• Amarkantak

• Bandhavgarh

• Kanha

• Pachmarhi

Amarkantak

Amarkantak, in its green bowl in the old Vindhyas, is the serene epitome of that titanic power. A great pilgrim center for the Hindus, Amarkantak is the source of river Narmada and Sone. While the Narmada flows Westwards from Amarkantak, the Sone flows towards the East. Amarkantak is indeed blessed by Nature. Holy ponds, lofty hills, forested surroundings, breathtakingly beautiful waterfalls and an ever-pervading air of serenity make Amarkantak a much sought-after destination for the religious-minded as well as for the nature-lover.
It is situated 1065 meters above sea level and the temple here hosts the annual Shivaratri and Nag Panchami festivals with great fervor. 

Curiously, Amarkantak has none of the teeming grottiness often associated with popular pilgrim towns. It really is more like a green sub-montane resort with wide-open, well-watered, meadows and sunlit sal forests alive with springs and brooks. We drove out of the hamlet, stopped at the edge of a forest, and walked down a long flight of stairs descending through the jungle. A stream chortled alongside the steps. This stream was the young Sone which was fed, a few hundred meters from its birth, by a number of tributary rills. At the end of the stairs, a small bridge spanned the stream leading to a little temple and a hermitage. An old mendicant sat in a thatched hut, reading. His young companion spread his saffron robe to dry in the sun and the breeze. Beyond the temple, the forest ended in a sheer cliff and the Sone tumbled off it into a densely wooded valley. This was the first waterfall of this river and an iron and concrete platform thrust out over the cliff giving dizzying views of the cascade.

PLACES OF INTEREST

Brighu Kamandal - a pitcher always full of water, Dhuni Pani hot spring, Dugdh Dhara - water fall, Kapildhara-water fall and picnic spot, Mai- Ki Bagiya - garden with temple, Narmada Udgam Mandir - the holy temple at the source of Narmada, Sonmuda-source of river Sone.

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