Amarkantak ( NLK ''Amarakaṇṭaka'') is a pilgrim town and a Nagar Panchayat in Anuppur,

Madhya Pradesh Madhya Pradesh (; ; ) is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal and the largest city is Indore, Indore. Other major cities includes Gwalior, Jabalpur, and Sagar, Madhya Pradesh, Sagar. Madhya Pradesh is the List of states and union te ...

, India. The Amarkantak region is a unique

natural heritage Natural heritage refers to the sum total of the elements of biodiversity, includes flora and fauna, ecosystems and geological structures. It forms part of our natural resources. Definition Definitions: * Natural heritage refers to natural feat ...

area. It is the meeting point of the Vindhya and the Satpura Ranges, with the Maikal Hills being the fulcrum. This is where the

Narmada River The Narmada River, previously also known as ''Narbada'' or anglicised as ''Nerbudda'', is the 5th longest river in India and overall the longest west-flowing river in the country. It is also the largest flowing river in the state of Madhya Prade ...

, the Son River and Johilla River (tributary of Son) originate. 15th-century Indian mystic and poet Kabir is said to have meditated in Amarkantak, and the place is now known as Kabir Chabutra.

Etymology

Amarakantaka is a combination of two

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural ...

words, ''amara'' (immortal) and ''kantaka'' (obstruction or thorn). The poet Kalidas has mentioned it as ''Amarakuta'', which later became ''Amarakantaka''.

Location

Amarkantak is located in

in India at . It has an average elevation of . Roads running through Rewa, Shahdol, Anuppur,

Jabalpur Jabalpur, formerly Jubbulpore, is a city situated on the banks of Narmada River in the state of Madhya Pradesh, India. It is the 3rd-largest urban agglomeration of the state and the 38th-largest of the country. Jabalpur is the administrative h ...

, Katni, Bilaspur and Gaurella connect it. The nearest railway stations are Pendra Road and Anuppur. The nearest airport is Bilaspur Airport (120 km).

Demographics

Per the 2011 India census, Amarkantak has a population of 8,416 of which 4,514 are males and 3,902 are females. The female

sex ratio A sex ratio is the ratio of males to females in a population. As explained by Fisher's principle, for evolutionary reasons this is typically about 1:1 in species which reproduce sexually. However, many species deviate from an even sex ratio, ei ...

is 864 against a state average of 931. Moreover, the child sex ratio in Amarkantak is around 931 compared to Madhya Pradesh's state average of 918. Literacy rate of Amarkantak city is 80.20%, higher than the state average of 69.32%. Male literacy is around 88.06% and the female literacy rate is 71.02%. 95.51% of the population follow

Hinduism Hinduism () is an Hypernymy and hyponymy, umbrella term for a range of Indian religions, Indian List of religions and spiritual traditions#Indian religions, religious and spiritual traditions (Sampradaya, ''sampradaya''s) that are unified ...

Religious significance

Amarkantak is known as the king of pilgrimages, or Tirthraj, because the town has many temples and holy places. It is narrated in the Hindu scriptures like the

Puranas Puranas (Merriam-Webster's Encyclopedia of Literature
(1995 Editio ...

that Amarkantak is the place where celestial beings, sages, and others obtained spiritual powers. There are many ancient temples of the Kalachuri period in Amarkantak Which were built by different Kalachuri Kings, indicating it was a prominent site for the Kalchuris. Some of those temples were: * Pataleshwar Temple: It is an ancient temple where Bhagwan

Shiva Shiva (; , ), also known as Mahadeva (; , , Help:IPA/Sanskrit, ɐɦaːd̪eːʋɐh and Hara, is one of the Hindu deities, principal deities of Hinduism. He is the God in Hinduism, Supreme Being in Shaivism, one of the major traditions w ...

is the deity and the Shiv Lingam was installed by Adi Shankaracharya during his visit. The temple was later constructed by King Lakshmikarna. * Narmada Temple: It is the main temple of the town. It is said that Shankaracharya on his quest to determine the source of Narmada declared the stream currently at the temple to be the mainstream, the temple was later constructed by Kalachuris of Tripuri in the 12th century CE and Renovated by Maharani Ahilyabai Holkar.

Flora and fauna

There are more than 600 species of flora found in Amarkantak. It also has many medicinal flora and some of which include '' Boswellia serrata'', '' Terminalia chebula'', '' Hedychium coronarium'', and '' Curcuma caesia''. The Achanakmar Wildlife Sanctuary, is located at a distance of no more than 40 km from the town of Amarkantak in the state of Chhattisgarh on the road to Bilaspur. The forest belt in Amarkantak is a part of Achanakmar-Amarkantak Biosphere Reserve. The forests of Amarkantak are linked with the forests of

Kanha National Park Kanha Tiger Reserve, also known as Kanha–Kisli National Park, is one of the tiger reserves of India and the largest National park of India, national park of the state of Madhya Pradesh. It covers an area of in the two districts Mandla and Ba ...

. Amarkantak falls on the Kanha-Achanakmar Corridor, a hilly region with dense forests. Kanha and Achanakmar are both conserved wildlife parks in India famous for

Bengal tiger The Bengal tiger is a population of the ''Panthera tigris tigris'' subspecies and the nominate tiger subspecies. It ranks among the largest wild cats alive today. It is estimated to have been present in the Indian subcontinent since the Late ...

s. '' Pinus caribaea'', known as tropical pine, was planted in Amarkantak in 1968 on the advice of Forest Research Institute,

Dehradun Dehradun (), also known as Dehra Doon, is the winter capital and the List of cities in Uttarakhand by population, most populous city of the Indian state of Uttarakhand. It is the administrative headquarters of the eponymous Dehradun district, d ...

on the recommendations of National Commission on Agriculture looking to the future demand of quality pulpwood. This work was undertaken under a

World Bank The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and Grant (money), grants to the governments of Least developed countries, low- and Developing country, middle-income countries for the purposes of economic development ...

Technical Assistance Project by clearing natural sal forests. The naturalists and environmentalists in India raised controversy over it; ultimately the project of tropical pine plantation was abolished.

Educational institutions

The Indira Gandhi National Tribal University was established in Amarkantak by an Act of Parliament in 2007. It was created to promote and provide higher education and research in various aspects of tribal communities. The Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya was established in 1987 to provide education for the rural young.

References

External links

Amarkantak : Map

Anuppur : Official
{{Shahdol Division Geography of Madhya Pradesh Hindu pilgrimage sites in India Hindu holy cities Cities and towns in Anuppur district Tourism in Madhya Pradesh