Days of Dharshan 28th (Thursday), 29th (Friday), 30th (Saturday) and 31st (Sunday), July, 2022
Divya Desams in the North - 10
10. Dwaraka
Among the 7 holy places that give Moksha (salvation) Ayodhya, Mathura, Maya (Haridwar),
Kashi, Kanchi, Avanti (Ujjain), Dwarka is Dwarka. is 7th.
Adi Shankara established his monasteries in the four corners of
India, Jyotishmat near Badrinath in the North, Sringeri in the South, Puri in the East and Dwarka io the West.
Stala Purana:
Krishna was born in Mathura but he grew up in nearby Gokulam Both these places are situated in the state of Uttarakhand.
Krishna's maternal grandfather Kamsa came to Mathura.
Learning through a divine voice from the heavens that the eighth child that was going to be born in his sister Devaki's womb would destroy him,
Kamsa kept Devaki and her husband Vasudeva in prison. He killed each of Devaki's seven children immediately after they were born by crashing their heads against the wall of the prison.
Krishnan was born as the eighth child of Devaki. Since Krishna was an incarnation of Vishnu, Krishna created an illusion in Kamsa's palace so that no one knew about the birth of the child.
Child Krishna presented himself to Vasudeva as Vishnu with conch, chakra and four hands.
At Krishna's command, Vasudeva took Krishna and left him at Nandagopan's house in Gokula on the banks of the Yamuna river, and from there he took the baby girl born to Nandagopan's wife Yasodha, brought her to Mathura and placed her next to his wife Devaki in the prison.
Until then, nobody, including Devaki, knew anything that had happened due to the illusion that prevailed everywhere.
The prison doors opened and closed by themselves when Vasudeva went out and came back.
The guards who were in a state of stupor knew nothing that transpired.
When Vasudeva crossed the Yamuna, the river Yamuna created a path in the middle of the stream and made way for him.
When the baby girl was placed near Devaki, the baby cried. That was when the illusion was dispelled. Devaki opened her eyes and saw the child.
The guards came out of the stupor, realized that Devaki had given birth to a child, rushed to Kamsa and conveyed the news to Kamsa.
Kamsa same to the prison, grabbed the child from Devaki, lifted it and tried to kill it.
Freeing herself from Kamsa's hands, the child arose in the space, appeared as Goddess Durga, and disappeared, after telling Kamsa, "He who is going to kill you grows up elsewhere."
After that, Kamsa freed Devaki and Vasudeva.
After some time, Vasudeva told Devaki what had happened. Devaki was relieved to know that her son was alive.
After coming to know that the child born to Devaki was growing up in Gokulam, Kamsa sent many people, including a demoness named Bhootaki, a demon in the guise of a calf, and a demon in the guise of a cart-wheel to kill Krishna. All were killed by Krishna.
After Krishna grew up, he came to Mathura with his elder brother Balarama, fought with Kamsa, killed him and became the king of Mathura. Balarama also stayed in Mathura as Krishna's companion.
The people of Mathura who were suffering under the tyrannical rule of Kamsa were overjoyed when Krishna became the king.
Kamsa's father-in-law Jarasandha wanted to take revenge on
Krishna for killing his son-in-law.
He attacked Mathura, with his army.
He invaded Mathura 17 times but was defeated every time by Krishna.
Both Krishna and Balarama were unable to kill Jarasandha as Jarasandha had received a boon that if his body was brought together after it was severed, he would come back to life.
(Later, when Jarasandha fought with Bhima, at Krishna's suggestion, Bhima tore Jarasandha's body into two and put the two parts in reverse positions, so that Jarasandha's body could not be put back together, and he lost his life.)
Krishna wanted to leave Mathura and go somewhere else because he felt that Jarasandha's frequent wars would cause trouble to the people of Mathura. But Balarama did not agree to this.
In this situation, Jarasandha roped in a demon called Kalayavana as his ally..
Kalayavana was blessed by Lord Shiva that no one could kill him in battle. He invaded Mathura with an army of 3 crore Yavanas.
Since Kalayavana could not be killed in the battle, Krishna ran away from the battlefield wearing a lotus garland around his neck.
Kalayavana chased him .
