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Narmada, the holiest of the holy rivers.
Narmada one of the seven holy rivers of India; the other six being Ganges, Yamuna, Saraswati, Sindhu, Godavari and Kaveri
According to a legend, the river Ganges, polluted by millions of people bathing in it, assumes the form of a black cow and comes to the Narmada to bathe and cleanse itself in its holy waters, thus making her the holiest of the holiest rivers.
So holy is Narmada that, to remove sins of all lifetimes, one must bathe three years in the Saraswati, seven days in the Yamuna, one day in the Ganges, or merely glance at the Narmada.
There are many fables about the origin of the Narmada. According to one of them, once Lord Shiva meditated so hard that he started perspiring. Shiva's sweat accumulated in a tank and eventually overflowed as the Narmada or Shankari, Shankar’s daughter. Every pebble on the riverbed is supposed to take the shape of a Shivalinga.
One myth is that she was born from the body of Siva. Goddess Narmada was slim and beautiful. Gods and demons wanted to marry her; she had to flee and dodge the prospects. However, she was able to disappear then they were in the proximity. She played hide and seek with them and one inference of Narmada is her playful attitude of dodging. Finally she surrenders herself to Lord Shiva. The Lord was pleased in her absolute devotion. Siva blessed her and said, "May you become a holy river, and may your waters always be full!
Another legend has it that two teardrops that fell from the eyes of Lord Brahma, yielded two rivers – the Narmada and the Son.
Some other legends say an official proposal of marriage from Son was made to Mekala, Narmada’s father. Yet others say, the Son wooed the mighty Narmada and she agreed to marry him.
When the Son was coming towards his bride’s place in a slow procession, the curious and impatient Narmada sent her hairdresser Johilla to check out the groom. Son got chatting with Johilla and found her rather enchanting. When Narmada realized that her groom-to-be was enjoying Johilla’s company, she stormed out of the house and flowed westwards. The rejected Son too flew off to go in an easterly direction. Eventually, the Johilla stream, formed of her tears, flows eastwards to join the Son. This is the legend behind Narmada flowing to the west.
The stories goes on and on. All this made me intrigued and prompted me on a drive to Amarkantak in Madhya Pradesh, where Narmada originates. To see and to be a part of all this wonderful stories, and I am ever thankful that we could do it in one of our drives. To add to the joy, my girls were with me for this drive.
And this picture attracted me even further
So off to the story of Amarkantak, where the Narmada River, the Son River and Johila River emerge.
Thanks Wikipedia for the above picture and most of the information
9 days, 9 states, 5000Kms. (KA, AP, TS, MH, MP, CG, OD, PY (Yanam) and TN)
It was a fun trip with my girls, loads of memories for a life time. 
We went to Pench National Park, Kanha National Park, Sahasthradhara, Amarkantak in Madhya Pradesh.
We also visited Bhoramdev Temple, Kawardha, Tirathgarg Falls, Kutumser Caves, Kailash Caves, Dantevada, Barsur, Indravati River, Tamda Ghumar, Mendri Ghumar and the famous Chitrakoot falls of Chhattisgarg.
We then drove via Arakku valley to Vishakapattanam, checked out all its beaches.
Entered Yanam to checkout Pondichery territory
Then went to Konaseema on the banks of Godavari to check out Kerala of the east, and Antervadi to see Godavari meeting the Sea, before heading back home.
I have written about Bhoramdev temple, the Khajuraho of Chhattisgarg some time before. You can read the same
here.
This log will be only about Amarkantak drive from Kanha and back. 
The plan at Amarkantak 
Let us see a lot of Central India while we get more and more touristy snowy logs from the hills :D
06th November 2018 : Tuesday Kanha - Amarkantak - Kanha
We were staying at Club Mahindra Kanha for the night. Since we had to go to Amarkantak and be back the same day, some 500Kms for the day approximately, we decided to start the day early.
We woke up by 04:00 and got ready to go. By the time we started to roll it was 05:30AM.
