Out of the 12 Jyotirling, Omkareshwar Jyotirlinga is at fourth. It is situated in Shivpuri, Madhya Pradesh. This is the only Jyotirlinga that is situated on the northern bank of Narmada. This Jyotirlinga is Panchmukhi and it is believed that Lord Shiva rests at this place after visiting three worlds. That the reason why sleeping aarti of Lord Shiva is performed in Omkareshwar Temple at night.
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It is also believed that all the trouble and sorrow of the devotees go away here and they attain salvation. Even though you have visited all the pilgrimage places, but your pilgrimage is incomplete without visiting Omkareshwar Jyotirlinga.
Omkareshwara Temple Stories
Omkareshwar Temple Story 1
Once Narad Ji reached Vindhyachal mountain. Parvatraj Vindhyachal welcomed Narad Ji by saying that I am full of all virtues, and have every kind of wealth. After listening to his proud words Narad Ji said that even though you have everything, but you are not higher than Mount Sumeru. After saying these words to Vindhyachal, Narad Ji left from there. But Vindhyachal felt very bad about his words and started mourning in his heart.
Then he decided to worship Lord Shiva. He established a Shivling at the same place, where Omkareshwar Jyotirlinga presents today, and worshiped there for 6 months. After six months Lord Shiva appeared there. He was so happy about his worship and told him to ask for any boon. Vindhyachal said that if you are really happy with my worship, then give me the intellect who can accomplish any work. Lord Shiva accepted his request and gave him, his desired boon.
During the time when Lord Shiva was giving him a boon, some sages also came there. They all worshipped Lord Shiva and requested him to stay here forever. Lord Shiva accepted their prayer and stay here in the name of Omkareshwar Jyotirlinga.
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Omkareshwar Temple Story 2
According to another story, King Mandhata worshipped Lord Shiva on this mountain and pleased him. And when Lord Shiva appeared and told him to ask for a boon, then King Mandhata requested Lord Shiva to stay here forever. Since then, Lord Shiva is staying there. That’s the reason why this city is also called Omkar-Mandhata. It is believed that 33 crores deities reside in 68 pilgrimage sites in this region. Also, the bathing in Narmada River has its own special significance here. The mere sight of the Narmada River washes away all the sins of a human.
Omkareshwar Temple Story 3
There is also one more story famous about Omkareshwara Temple. According to this story, there was a war occurred between the gods and the demons. In this war, the demons defeated the gods. The gods could not bear this defeat and decided to take help from Lord Shiva. They worshiped Lord Shiva. Seeing their devotion, Lord Shiva was very pleased and killed all the demons. Also, he decided to stay here in the form of Jyotirlinga.
In this temple, Kuber penanced by making a Shivling of Lord Shiva. After that Lord Shiva made him God of wealth. Also, Lord Shiva created the Kaveri River from his hair, in which Kuber took a bathe. This Kaveri River revolves around the Omkareshwar Temple and joins the Narmada River. This confluence is called the Narmada-Kaveri confluence. All trouble and sorrow of the devotees go away as soon as they step on this sacred land. By visiting the Omkareshwar temple, it seems as if you have really seen Lord Shiva.
Omkareshwar Temple Timings
- Temple Opening Time in Morning: 5 am – 9 am
- Mangal Aarti Timing: 5 am – 5:30 am
- Jal Abhishek can be done: 5:30 am – 12:25 pm
- Temple Closing Time in Afternoon: 3:50 pm – 4:15 pm
- Evening Darshan Begins: 4:15 pm
- Evening Aarti Timing: 8:20 pm – 9:05 pm
- If there is any person in your family or loves ones, who are handicap or can’t able to stand in the general darshan line, then special darshan is also available here for them.
How to Reach Omkareshwar Temple
By Air: Planning to visit Omkareshwar by air, then let us tell you that Devi Ahilyabhai Holkar Airport is the nearest airport to Omkareshwara Temple, which is 83 km from the Omkareshwar. You can get a flight to this airport from any major city like Delhi, Mumbai, and Bangalore. After reach Ahilyabhai Holkar Airport you can hire a cab or taxi to reach Omkareshwar. Apart from this, local buses also run here at regular intervals. If you want, you can reach Omkareshwar by those buses also.
By Train: You will be happy to know that Omkareshwar has a railway station of its own, which is 12 km away from Omkareshwar City. This railway station is well connected via rail from all major cities like New Delhi, Bangalore, Lucknow, Chennai, Kanyakumari, Puri, Ahmedabad, Jaipur, and Ratlam.
By Road: Omkareshwar City is well connected to major cities like Indore, Khandwa, and Ujjain via regular bus/cab service. You can easily get buses to Omkareshwar from most of the nearby cities and towns.
- Indore to Omkareshwar Distance is 78 km
- Ujjain to Omkareshwar Distance is 138 km
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