Amarakantaka is a combination of two Sanskrit words, amara (immortal) and kantaka (obstruction or thorn). The poet Kalidas has mentioned it as Amarakuta, which later became Amarakantaka.
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 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[9] 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 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 main stream, the temple was later constructed by Kalachuris of Tripuri in 12th century CE and Renovated by Maharani Ahilyabai Holkar.