Narmada (redirected from Narbada)

Narmada (nərmŭ`də), river, c.775 mi (1,250 km) long, rising in Madhya Pradesh state, central India, and flowing W between the Satpura and Vindhya ranges through Gujarat state to the Gulf of Khambat. Because the river is turbulent and confined between steep banks, it is unsuitable for navigation or irrigation. However, the river is being developed for irrigation and hydroelectric power in a long-term project involving some 30 large, 135 medium, and 3,000 smaller dams and hundreds of miles of canals in Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, and Gujarat. Gujarat will be the primary beneficiary of the irrigation aspects of the project. The project has been controversial both in India and internationally, in part because of the thousands of people who will need to be resettled. The Narmada, sacred to Hindus, is said to have sprung from the body of the god Shiva; a round-trip pilgrimage on foot along its entire length is highly esteemed. Many holy baths and sites line its banks; at Marble Gorge, whose 100-ft-high (30.5-m) walls bear inscriptions and sculptures, is a 12th-century temple.

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Narmada, Narbada

a river in central India, rising in Madhya Pradesh and flowing generally west to the Gulf of Cambay in a wide estuary: the second most sacred river in India. Length: 1290 km (801 miles)

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Narmada 

(Narbada; ancient Namados), a river in India. According to various data, it measures from 1,250 to 1,400 km long; it drains an area of about 100,000 sq km. The Narmada rises in the Maikala Range, flows through the northern part of the Deccan plateau, and empties into the Gulf of Khambat (Cambay) of the Arabian Sea, forming an estuary. Over a considerable distance it flows in a deep tectonic fault valley. Water is abundant during the summer monsoon rains. In June and July the flow rate reaches 55,000 cu m per sec (exceeding that of the Ganges at this time of year). The waters of the lower Narmada are used for irrigation, and the river is navigable at the estuary. The cities of Broach and Anklesvar are located on the lower Narmada.