Krishna came to a cave at a place called Dakor and stopped. The place where he stopped is called Dakor Dwarka. In the temple there, Lord Krishna is known as Ranchodrai (the king who ran away from the battlefield). (The deity in Mool Dwarka temple is also called by the same name.)
A man named Muchukund was sleeping in that cave in Dakor. As Muchukund had helped the Devas in the Deva-Asura war, he received a boon from Indra that anyone who disturbed his sleep would burn to ashes if Muchkund threw his gaze on him.
Krishna entered the cave and remained hidden.
Hearing the noise, Muchukhund woke up from his sleep.
At that time, Kalayavana who was chasing Krishna, caught the eye of Muchukund and Kalayavan got burnt.
Krishna advised Muchukund to go to the Himalayas and do penance. Muchukund did accordingly and attained moksha.
Then Krishna and Balarama came to Dwarka. They first came to
a place called Mool Dwarka and stayed there for some time. Subsequently, they came to Dwaaraka.
Dwaraka is situated on the banks of the river Gomati.
The river Gomati flows only for five miles before it enters into the sea at Dwaraka
Gomati was a daughter of Sage Vasishta. Vasishta set out in search of a bridegroom for his daughter. He wanted her to accompany him
Gomathi said that she would follow Vahishta and that Vasishta could know that she was coming behind him by hearing the sound of her anklets, But she made it a condition that he should never look back.
When she came to Dwarka, Gomathi was enamoured by the place which had been the abode of Krishna and wanted to stay there.
As Gomati was walking slowly in that sandy area, Vasishta did not hear the sound of her anklets. He looked back.
Gomati stayed there saying that her father had violated her condition. She turned into a river and joined the nearby sea.
Krishna and Balarama ruled the region from Dhwakai.
Krishna sought a place from theOcean King and built a city on an island in the sea.
This is called Bet Dwaraka. Bet in Gujarati language means island.
The word Bet also means gift.
Sudhama (Kuchela) who had studied with Krishna in the Gurukula was very poor. At the suggestion of his wife, he came to Dwarka to seek help from Krishna.
Sudhama brought a handful of stuffed rice (poha) that his wife had wrapped in a piece of cloth, to offer to Krishna.
When Sudhama met Krishna, he did not feel like asking him for help. He gave the stuffed rice to Krishna and left. Krishna relished the stuffed rice given by Sudhama.
When Sudhama returned to his village, he found his house was transformed into a mansion. His house was also full of grains and gold coins. He was moved by Krishna's grace.
That place is called Bet Dwaraka because Sudhama met Krishna there and gave him the gift he had brought.
There is a theory that Gomati Dwarka was the capital of Lord Krishna and Bet Dwarka was his abode.
Krishna may have created the island of Bet Dwaraka because he might have wanted a more
secure place in case of Jarasandha's re-invasion.
Pancha Dwarka (Five Dwarkas):
1. Gomati Dwaraka - The idol in this temple on the banks of Gomati is said to have been worshiped by Krishna's wife Rukmini and consecrated by Vajranabha, Krishna's great-grandson. (He was the son of Anirudha, who was the son of Pradhyumana, the son of Krishna.)
2. Dakor Dwarka- Bodana took the idol from Gomati Dwarka and consecrated it in Dakor Dwarka. This place is about 90 kilometers from Ahmedabad and it is near Anand.
3. Bet Dwarka - It is about 35 kilometers from Gomati Dwarka. It is an island 13 km long and 4 km wide in the middle of the sea (the area is now backwaters), 3 km from the port of Oka.
4. Mool Dwarka - This is in a small town called Visavada situated on the coast about 35 kilometers from Somnath. Krishna and Balarama came to this town first. Hence it is called Mool (Root or Source) Dwaraka.
5. Nath Dwarka - Sreenath temple, called Nath Dwarka, is situated at about 45 kilometers from Udaipur in Rajasthan. This deity was worshipped by Meera, the renowned Devotee of Krishna.
(There is also said to be a sixth Dwaraka called Gangroli Dwaraka.)
Out of these five Dwarkas, during this trip, we visited only three Dwarkas, namely Gomati Dwarka, Bet Dwarka and Mool Dwarka.
Dwarka railway station is on the Rajkot-Okka railway line.
