Jwaleshwar Temple, Amarkantak - Timings, History, Darshan, Pooja Timings

At a distance of 9 km from Amarkantak Bus Stand, Shri Jwaleshwar Temple is a Hindu temple located on Shahdol Road near Amarkantak. It is one of the holy places to visit near Amarkantak.

Sri Jwaleshwar Temple is dedicated to Lord Shiva. According to 'Vindhya Vaibhav' Lord Shiva himself established a Shivling here and also scattered crores of other Shivlings over Maikal Mountain. In the Puranas, this place has been called Maha Rudra Meru. There are only two 'Maha Rudra Meru' places- Varanasi and Amarkantak. Another piece of trivia is that Lord Shiva and Parvati lived here because of the resplendence of the place. Situated in the border area of Madhya Pradesh & Chhattisgarh state, the temple house a shiva lingam that is situated 2- 3 feet below the ground level, and is called Banalinga.

As per the legend, Banasur did penance to Lord Shiva and asked for a boon that his city should be divine and invincible. Except for Lord Shiva, no one else could come to this city. Similarly, Banasura also obtained boons from Lord Brahma and Vishnu. Overwhelmed by his power, Banasura started creating a ruckus, and to save the people, Lord Shiva attacked Banasura with a bow named Pinaka and an arrow named Aghor. On this, Banasura started praising Mahadev by holding his revered Shivling on his head. Shiva was pleased with his praise. Three sections of Banasura were formed from the arrow and fell into the waters of Narmada and from there a shrine named Jwaleshwar appeared. This Shivalinga was called Banalinga only leftover from the arrow left by Lord Shiva.
Jwaleshwar Temple is also the birthplace of the Johila river. It is said that by offering Gangotri water to Rameshwar, the same result is obtained by offering Narmada water to Jwaleshwar Mahadev. The Narmada and Son rivers originate from Amarkantak, and the third river Johila has its origin near the Jwaleshwar Mahadev Temple. The description of this place is also found in Shiva Mahapuran. According to Shiva Purana, the demon Tarakasur had 3 sons. All three did the penance of Brahma and created Tripura and after suffering from their terror the deities went to Lord Shiva. Lord Shiva destroyed all the three Puras in anger and one Pura falls on the earth in the form of a burning flame. In such a situation, the gods prayed to Lord Shiva to pacify the flame. When Shiva converted that flame into the water, it came out in the form of the Johila river.

Locals believe that all their wishes will be fulfilled by offering Narmada waters to Jwaleshwar Mahadev. In the month of Sawan, there is a huge crowd of devotees to offer Narmada water, people from far and wide come with their wishes and get blessings from Mahadev.

Timings: 6 AM - 6 PM

Entry: Free