Omkareshwar, one of the famous 12 Jyotirlingas, is a beautiful self manifest Linga on the banks of the holy river Narmada. The smooth, round pebbles found in this river are called “Bana Lingas” and also Narmada Shiva Linga. Several scriptures extol the virtues of worshipping the Bana-Linga. What Salagramas are to Vishnu, the bana-lingas are to Shiva - sacred and self-manifest representations. If the Salagrama are stones found only in the Gandaki river, the bana-lingas are stones found only in the Narmada river. The currents of the Narmada river are very strong and forceful, and the stones are carried from the rocky river-sides, rendering them smooth and polished.
According to Yajnavalkya-samhita, the bana-lingas obtained in the river Narmada are the very forms of Siva assumed by the God at the request of Banasura and are therefore the holiest of objects. Worshipping one bana-linga gets the benefits that can be procured by worshipping a crore of other lingas. 

The demon Bana was the eldest son of Bali, who in turn was the grandson of Prahlad. Bana was a great devotee of Siva, and Siva gave him his own representative in the form of a natural linga of worship (banrchartham krtam lingam); hence the name Bana-linga. As the bana-lingas are self-manifest forms of Siva, they are holier than any other anionic forms of Siva. According to Yajnavalkya-samhita the bana-lingas are actually bits of the river-side rock, which flowed into the stream Narmada. The rock by the side of the river was itself the linga, the form assumed by Siva to bless the asura Bana. Siva dwells in that rock and the parts of the rock which we find in the river are, therefore, aspects of Siva. The bana-lingas in the Narmada River may be the shape of a ripe jambu-fruit, or of a swan’s egg. They may be honey-coloured, white, blue or emerald-hued. Suta-samhita, which also extols the bana-lingas, mentions that the best bana-lingas are like the lotus seeds or like the hen’s egg in shape. According to scriptures, one can simply keep them in pooja and worship and there is no need to ceremonially instal the bana-lingas. They do not require the normal ritual of invocation of divine presence (avahana) etc, for the divine presence is already there, and will continue to be there quite independently of any rituals. Its worship is said to secure worldly welfare as well as emancipation from worldly involvement. It is therefore claimed that the bana-linga when worshipped is a thousand times more effective than any other linga.  

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