There are a few trains from Chennai to Okha via Mumbai and Ahmedabad. One can reach Dwarka, through one of these trains.
We went by air. We flew to Rajkot via Mumbai and drove 225 miles from Rajkot to Dwarka. We arranged a cab on contract basis to visit the different places.
For people travelling in small groups, A good tourist service will be the appropriate option.
Gomati Dwarka or Gomukhi Dwarka - Dwarkadish Temple:
The temple looks majestic from the outside. Electronic devices like cell phones, smart watches are not allowed inside the temple. You can hand them over at the counter outside and get a receipt.
The temple has many shrines. There are many guides who show you around the temple. Many of them know only Hindi (and Gujarati).
When we went for darshan on 28.7.22 in the evening, there were no English speaking guides available.
It was Adi Amavasya (Ashada Amavasya is a special day for the people of this region) and the temple was crowded.
When we went again on the morning of 31.7.22, we were able to get a guide who could speak English. He explained the Stala Purana and showed us around, covering all the sannidhis.
The four tiers in the temple tower are said to represent the four holy places: Badrinath in the North, Puri in the East, Dwarka tin the West and Rameswaram or Srirangam in the South.
The seven levels above these four tiers are considered to represent the seven holy places of salvation (mentioned at the beginning of this post.)
A 52 inch wide flag flies at the top of the tower. According to the Vaishnavite scholar Velukudi Sri Krishnan, this number represents the sum of the number of stars (27), the number of zodiac signs (12), the number of planets (9) and the number of directions (4).
This flag is changed five times a day. An offering is made by the devotees for each change of flag. When the flag is changed, the devotees who have made the offering are allowed to go up the tower. At the time of our visit, we were told that the offering has been made in advance upto the year 2025.
At the center of the temple is the Krishna Sannidhi. Lord Krishna who gives Dharshan at this shrine is known as Dwarkadeesh.
According to Divyadesa tradition, the name of this Perumal is Kalyana Narayanan
Thayar (Goddess): Lakshmi, Rukmini
Vimanam (Tower): Hemakuta Vimanam
Thirtham (Holy water source): Gomati River, the Ocean
The shrines of Krishna's son Pradyum and his grandson Anirudhan is in a separate hall.In another hall there are Sannidhis of Adisaankaar, Saradha, Krishna, Chandramoleeswarar and Spatikalingam.
Apart from these, there are several shrines like Madhav, Balaram, Garuda, Guru Dadathatareya, Purushottama Rai, Ambika, Gayatri Mata, Kasi Vishwanathar all over the prakara starting from the entrance.
Durvasa was angered that Rukmini drank the water without seeking his permission, He pronounced two curses. The first curse was that Krishna and Rukmini would be separated. The second curse was that the water within a radius of 15 miles around Dwarka would be salty.
Therefore, Rukmini does not have a shrine in this temple. There is a separate temple called Rukmini Devi Temple at a distance of 3 miles from here.
Ground water remains saline in areas within a radius of about 20 kilometers around Dwarka. Narmada river water is brought and supplied to the people from Porbandar.
Trivikrama Sannidhi is located near another entrance of the temple. Here the devotees can touch the feet of Trivikram and offer obeisance. Close to this is the Tulaaparam, the divine balance for devotees to offer things equal to their weight.
The glory of this temple was sung by 5 Azhwars.- Periyalvar (5 pasurams), Andal (4 pasurams), Thirumangai Azhvar (2 pasurams), Thirumazhisai Azhvar (1 pasuram) and Nammazhvar (1 pasuram) There are 13 verses in total.
On 30.07.22 we left Dwaraka in the morning and went to Bet Dwarka. The road journey from Dwarka to Okha covers a distance of about 35 km.
From Okha, we traveled about 3 kilometers by boat through the backwaters and reached Bet Dwarka.
The ferry ride took about 20 minutes. Boats with a capacity of about 100 people are frequently plying from both directions.
Bet Dwarka Temple is also known as Dwarakadeesh Temple.
Bet Dwarka is also known as Shankodhar. This name is due to the abundance of Shanku (conch shells) here. In the Mahabharata, this island is referred to as Antardweep (underworld island). .
