Ken Gharial Sanctuary, Panna, Madhya Pradesh India

Puranic name of Amarkantak was Riksha parvat. It is not only the Narmada which arises from Amarkantak, because theson River, initially referred to as Jwalawanti of Johila, the Mahanadi and the Amadoh, which is a major early tributary of the Godavari, all rise from within the Amarkantak plateau.Among all the sacred rivers of India, the Narmada occupies a unique place. Legend has it that Lord Shiva blessed Narmada with unique purifying powers. Whereas to purify himself, a devotee requires taking one dip in the Holy Ganga, seven days' prayers on the banks of Yamuna and three days prayers on the banks of Saraswati, the mere sight of Narmada is enough. A charming folk tale describes the superiority of Narmada over Ganga. Once every year, after she herself is polluted beyond tolerance, Ganga visits Narmada dressed like a dark woman and takes a cleansing purifying dip in its waters! Narmada, which is more than 150 million years older than the Ganges RiverGanga and is considered by many Hindus to be the most sacred for all the rivers of India, Amarkantak itself is sacred to the Hindus and is deemed to be a door-way to ‘nirwana’.

The history about amarkantak reveals that during the Chendi dynasty hold the region was followed by the kalchuris in the 10th century. The region in the earier days was belived to be known as the ayodhya, as mentioned in our vedas, puranas that there was a ashram for the saints of kapil muni and rishi markand. Stories from the various books suggests that the pandavas of the mahabharat epic had spent their years of exile here. region was later in the 15th century was handed over Baghelas and in 1808, the bhosle of nagpur ruled out the region. Finally in went in the hands of minister of state goverment.
In the hindu mythology, Narmada is one of the seven sacred rivers of India. Pilgrims bathe in its holy water to wash away their sins. legend has it that once every year, the mighty Ganga comes to Narmada to take a holy dip into its water at the place of its origin.

Ken Gharial Sanctuary lies at the confluence of the Ken and the Khudar rivers in the Chattarpur district of Madhya Pradesh. Ken Gharial Sanctuary gets its name from the 6 meter long fish-eating Gharial, a rare species of crocodile. It is also home to wildlife species like sambar deer, blue bull (nilgai), peafowl, wild boar, spotted deer, chinkara and spotted deer. The Ken Gharial Sanctuary is part of the Gharial Conservation association where captive bred gharials are released to help regenerate the gharial ecosystem here.

I was stationed at Khajuraho and had spent an entire day and a half admiring temples, architectures and sculptures. After an overdose of history, I felt the need to get back into nature's arms. Thus, I decided to visit Ken Gharial Sanctuary, about 30 kms away from Khajuraho as part of a day trip. Locals had mentioned Raneh waterfall to me as a pretty tourist spot.  One can even enter Ken Gharial Sanctuary from the other bank, which falls under the boundary of the Panna Tiger Reserve.