The first three districts in Gujarat through which Narmada flows are Chhota Udaipur, Vadodara and Rajpipla. Most part of Vadodara is on the northern banks while Rajpipla is mostly on the southern. Both Vadodara (Baroda) and Rajpipla were also important princely states prior to independence. The Rajpipla state ruled by the Gohil Rajput dynasty for nearly six centuries had a much longer history than its admittedly more powerful northern neighbour – and often a challenger – the Maratha state of Baroda ruled by the Gaekwars. While the history and achievements of the Baroda state, particularly during the reign of its later progressive rulers like Sayajirao Gaekwad has been much written about, the story of the Rajpipla state is not that widely known.
Rajpipla State and the remarkable Maharaja Vijaysinhji
The Rajpipla state had its seat of power at the town of Rajpipla on the banks of river Karjan, a tributary of Narmada. They had as their Kuldevi, Mata Harsiddhi Devi of Ujjain, and a temple dedicated to the Devi is also located in Rajpipla town. Founded in 1340, the Gohil Rajputs dynaty of Rajpipla only came to be seriously challenged for a short while when the Maratha state of Baroda began to extract tribute in the cusp of the nineteenth century. The British supremacy that soon emerged completely changed the power equations in the whole region, as they did in most parts of the country. But during the 1857 struggle, the Maharaja of Rajpipla rebelled against the British and later had to pay the price (not a very heavy and unpleasant one though) of being deposed and seeing his son replacing him.
The last two rulers of Rajpipla, Maharaja Chhatrasinhji (ruling from 1897 to 1915) and Maharaja Vijaysinhji (ruling from 1915 to 1948) possessed abilities of a high order. Chhatrasinhji laid the railway line in his state and was conferred the knighthood for his administrative accomplishments. Vijaysinhji had a wider array of interests and engagements, and even though on first look his ways appear to be like those of the usual self-indulgent and unabashedly anglophile rulers – a type that was not uncommon at that time – he had a remarkable devotion towards striving for the betterment of the conditions of his subjects and had a far-sighted vision that helped him execute several projects that had a long-term bearing on the region. He brought in land and revenue reforms that increased revenues while reducing the taxes on common folks, and did praiseworthy relief work during droughts and famines, particularly the great famine that scourged large parts of the country in the years 1897-99. The Maharaja could also see the potential of dams and conducted surveys for the same and in that respect anticipated the later big projects on Narmada. He built several hospitals, instituted maternity care, even started a veterinary hospital. He launched free primary education and created facilities for sporting excellence for youth. He himself was a sportsman at heart. He possessed the best racehorse stable in the subcontinent and his horses won some of the most prestigious races in the world like the Belgium Derby, the Irish Derby, and most significantly, the Epson Derby that was considered to be the greatest equestrian competition in the world.
While he usually spent summers in England he was never out of touch with the pulse of the rapidly changing situations back home. Even as a ruler he held elections for increased people’s participation and representation in affairs of governance through holding elections to a legislative assembly as early as 1932. He led the consensus-building process among the native states of Gujarat on the crucial issue of accession to the Union of India. The Indrajit-Padmini Palace that he built is a fine architectural specimen of those times. He passed away in 1951 and was cremated on the banks of Narmada near Rajpipla, with his death being deeply mourned by the people of the region.
Nareshwar and Sri Rang Avadhoot
After Malsar, which is on the northern banks, a very important place on the same side is Nareswar, which has the ashrama of the renowned saint Sri Rang Avadhut, a disciple of Swami Vasudevananda Saraswati (Tembe Swami.) It has a big temple complex visited by a very large number of people everyday. The river flows in the southern direction at Nareshwar. The banks here are sandy, much like the seashore, quite uncharacteristic as far as the rest of the Narmadakhand is concerned. Sri Rang Avadhoot is a highly revered figure in Gujarat, Maharasthra, and in the tradition of Sri Dattatreya.
Born Pandurang Vitthalapant Valame in 1898, in a Maharashtrian Brahmin family in Godhra in Gujarat, he met his Guru at a very young age and was greatly attracted towards the ideals of a deep spiritual life. After completing his graduation from the Gujarat Vidyapeeth, founded by Mahatma Gandhi during the non-cooperation movement, he briefly worked in Navjeevan Trust, the chief publication centre for Gandhian thought, and later taught Sanskrit in a school which occasioned him to write a book on Sanskrit grammar. He was a polyglot and a widely read person, interested in best of world literature besides scriptures and writings on spiritual themes. Among foreign thinkers and authors, Leo Tolstoy especially interested him. Along with the acclaimed Gujarati writer and freedom-fighter Narhari Parikh, he translated into Gujarati, the great Russian’s 1886 work ‘What is to be done?’ – an English title also used for another famous Russian tract of a later date by Vladmir Lenin. He also translated Ernest Crosby’s well-known book ‘Tolstoy as a School-Master’ into Gujarati.