It was 20 degrees at Kanha, and Odo stands at 39489. Already we were 1546Kms away from home!
It was 05:30 and it was still dark.
The night drive in Kanha!! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aBD4Fs9kmuU
Our route was Kanha - Jamuniya - Kamtipur - Bichiya - Kalyanpur - Gadasarai - Gorakhpuri - Jagatpur - Amarkantak
After a left turn at
Bichiya Dindori road, suddenly we were in the middle of some road construction and detours before we got back to the narrow two lane roads.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z3iTmHMRgF8
We then drove continuously and by 09:00AM
we were almost nearing Jagatpur Junction where the road turns left to AmarKantak, and goes straight to Chhattisgarh.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8uil-qfPRGQ Jagatpur Ecotourism resort is another 2Kms 
Amarkantak is another 8Kms to the left 
But we were stopped to check. It was election time in Chattisgarh
Jagatpur Jn. Straight ahead is Chhattisgarh and left is to Amarkantak 
We took the left and drove to Amarkantak, and after some distance we found a board pointing to Arandi Gufa 
We took a detour to Arandi Gufa 
From Jagatpur Jn Checkpost to Arandi Gufa https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Vtn3dJlIPo The road ahead goes to Kapil Dhara, looked mostly like a trekking path
It was written on the compound wall of Arandi Ashram that
Kapil Dhara is about 4kms 
We decided not to take that path, and checked out Arandi Ashram
continued...
06th November 2018 : Tuesday Kanha - Amarkantak - Kanha
Our next destination was to check out Kapil Dhara, the first waterfall on Narmada after it flows from its origin, Narmada Kund. Since Kapil dhara is away from the town, we decided to visit that first and then get back to town and roam around in the town.
Kapil Dhara is 4 Kms to the left, and the town is another 2Kms to the right from Kabir Sarovar
Drive from Arandi Gufa to Kapil Dhara Parking https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q1icz0Z-BP0 We were stopped at a checkpost to collect charges for parking 
Kungfu Panda (Jr.) and Jr. PPG at Kapil dhara parking 
Its a small trek to the falls 
No one was around 
Quote:
Kapildhara lies at a distance of 6 kilometers from the Narmada Kund. The holy waters of the River Narmada plunge from a height of about 100 feet, from the ground level. This cascade gets its name from the famous sage Kapil, who had resided at this place and performed severe religious austerities. Kapil muni is said to have received the divine light at this very place, according to the ancient scriptures. He had also written ‘Sankhya Philosophy’ an advance treatise on mathematics in the Kapil ashram. Kapildhara is set amidst majestic mountains, dense forests and low lying hills.
The mountains surrounding the Kapildhara waterfall have several caves within them, where many saints have meditated and attained salvation, during the ancient times. The Kapildhara falls are created by the River Narmada, which originates at the Narmada Kund. Two other rivers Kapila and Arandi, join the Narmada River to form the Kapildhara falls. Though the falls can be visited all year round, the best time however remains the months of September to January, the post monsoon period. En route to the falls, one can come across the Achanakumar Tiger Reserve. The waterfall is prominently set amidst the forests, known as Kapilvan. According to Hindu mythology, sage Kapil had tried to stop the reverse flow of the Narmada River from this point.
Kapildhara is the first waterfall from the Narmada Kund, on the banks of River Narmada. Though the waters jut down with a tremendous force, the depth of the pool underneath is only 20 to 25 feet. One needs to beware of the monkeys and langurs that frequent the falls! The people, who visit Kapildhara falls, usually collect the stones from the holy river waters, which are worshiped as shivlings, called Narmadeshwar. The pilgrims also worship the footprints of Lord Kapileshwar Shiva and the sage Kapil, at the Kapil Ashram.
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You get to see Kapil Dhara from the top first 
First view of Kapil Dhara https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i1HS1AzWhno
Then there is a walkway leading you to a forest. You can reach the foot of Kapil Dhara and also go to Doodh Dhara which is the second falls on Narmada river.
You get some places like this to rest 
continued...
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