An aerial view of River Narmada at Nemawar (Madhya Pradesh, India)
Rivers have been the site for settlements since ages. Civilizations thrived on river banks due to easy access to water for crop cultivation & hunting.
Several river valley civilizations have been studied by historians.
A few examples are – Mesopotamia Civilization ( Along the rivers Tigris & Euphrates in Egypt) ,Indus valley civilization (Along Indus River in Indian Subcontinent) and Yellow river civilization(China). These civilizations are frequently referred as Hydraulic Empires owing to water being the prime reason for the settlement.
In this series, we will travel with Narmada Ji – a river that originates in Madhya Pradesh in India travels across 3 states and finally falls into the Arabian Sea. Let’s see how this river touches upon the lives of people.
We will be starting with Amarkantak in Madhya Pradesh.
Amarkantak will set the pace of our journey and we will continue moving along the river to see some beautiful districts in Madhya Pradesh. The sights will be memorable as we will meet the tribals of Dindori, tigers of Kanha, traffic of Jabalpur and Mullah-do-Piyaza from Harda. We will also have a glimpse of fairs at Narsinghpur, Ghats at Hoshangabad, drawings of prehistoric age.
Going further we will come across other districts in the state of Madhya Pradesh – Omkareshwar-Khandwa, Khargone & Barwani. We come across some of the oldest temples built on the ghats of Narmada river, watch some water sports that Narmada hosts, check out some beautiful Maheshwari Sarees, ride on some vintage cars of Maharaja & hear a story of a son who accidentally gets separated from her mother and reunites with her after 25 years !
After Madhya Pradesh , we will move along Narmada and enter Maharashtra for a brief stint. Maharashtra’s Nandurbar district hosts the river for a short distance and then bids the river adieu as it enters Gujarat.
Last leg of the journey of Narmada is Gujarat.
Narmada bids adieu with a bang ! Goes off the Indian lands while giving India its one of the most prosperous states ! Gujarat…A big reason for Gujarat being economically prosperous is that Narmada flows through it. Historically, the regions around Narmada had thriving businesses.
In this series we will come across several places that we might have never heard of. They journey is only an attempt to remind ourselves that there is lot more to see in this world. Spend part of your life in traveling to unknown places.
