HistoryThe river has been mentioned by Ptolemy in the Second century AD as Namade. There are several references of Narmada in the Ramayana, the Mahabharat and Puranas. The Rewa Khand of Vayu Purana and the Rewa Khand of Skanda Purana are entirely devoted to the story of the birth and the importance of the river  Narmada. Legends also mention that the Narmada River is older than the river Ganga. 

Narmada in Hindu religionThe Narmada river is one of the most sacred  holy rivers of India among Ganga, Yamuna, Godavari and Kaveri. Every Hindu belives that a dip in any of these five rivers washes their sins, Narmada is said to be the daughter of Lord Shiva (शिव). According to a proverb

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  नर्मदकि कंकर, सोई शिवशंकर|
  Narmada Ke Kanker soe shiv Sankar
 

It means, "Every pebble stones of Narmada gets a personified form of Shiva"   All along the course of the Narmda river, starting with its origin at Narmadakhund at Amarkantak hill largest Shiva temples in India are located. The famous temples of Lord Sjiva on narmada river  are  the Amarkantak  or Teerathraj,  Omkareshwar, Maheshwar, Sulpaneswar, Narmdeswar, Khumbeswar, Hanumanteswar, Sukrewsar, Mandveswar, Dasameswar, Kubereswar, Vaysewar, Adeteswar, Hayeswar  and Chamundikund – all named after Shiva.
Other famous temples are  Chausath Yogini (sixty four yoginis) temple,  Chaubis Avatar temple, Bhojpur Shiva temple and Bhrigu Rishi temple in Bharuch.
There are many fables about the origin of the Narmada. According to one of them, once Lord Shiva, the Destroyer of the Universe, meditated so hard that he started perspiring. Shiva’s sweat accumulated in a tank and started flowing in the form of a river – the Narmada.