Omkareshwar (IAST: Ōṃkārēśvar) is a Hindu temple dedicated to God Shiva. It is located in Khandwa in Indian state Madhya Pradesh. It is one of the 12 revered Jyotirlinga shrines of Shiva. It is on an island called Mandhata or Shivapuri in the Narmada river at Khandwa district in Madhya Pradesh, India; the shape of the island is said to be like the Devanagari ॐ symbol. There are two main temples of Lord Shiva here, one to Omkareshwar (whose name means "Lord of Omkara or the Lord of the Om sound") located in the island and one to Mamleshwar (Amaleshwar) (whose name means "Immortal Lord" or "lord of the Immortals or Devas") located on the south bank of Narmada River on the mainland.
As per Shiv Mahapuran, once Brahma (the Hindu God of creation) and Vishnu (the Hindu God of Protection and Care) had an argument in terms of supremacy of creation.[1] To test them, Shiva pierced the three worlds as a huge endless pillar of light, the jyotirlinga. Vishnu and Brahma split their ways to downwards and upwards respectively to find the end of the light in either directions. Brahma lied that he found out the end, while Vishnu conceded his defeat. Shiva appeared as the second pillar of light and cursed Brahma that he would have no place in ceremonies while Vishnu would be worshipped until the end of eternity. The jyotirlinga is the supreme partless reality, out of which Shiva partly appears. The jyothirlinga shrines, thus are places where Shiva appeared as a fiery column of light.[2][3] Originally there were believed to be 64 jyothirlingas while 12 of them are considered to be very auspicious and holy.[1] Each of the twelve jyothirlinga sites take the name of the presiding deity – each considered different manifestation of Shiva.[4] At all these sites, the primary image is lingam representing the beginningless and endless Stambha pillar, symbolizing the infinite nature of Shiva.