Also called the Rewa in North India, the river Narmada is the third longest river, after Rivers Godavari and Krishna, in India.
It forms the unmarked boundary between North and South India and flows westwards for a distance of 1, 312 km before draining into the Gulf and Khambhat.
The river has great religious significance, especially in Central India, where a special river pilgrimage called Narmada Parikrama is observed to pay tributes to the river.
The River Narmada is one of the five holy rivers to Hindus in India, the other four being the Ganga, Yamuna, Godavari and Kaveri.
According to folklore, the river Ganga, because of being polluted by millions of bathers, takes the form of a black cow and comes to wash up in the River Narmada.
Legends also maintain that the River Narmada is older than the River Ganga.
There are many local stories regarding the origin of the River Narmada. While some claim that it was born out of the sweat drops of Lord Shiva, others claim that Lord’s Brahma’s tears accumulated and gave birth to the River Narmada and Son.
The river originates from the Narmada Kund located in Amarkantak in Madhya Pradesh.
The river descends and then falls as the Kapildhara Falls into the plains. From here to the ruined palaces of Ramnagar.
The river Banger joins the River Narmada at a place between Ramnagar and Mandla.
The river flows ahead and emerges from the Marble Rocks to enter into its first fertile basin.
The river in its entire course enters three narrow valleys between the Vindhyas in the north and the Satpuras in the south.
At the river’s first fertile basin, many of its important tributaries from the south join in. Some of these tributaries are the Shakkar, the Sher, the Tawa, the Dudhi and the Ganjal.
The Tawa is the biggest tributary of the river Narmada.
The tributaries that join the river from the north end are the Lohar, the Karam, the Choral, the Barna and the Hiran.
