This is the traditional belief of every Indian, every Hindu

रेवातीरे तपस्तप्येत् पिण्डं दद्यात् गयाशिरे।

दानं दद्यात् कुरुक्षेत्रे मरणं जाह्नवीतटे॥

स्कान्द पुराणे

revātīre tapastapyeta piṇḍaṁ dadyāt gayāśire|

dānaṁ dadyāt kurukṣetre maraṇaṁ jāhnavītaṭe||

skaanda puraanam

This is the traditional belief of every Indian, every Hindu

The ideal place for doing penance, performing austerities and find peace in life, is the banks of River Narmada the Reva

The most appropriate piece of land where ceremonial cakes made of grains (Pindam) should be offered to the departed souls is Gaya ( In the presence of Vishnupada and Akshyavata)

The terrain most suited for offering gifts to leaned persons, elders and the needy is Kurukshetra

and

The most sacred place for a person to die is the banks of Jahnavi the Ganga

रेवा तीरे in the banks of River Reva or Narmada तपः तप्येत् one should do penance and perform austerities गयाशिरे in the hilly terrains of Gaya पिण्डं दद्यात् one should offer ceremonial rice cakes to the departed elders कुरुक्षेत्रे in the terrain of Kurukshetra दानं दद्यात् gifts should be offered मरणं death जाह्नवी तटे in the banks of Jahnavee, the Ganga भूयात् should happen

രേവാതീരേ തപസ്തപ്യേത പിണ്ഡം ദദ്യാത് ഗയാശിരേ।

ദാനം ദദ്യാത് കുരുക്ഷേത്രേ മരണം ജാഹ്നവീതടേ॥
സ്കാന്ദപുരാണം

പാവനങ്ങളും മനുഷ്യ ജന്മത്തിനു ധന്യത നല്‍കുന്നവയും ആയ  പുണ്യസ്ഥലങ്ങളെക്കുറിച്ചുള്ള ഭാരതീയ സങ്കല്‍പം

രേവയെന്ന നര്‍മ്മദയുടെ തീരത്ത് തപസ്സിരിക്കുക .

ഗയയില്‍ ഗയയിലെ വിഷ്ണുപാദത്തിന്റെയും അക്ഷയ വടത്തിന്‍റെയും മുന്നില്‍ മറഞ്ഞു പോയ പിതൃക്കള്‍ക്ക് പിണ്ഡം അര്‍പ്പിക്കുക

ധര്‍മ്മത്തിന്‍റെ വിളനിലമായ കുരുക്ഷേത്രം സന്ദര്‍ശിച്ചു ആ ഭൂമിയില്‍ നിന്നുകൊണ്ട് ദാനധര്‍മ്മങ്ങള്‍ ചെയ്യുക

അവസാനം

ജാഹ്നവിയായ ഗംഗയുടെ തീരങ്ങളില്‍ ജീവിച്ചു പ്രാണന്‍ വെടിയുക

kaveri naramada

A friend asked whether importance given to south Indian river kaveri or western Narmada was as pronounced as the reverence given to River Ganga.

I would love to share my ideas on it..

We cannot decide whether the veneration was same as given to Ganga or Narmada.

The fact is that Sanskrit chronicles especially epics and puranas except very few seem to have been written by persons occupying territory north if Vindhya.

And the south Indian geography was dealt with only in a skeletal way.

But there are texts like Thulapuranam which revere Kaveri.

The authors of the north knew about Kaveri Thungabadra Godavari etc but that knowledge was less than in the case of Sindhu and Ganga.

The legend is that Agastya the sage and scholar crossed the Vindhya ranges and settled in the south.

Kaveri became his spouse after that crossing over.

Earlier Lopaamudra is his consort.

Sanskrit texts of the south give almost equal importance to Kaveri and Ganga

Of course Tamil culture reveres Ponni and Kaveri from time immemorial.

Kaveri is not found in great prominence in Vedic literature..

It is all a question of the geography of literature.

However in many puranas and other literature of Pan India nature whenever geography or sacred pilgrimage spots are listed Kaveri too gets a very respectful reference

Narmada again is in the south west end of the Indo Gangetic plane and so gets lesser frequency in reference.

But she is more frequent than Kaveri

The prime rivers eulogized in early phase of Indian and vedic north -oriented set up are Sindhu Ganga and Saraswathi ..