There was a king called 'Pururva' in the ancient times. He was the descendant of the Chandravansh (Moon). One day he asked his courtiers about the means by which a man who attracted by sins could attain heaven, without performing religious rites like 'Yagya' etc.The courtiers replied that only river Narmada is capable of doing that. But, she will first have to be brought down to the earth from the heaven.

       Pururva decided to bring Narmada to the earth. He commenced a tremendous penance to please Lord Shiva. Lord Shiva after being pleased, appeared before him, and asked him to demand any boon.Pururva demanded river Narmada to be sent down to the earth. Lord Shiva expressed his inability, and asked him to demand anything else, by saying that this demand is rare even for the deities.But Pururva did not relent. Lord Shiva then ordered to descend to the earth. Narmada said that how could she descend to the earth without any base.

       After hearing this Lord Shiva called the eight mountains and asked them as to who was capable of giving a base to Narmada.The mountain 'Vinshya' said that his son 'Paryank' is capable of achieving this feat. But ultimately when Narmada descended the whole earth including the mountains, Forests etc was flooded with its water. The deities requested Narmada to maintain some discipline, which she did by controlling her force.Pururva performed the 'tarpana' of his dead ancestors by the holy water of Narmada consequently all of them achieved liberation.

       The water of river Saraswati purifies a man in three days. Yamuna purifies a man in seven days. The Ganges purifies a man instantly after taking a bath. But the Narmada absolves a man of all his sins, and makes him pure, by merely her divine sight.

       In the present times, river Narmada has its source in the mountain series of 'Maikal' and it submerge into the ocean at 'Bharonch'. Narmada is also known as 'Reva', 'Samodbhava' and 'Mekhalsuta'. The sacred pilgrimage of Kanyatirtha' was also situated at its bank.

       Narmada is the most important river of Madhya-Pradesh and Western part part of India.