Dwarkadhish Temple
Dwarkadheesh Temple is a
sacred place for all the Hindus across the country and known as one of the
Chaar dhaam pilgrimages. Originally, it is believed to be built by Vajranabh,
the great grandson of Lord Krishna, more than 2500 years ago and as per Hindu mythology,
the temple was built in two days by Viswakarma as per the instructions of Lord
Krishna. Lord Dwarkadheesh is adorned with lots of gold jewellery and other
precious stones such as Diamonds and Topaz.
The grandeur of the temple
is enhanced by the flight of 56 steps leading to the rear side of the edifice
on the side of the river Gomti. There are two gateways: Swarga Dwar (gate to
the heavens), where pilgrims enter, and Moksha Dwar (gate to liberation), where
pilgrims exit.
The main deity is of Lord
Krishna/ Dwarkadheesh. Apart from this main idol, there are idols of Baldevaji
(Balrama), Pradyumna and Aniruddha (grandsons of Lord Krishna) too. There is a
small shrine dedicated to KuseswaraMahadeva (Shiva) also. Besides these, there
are shrines dedicated to Devaki (mother of Lord Krishna), Veni-madhava (Lord
Vishnu), Radhika, Jambuvati, Satyabhama, Lakshmi, Saraswati and Lakshmi-Narayan
in the temple complex.
Mythology:
Dwarka is said to be the
city where Lord Krishna spent his entire childhood and teenage. His love
stories, naughty encounters and miraculous actions had all taken place here.
The Dwarka city is said to be built by Lord Krishna himself 5000 years ago.
Dwarka is assumed to have been immersed in the sea, when the Lord returned to
his divine world. In the early eighties, archeological department revealed that
the entire coast of western India sank by nearly 40 feet around 1500 B.C.
How To Reach:
By road: Dwarka is on the
state highway from Jamnagar to Dwarka. Direct buses are available from Jamnagar
and Ahmedabad.
By rail: Dwarka is a station
on the Ahmedabad-Okha broad gauge railway line, with trains connecting it to
Jamnagar (137 km), Rajkot (217 km) and Ahmedabad (471 km), and some trains that
continue all the way down the coast through Vadodara, Surat, Mumbai, Goa,
Karnataka, to the southern tip of India in Kerala.
By air: Nearest airport is
Jamnagar (137 km).
History
Legends say that the history reveals an interesting legend about the deity placed in the Dwarkadheesh temple. Story says that once a girl named Badana used to pay a regular visit to the temple. Pleased by her devotion, the main deity one day walked with her, but the priests suspected that Badana had stolen the deity and pursued her to get it back to the temple. After that, Badana pleased the she would give gold in proportion the weight of the idol and the priests accepted. Hindu mythology says Krishna established the Dwarka city overnight through his miraculous power commissioning the job to Vishwakarma, the architect of the gods. All the subjects of Krishna were transported to the city overnight without their knowledge to be saved from the attacks of demons.
The Dwarkadhish temple is 5 storied monuments and
stands on the confluence of Gomati River and Arabian Sea. Present temple is
expected not to be older than the Mughal period. The inscriptions on the
pillars date back to the 15th century. Necessarily, the ancient temple had been
there, but it was possibly destroyed by MohmudBegada in 1473 AD. The current
structure must have been erected during the period of Mughal Emperor, Akbar.
There are two entrances where the main doorway (north entrance) is known as
"Moksha Dwara" (Door to Salvation), whereas the southern doorway is
called as "SwargaDwara" (Gate to Heaven).
