, on left Badri Narayan and on right Ganesha idol. And remember on the previous episode I was talking about a shiva statue from the pool where I was able to see the Jata. This is that Shiva statue on the top of the temple.
Finally I have reached to the 106 feet Adi Shankaracharya statue.
Now I came to another famous fortifications of Mandhata island called Chand Suraj dwar. This monument now comes under the act of ancient monuments and archaeological site. Few interesting sculptures on this gate are maa chamundeshwari with 20 arms, Mahishashur mardini on the left of the gate and on the right Ganesha.
As you move ahead you will meet another most important temple in Parikrama marg. This is Siddha nath Shiva temple. It is built in Brahminic and Indo Nagara architecture. The beautifully ornamented figures throughout the temple will surprise you from the core. Centralised Shiva shrine inside the garvagriha can be accessed from 4 directions brings into the category of Sarvato bhadra architecture. Lacking of Shikhara, roof and other components indicates what it faced during the attack by Md Ghazni but still it stands tall defining its strength.
#omkareshwar #narmada #omkareshwartemple #omkareshwar_jyotirling_cycle_yatra #omkareshwarjyotirlinga