In 1925 he settled at Nareshwar and spent more rhan four decades there. He performed the Narmada Parikrama twice, in 1927 and 1930 – the first one in mere 108 days. He continued to employ his phenomenal literary talents in authoring more than 40 more books. He composed a large number of devotional songs compiled as ‘Avadhooti Anand.’ He wrote on his Guru, Swami Vasudevananda Saraswati (‘Guruleelasmriti’ and ‘Vasudevasaptashati’) as also on the traditional scriptures like the Upanishads and the Vishnu Purana. He did a verse translation of the Bhagwadgita titled ‘Sangeetgeeta.’ He collected and published Marathi Abhangas (devotional hymns) in form of ‘Rangtarang’ and authored ‘Ranghridayam,’ a work consisting of hymns on Bhakti (devotion) and Jnana (knowdge.) He also wrote a 52 stanza poem on Sri Dattatreya titled ‘Dattabavani’ and also on the place Nareshwar titled ‘Nareshwar-Mahatmya.’ His mother also lived with him at Nareshwar till she passed away just a year before he did. Sri Rang Avadhoot left his mortal body in 1968 at Haridwar but was cremated at Nareshwar. Nareshwar has become inseparable with the name and spirit of this great soul.
In Gujarat, Narmada makes a number of islands by dividing itself into two streams for short distances before uniting again. One such island which comes not far away from Rajpipla town is the Vyasbet (the word ‘bet’ meaning island in Gujarati.) It is said that Sri Veda Vyasa had stayed here. Just south of Vyasbet is the Shukadevteertha, named after Shukdeva, son of Vea Vyasa, who also did Tapasya here. There is very old temple at Shukadevteertha. Another famous island that follows is Kabirbad, which has a very great Banyan tree. The place is said to have been visited by the great saint Kabirdas. Just south of Kabirvad is the town Jhagadia where there are several ashrams. Then follows another island, called the Gowalibet.
Bharuch: The Last Major Town on Narmada
From Vadodara, Narmada flows into the last district on its trajectory – Bharuch. The town of Bharuch (with its ancient name of Bhrigu-Kutchh was the place of Tapasya of the great sage Bhrigu) is on the nortgern banks. It is said that it was here that Raja Bali held his Yagna where Vishnu incarnated as a ‘Vamana’ (one of the Dash Avataras.) The town once served as an important port and was frequented by tradesmen from Middle East, Egypt, and Europe. It was at that time known to the outside tradesmen as Barygaza. And through it the Narmada too was well-known as affirmed by the references in the Periplus as well Ptolemy’s works. The development of Bharuch as a port instead of any others on western Gujarat is quite easy to understand. It had always been more expensive to ferry goods through land routes than water. So Bharuch on the eastern side of the Gulf of Cambay was of great advantage as lots of good for trading from inland regions were routed through the Narmada. In the later times the name Broach also struck to the city. There are still Parsis from the city who use the surname Broacha.
There is a bridge on the Narmada, from Bharuch to the southern banks, constructed in 1881 known as the Golden Bridge. Today one can reach the industrial complex of Ankaleswar, which is a few miles south of Bharuch, through this bridge. Ankaleshwar is a thriving industrial centre with more than a thousand plants, mostly of chemicals, and also has a big petroleum industry. It was the Golden Bridge that was used by Mahatma Gandhi and hundreds who followed him to cross Narmada in the Dandi March in 1930. Dandi is further south, located in the Navsari district, which also has a large percentage of tribal population. Navsari is where the first Parsi immigrants who came to India settled down more than a millennium back. It is very interesting to note that the name Navsari (literally meaning ‘New Sari’) is derived from the Iranian town of Sari from where the first set of immigrants had come. In a new land they hoped and wished to create their lost homeland. History has validated the faith they reposed in this far-off land where they sought to make their new home.
Uniting with the Sea: The Reva-Sangam
Since Bharuch is almost at the end of the Narmada’s trajectory (about 50 km away from the sea,) those who do Parikrama by vehicles have their vehicles crossed over here. On the southern side the river has to be crossed from the village of Vimaleshwar, also called Vamaleshwar, on boats. The road from Ankaleshwar till Hansot is called the Dandi Path.’ After Hansot one has to leave the ‘Dandi Path’ to proceed a few miles more to reach Vimaleshwar. At Vimaleshwar there are several temples and hundreds of pilgrims can be seen resting and waiting for boats. Most wait for long hours or even more than a day to get a place in the boat to cross the sea to reach the northern banks. Several of them come by buses. This is a 40 km wide sail and called the ‘Rewa-Sangam.’ The Parikramavasis have to book the boats which ferry them across the waters in about 4 to 5 hours (earlier it used to take eight hours.) At the middle of this, they offer their worship to Narmada Devi. The regular boat services for Parikramavasis is usually not available between ‘Akshay Tritiya’ in the summers to Deepawali. They cross over to Mithitalai in the nortgern banks which is very close to rhe huge industrial area of Dahej. To the west of Vimaleshwar and Mithitalai is the Gulf of Cambay (Khambaat ki Khaadi) and therefore further westward is located the Saurashtra region, separated from Bharuch district and this side of the land by the Gulf. Not a widely known fact is that Gujarat has the largest coastline among all Indian states and now has numerous ports. The old seaport town of Gogha is located directly in front of Vimaleshwar. It was an important port, flourishing for more than a millennium, until overtaken by the Bhavnagar port, some distance north of it.
▶Next Chapter: Amritlal Vegad – Soaking in Narmada’s Sublimity