Mountain Ranges in Madhya Pradesh :

Madhya Pradesh literally means "Central Province", and is located in the geographic heart of India in between the latitude of 21.6°N-26.30°N and longitude of 74°9'E-82°48'E. The state straddles the Narmada River, which runs east and west between the Vindhya and Satpura ranges; these ranges and the Narmada are the traditional boundaries between the north and south of India. The highest point in Madhya Pradesh is Dhupgarh, with an elevation of 1,350 m (4,429 ft). Following are the mountain ranges lie in state are :

Aravali Range :

The Aravalli Range, an eroded stub of ancient mountains, is the oldest range of fold mountains in India.The natural history of the Aravalli Range dates back to times when the Indian Plate was separated from the Eurasian Plate by an ocean. The Proterozoic Aravalli-Delhi orogenic belt in northwest India is similar to the younger Himalayan-type orogenic belts of the Mesozoic-Cenozoic era (of the Phanerozoic) in terms of component parts and appears to have passed through a near-orderly Wilson supercontinental cycle of events. The range rose in a Precambrian event called the Aravalli-Delhi Orogen. The Aravalli Range is a northeast-southwest trending orogenic belt that is located in the northwestern part of Indian Peninsula. It is part of the Indian Shield that was formed from a series of cratonic collisions. In ancient times, Aravalli were extremely high but since have worn down almost completely by millions of years of weathering, whereas the Himalayas being young fold mountains are still continuously rising. Aravalli, being the old fold mountains, have stopped growing higher due to the cessation of upward thrust caused by the stopping of movement of the tectonic plates in the Earth's crust below them. The Aravalli Range joins two of the ancient earth's crust segments that make up the greater Indian craton, the Aravalli Craton which is the Marwar segment of earth's crust to the northwest of the Aravalli Range, and the Bundelkand Craton segment of earth's crust to the southeast of the Aravalli Range. Cratons, generally found in the interiors of tectonic plates, are old and stable parts of the continental lithosphere that has remained relatively undeformed during the cycles of merging and rifting of continents.

Vindhya Range :

The Vindhya Range (also known as Vindhyachal)  is a complex, discontinuous chain of mountain ridges, hill ranges, highlands and plateau escarpments in west-central India. Technically, the Vindhyas do not form a single mountain range in the geological sense. The exact extent of the Vindhyas is loosely defined, and historically, the term covered a number of distinct hill systems in central India, including the one that is now known as the Satpura Range. Today, the term principally refers to the escarpment that runs north of and roughly parallel to the Narmada River in Madhya Pradesh, and its hilly extensions. Depending on the definition, the range extends up to Gujarat in the west, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar in the north and Chhattisgarh in the east.

The Vindhyas have a great significance in Indian mythology and history. Several ancient texts mention the Vindhyas as the southern boundary of the Aryavarta, the territory of the ancient Indo-Aryan peoples. Although today Indo-Aryan languages are spoken south of the Vindhyas, the range continues to be considered as the traditional boundary between north and south India. The former Vindhya Pradesh was named after the Vindhya Range.

The western end of the Vindhya range is located in the state of Gujarat, near the state's border with Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, at the eastern side of the Gujarat peninsula. A series of hills connects the Vindhya extension to the Aravalli Range near Champaner. The Vindhya range rises in height east of Chhota Udaipur. The principal Vindhya range forms the southern escarpment of the Central Indian upland. It runs roughly parallel to the Naramada river in the east-west direction, forming the southern wall of the Malwa plateau in Madhya Pradesh.

Satpura Range :

The Satpura Range is a range of hills in central India. The range rises in eastern Gujarat state running east through the border of Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh to the east till Chhattisgarh. The range parallels the Vindhya Range to the north, and these two east-west ranges divide Indian Subcontinent into the Indo-Gangetic plain of northern India and the Deccan Plateau of the south. The Narmada River originates from north-eastern end of Satpura in Amarkantak, and runs in the depression between the Satpura and Vindhya ranges, draining the northern slope of the Satpura range, running west towards the Arabian Sea. The Tapti River originates in the eastern-central part of Satpura, crossing the range in the center and running west at the range's southern slopes before meeting the Arabian Sea at Surat, draining the central and southern slopes of the range. Multai, the place of Tapi river origin is located about 465 kilometer far, south-westerly to Amarkantak, separated across by the hill range. The Godavari River and its tributaries drain the Deccan plateau, which lies south of the range, and the Mahanadi River drains the easternmost portion of the range. The Godavari and Mahanadi rivers flow into the Bay of Bengal. At its eastern end, the Satpura range meets the hills of the Chotanagpur Plateau. The Satpura Range is a horst mountain and is flanked by Narmada Graben in the north and much smaller but parallel Tapi Graben in the south. Pench National Park is situated to the south of the Satpura. 

Amarkantak hills :

Amarkantak is situated in Anuppur district of the state of Madhya Pradesh at an altitude of 1065m at the meeting place of the Vindhya and Satpura mountain ranges amidst sylvan surroundings. It has an average elevation of 1048m. The mighty Narmada river as well the Son, the Mahanadi, and Arnadoh which is a major tributary of the Godavari all arise in the  Amarkantak plateau. The Narmada river is considered to be 150 million years older than the Ganga.Amarkantak itself is sacred to the Hindus and is deemed to be the gateway to Nirwana.The legends says that Lord Shiva himself blessed Narmada with unique purifying powers. Tradition requires the devout to take a holy dip in the Ganga, perform seven days of prayer on the banks of the river Yamuna and three days of prayer on the banks of the river Saraswati. However, it is believed that the mere sight of the Narmada is enough to purify the devout.

There are about 24 temples in and around Amarkantak, including the ancient temple dedicated to the Goddess Narmada and the temple of Devi Sati. The Trimukhi temple is dedicated to Lord Shiva and is the oldest temple in Amarkantak. It was built by the ruler Karan chendi between the years 1042-1122 AD. The Machendranathh at the Pataleshwar temple are prominent examples of Kalchuri art and expertise.

Kaimur Range  :

Kaimur Range (also spelt Kymore) is the eastern portion of the Vindhya Range, about 483 kilometres (300 mi) long, extending from around Katangi in Jabalpur district of Madhya Pradesh to around Sasaram in Rohtas district of Bihar. It passes through the Rewa and Mirzapur divisions. The range never rises more than a few hundred metres above the surrounding plains and has a maximum width of around 80 km. The southern part of the Vindhyan Range up to Katangi is called Bhander Range. Beyond this point the escarpment enclosing the land-locked valley of Sirampur and the hill range in continuation is called the Kaimur Range.

The most important physioraphic feature in eastern Madhya Pradesh is the great Kaimur escarpment. This forms the watershed or divide for two of the major rivers of peninsular India, the Son on the south and Tons on the north. Throughout its length of 300 miles and throughout its continuation into Narmada valley, it is not breached at any point by any stream flowing northwards, with a few minor exceptions. Everywhere the scarp rises to a height of 500 to 1000 feet above the low ground at its feet. The unique feature of the absence of any gorge or wind gap across the Kaimur scarp indicates that no stream of considerable size ever flowed due north across the scarp.