As mentioned earlier in this post, Sudhama (Kuchela) met Krishna and presented stuffed rice to him, hence the name Bet, which means gift, also applies to this town
Adjacent to this temple is the Dwarkadeesh Gold Palace. It
contains pictorial depictions of the history of Krishna, and many mythological scenes.
On 29.07.22 in the afternoon we visited Nageshwar Temple.
It is about 17 kilometers from Dwarka on the way to Bet Dwarka.
The Linga here is considered to be one of the twelve Swayambu Jyotirlingas in the world. It is said that this place was called Darukaavana in ancient times. There is also an opinion that Darukavana is located in Uttarakhand.
Near Nageswar there is a place called Gobi Talab (Gopis' Pond)
On 30.07.22, we went to Somnath temple which is 237 km from Dwarka. The lingam at Somnath is one of the twelve Swayambu Jyotir Lingams.
This 2000 year old temple was demolished by Muhammad Ghazni
in 1026 AD.
After India's independence, it was rebuilt and inaugurated in 1951 by the then President Babu Rajendra Prasad.
Lord Shiva as Jyotirlingam and Parvati behind him are seen in Sannidhi. Brahma is nearby. Hanuman and Ganapati idols are in the front of the sanctum sanctorum.
(Deeparadhana) accompanied by the sound of bells and rhythms is considered auspicious and is popular. When we went to the temple, we had the opportunity to witness the harati which was performed at 12 noon.
A signboard with the name "Lightway till Indian Ocean" was found along the lit path along the beach. It was amazing to know that the path with these lights goes along the coast to Kanyakumari.
The name Ramanuja Kota was also written on the tem found. Beside this, there is a choultry for pilgrims nearby.
The temple was locked when we visited the place. The choultry manager said that it would open only at 3.30 pm.
At Veraval, five kilometers from Somnath, there is a place
called Bal Ka Deerth (Sacred Place of the Arrow).
Krishna decided to return to Vaikunda after finishing his
incarnation and sat on a branch of a tree at this place. Then a hunter named
Zara mistook his foot for a deer's face and shot an arrow.
Realizing his mistake, Jara apologized to Krishna.
Krishna blessed him, left this world and returned to Vaikuntam. This story is also stated in the Bhagavata.
In the temple here, the scene of the hunter shooting an arrow at Lord Krishna.
Then we proceeded to Porbanda.
We went to Sudhamapuri, the house where Sudhama had lived.
Here, there are the idols of Sudhama and his wife and Radhakrishna
Sannidhi.
From there we went to Mool Dwarka in a town called Visavada.
As mentioned earlier, this is the place where Krishna and
Balarama first came and stayed. After staying here for some time, they went to
Dwarka.
(As described by me earlier in this post that Krishna first went from Mathura to Dakor Dwarka, where Kalavayanan was killed by Muchkund and
in the temple there he is called Ranchodrai. From Dakor Dwaraka Krishna first
came to Mool Dwaraka, then from here he went to Gomati Dwaraka and from there he set up
Bad Dwaraka.)
The temple here has shrines for Panchayuthan, Parasurama,
Nilakander, Brahma, Surya Narayanan and Ganapati, apart from the Ranchotrai
shrine.
There is also a shrine for a saint named Vijanta Bhagat.
An ancient step well with many steps is also present here.
On the last day of our trip, 31.07.2022, we went back to the Dwarkadeesh Temple in the morning and with the help of an English speaking guide, had another darshan of the temple.
Then we went to a place called Sudhama Setu (Sudama Bridge) near the temple.
It is mostly intended to attract the tourists.
Boat rides and camel rides are also available near the bridge.
On a small alcove near the gate is an image of Sri Ram Seela,.
The scene depicts Hanuman writing Sri Ram on a rock and the stone floating in the ocean due to the glory of Rama's name.
A person who knew Hindi gave me an explanation for the text
written in Hindi as "Tertha Bhattar" which means "floating
stone".
In the evening, we went to Rukmini Devi temple which is about 5 km away from Dwaraka.
Then we went to Gayatri Mata Temple.
Finally, en we went to the beach to watch the sunset. There were clouds on the horizon so we couldn't see the sun
until it set in the sea. Just above the horizon, the sun disappeared into
the clouds.
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