JOIN USMemories in gold
Most of us have heard of the Bhagavata Purana, Mahabharata and the stories within these grand old epics. In these volumes, apart from the life of Lord Krishna, his influences on the happenings of Mahabharata and on Kauravas and Pandavas are described in great detail. Anyone, even those who have a smattering knowledge of Mahabharata and Bhagawat Purana, would reel out the cities involved like Hastinapur, Indraprastha, and Kurukshetra. When talking about Krishna, it is always Mathura, Gokul, Govardhan, Nandgram and so on.
However, very few people include Dwarkapuri in the list and considering that Lord Krishna spent most of his adult life in Dwarkapuri, it is quite surprising. Krishna killed Kansa and reinstalled Kansa’s father as the king of Mathura. However, Kansa’s brother-in-law repeatedly wreaked vengeance on the people of Mathura. Krishna decided to move the seat of the kingdom to protect its subjects to Kushasthali in Saurashtra. He further reclaimed several hectares of land from the sea and named the new city, Dwarka or Dvaraka or Dvaravati, extended till Shankodhara which is today known as Bet Dwarka. This strategic migration earned him the name Ranchhodrai meaning, the one who has run away from a battle.
Bet Dwarka
It is a popular belief that the island of Bet (or Bhet or Beyt) Dwarka was the place where Krishna lived after moving from Mathura. He had his palatial residence here. Bet Dwarka may mean the Island of Dwarka. One has to take a ferry to reach here from the port of Okha. As legend has it, Bet or Bhet was the meeting place where Krishna’s childhood friend Sudama came to meet him. After Krishna’s death, the golden palace was converted into a temple after his wife Rukmini installed an idol of Krishna here. It is now called Dwarkadheesh. The structure has many more temples dedicated to various gods and family members of Krishna, like Balarama, Radha, Devaki (mother), Satya Narayan, Laxmi and a few more. Rukmini’s temple though is conspicuous by its absence! It is also said that Mirabai, the ardent devotee of Sri Krishna was here during her last days before merging with Krishna. There is a small shrine dedicated to Mirabai too. There is a small pond called the Shankh Sarovar which comes to life during Rukmini-Krishna wedding day celebrations. There is also a relatively new building painted gold, called Shree Golden Dwarka. This is a holy place that is more dedicated to Krishna and also serves as a museum. The island also has several more temples, a gurdwara and a sufi shrine too. One can spend a whole day here.
Dwarka
The city of Dwarka is about 30 km south of Bet Dwarka. As per legend, this was the seat of administration and the capital of Yadav kingdom. The ancient books also say that Krishna used to perform his administrative duties here. It is an interesting point that Krishna was not the king as many people claim. However, he took part in the day-to-day administration and security of the city. The first king to live in Dwarka was Ugrasena, father of Kansa. Dwarka is often called ‘City of Gold’ as it is said to have had thousands of palaces, all opulently decorated with gemstone, gold and silver and was one of the richest cities of that era.
The main temple is the Dwarkadheesh Temple, which is again a complex of many temples, similar to Bet Dwarkadheesh but more in number. In Dwarka you will find Rukmini’s temple a couple of kilometres away. This happened due to a curse by one of the chief sages of that era, Durvasa.
Close by is the Bhadkeshwar temple set on top of a rock on the sea. It is believed to be built by the first Shankaracharya, when he found the lingam at the confluence of Gomti and Arabian sea. It is said that once in a year the sea rises and water enters the temple and performs Abhisheka. There are many temples in nearby areas and also a beautiful Shivrajpur beach, one of the first blue flag beaches of India.