Narmada River

Course of the Narmada

The Narmada at Omkareshwar

Template: Infobox River / Obsolete

The Narmada or Nerbudda (Hindi, f, नर्मदा Narmada, [ nʌɽmʌdɑ ː ] ) is one of the sacred rivers of India. It flows from central India to the west and empties into the Arabian Sea. Its length is 1312 km.

Course

The Narmada rises in the north of the state of Madhya Pradesh on the summit of Amarkantak, winds on the first 320 km of its course between the hills of Mandla highlands, which form the beginning of the Satpuragebirges flows at Jabalpur through beautiful to look at marble Rocks ( Bhedaghat ), wedged the course of the river Narmada, then. formed by the Vindhya and Satpura range from the valley in southwestern direction The 20 km long estuary located north of Surat in the Gulf of Khambhat in the Arabian Sea.

Catchment and river system

The catchment area covers the northern slopes of the Satpuragebirges, but not those of the north bounding Vindhya plateau, whose waters flow into the rivers Ganga and Yamuna. The longest tributary is the Tawa. Together with the Vindhya mountain range forms the Narmada a kind of boundary between the northern India (especially the Gangetic plain ) and Southern India ( Deccan ).

Cultural Significance

The Narmada is considered by the Ganges and the Yamuna as the most sacred river of India. For this reason, are located along its course many pilgrimage sites, such as Maheshwar in Madhya Pradesh. As a particularly pious pilgrimage applies, from the source to the mouth and then to make a pilgrimage back to the other side of the river. This pilgrimage can take up to two years to complete.

In the area of Hoshangabad geologist Arun Sonakia discovered in 1982, a Stone Age skull roof, which is about 236,000 years old and Homo erectus was attributed.

Use

The river is not used only for irrigation, but also for navigation. In the rainy seasons, larger ships can sometimes drive on the river in certain areas.

In the lower reaches of the river is since 1961 a large dam with a hydroelectric power plant with 1,450 MW under construction, part of the highly controversial Sardar Sarovar irrigation project ( the Sardar Sarovar Dam ). Opponents of this project formed the Narmada Bachao Andolan movement ( save- the - Narmada Movement) led by Medha Patkar. The Indian writer Arundhati Roy has distinguished himself as an opponent of dam project. In 1999, however, the hopes of the movement were disappointed by a judgment of the Supreme Court.