JYOTIRLINGA TOUR OF AN OLD COUPLE (11)

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JYOTIRLINGA TOUR OF AN OLD COUPLE (11)

23rd JULY, 2009 - THURSDAY.

Getting up early, I have packed my luggage and came down to vacate the room and to proceed to Dwaraka. In the previous night itself I informed at the reception that I would be vacating the room in the early hours. When I came down I found it was raining heavily. When enquired the security guard informed me that since 1 a.m. it was continuously raining. For a moment I felt whether I should wait for some time till the rain subsides; but immediately removed this idea from my mind and started my journey in that heavy rain itself. Since I have already marked the road that leads to the National High Way to Dwaraka, I had no difficulty in proceeding slowly. As the roads were very wide and smooth, there was no difficulty in driving even in such a heavy rain. At 9 am we had breakfast on a wayside Restaurant. When I stopped the car in front of the Restaurant, one of the employees of the Hotel came with a very big umbrella to take us into the Hotel. A very fine business gesture? I noticed that there were many Good Restaurants on this road. The rain has not stopped and we proceeded further in that heavy rain itself going at a speed of 60-70 km. It rained continuously till 12-30 p.m. By 1 pm we reached Jamnagar via Rajkot and had stopped for lunch near a restaurant on the bypass road of Jamnagar. We did not enter the cities of Rajkot and Jamnagar but proeeded skipping the cities via bypass roads.

After taking a light lunch and taking a brief rest in the Hotel, we started at 2-30 pm and reached the outskirts of Dwaraka by 4-30 p.m. There we met a pujari guide. The pujari guide, Shri Tirthan (cell No.09924494981), stated that he will show all important places in the temple complex of Lord Srikrishna which is known as Jagat Mandir or the temple of Dwarakadheesh, and he will not charge any amount for this purpose. As we are sufficiently aware of the tricks of these pujari guides (of course, I do not blame them as it is their profession and money-earner), I informed him that I will pay Rs.50/- for showing the places in the temple in the evening and another Rs.100 for showing other places of interest in the town the next day. I requested him to meet me in the Hotel by 6-30 pm. We straightaway proceeded to Hotel Darshini as advised by my friend at Ahmedabad and negotiated the room rent. The Manager agreed to allow 15 % discount for an AC Room. The room charges after discount came to Rs.625. There is a TV in the room and also AC facility. In fact I wanted to take a non-AC room as the atmosphere is very cold on account of rains, but there were no non-AC rooms in this Hotel. All rooms are fitted with AC and if one uses AC or not, there is no change in the Room Rent.

At 6-30 pm the Pujari Guide came to the Hotel and we proceeded in an Auto to the Temple. He leisurely taken us to all the temples situated within the complex of Jagat Mandir. We had darshan of Lord Krishna, the Dwarakadheesh, and also witnessed the evening Harati. The Pujari Guide then informed us that the temple was under the management of Government and that all Pujaris are dependent on the tourists who perform pujas and engage in Tulabharam with rice, wheat, ghee, etc. He had given the list of rates ranging from Rs.2,500 to Rs.1,116 and requested us to undertake one such puja or tulabharam. When we stated that we have no intention of undertaking any tulabharam or puja, he was disappointed and left us. Of course, I paid him Rs.50 as promised by me earlier and with reluctance, he had taken the amount and left us in search of another pilgrim who may wish to undertake tulabharam puja. The temple has two enries - one is known as Swarga Dwaram from the side of Gomati River and Sea and the other known Moksha Dwaram from the town side. There were steep steps of about 50 from the side of Swarga Dwaram, which was said to be the main entry in olden days. Now that way is not being used by pilgrims for entry into the temple. This way is used by pilgrims who wish to go to Gomati River for puja or for bathing. I went upto bathing ghat taking an empty bottle and collected the Gomati Water and brought to Hyderabad.

BRIEF HISTORY OF DWARAKA - HISTORICAL FACTS BASED ON ARCHEOLOGICAL FINDINGS.
The Dwarakadhish temple

SWARGA DWAR

Dwaraka is one of the seven ancient Cities of Bharata Desam and is one of the 4 main Dhams along with Badrinath, Puri and Rameswaram. This city was built by Celestial Architect of Heavens, Viswakarma, at the instance of Lord Krishna who renounced war at Mathura for the good of people living in the region. Lord Sri Krishna killed his maternal-uncle Kamsa, an oppressive king who ruled the city and jailed his father and parents of Krishna, Devaki and Vasudeva. Enraged by this act, the father-in-law of Kamsa, Jarasandha, King of Magadha, attacked Mathura seventeen times with the help of his friend Kalayavan. Lord Krishna killed Kalayavan, with the help of Muchikunda, and for the safety of the Yadavas, decided to move the capital from Mathura to Dwaraka, which was surrounded by the Sea and is considered safe from enemies.

This city was built on the land reclaimed from the sea on the banks of River Gomati. It was described in the Puranas such as Mahabharatam, Hari Vamsham, Bhagavatam, Skanda and Vishnu puranams, that this City had six well organized sectors, residential and commercial zones, wide roads, plazas, palaces and many public utility facilities. A darbar hall known as ‘Sudharma Sabha’ was built to hold public meetings. This city was also boasted of having 7 lakh palaces made of gold, silver and other precious stones. Each one of Lord Krishna’s 16,100 gopikas (whom he married) and his eight married wives, had her own palace. This city was also described as having beautiful gardens filled with flowers of all seasons and beautiful lakes. The kingdom had strong yadava warriors (known as Narayanee Sena) who fought on behalf of Duryodhana as Lord Krishna offered these warriors in the Kuru Pandava War to Duryodhana and he himself remained as advisor to Pandavas in the War.






A PAINTING MADE DURING AKBAR’S REIGN DEPICTING LORD KRISHNA’S DWARAKA.

Thirty six years after Kuru-Pandava Mahabharat War, Lord Sri Krishna left the earth for Vaikuntadhamam in 3102 BC and the major Yadava Leaders were killed in disputes among themselves on account of curse of Sages. Arjuna went to Dwaraka to take to safety the grandsons and the Yadava Ladies to Hastinapur and after he left Dwaraka, the City was submerged into the Sea. Arjuna in his account given to Dharma Raja described this event (in Mahabharata) as follows (As described in Mousala Parvam of Mahabharatam):

..The sea rushed into the city. It passed through the streets of the
Beautiful city. The sea covered up everything in the City. I saw
the beautiful buildings submerged one by one in waters. In a matter
of a few moments it was all over. The sea had now become as placid
as a lake. There was no trace of the City. Dwaraka was just a name;
just a memory on account of fury imposed on it by nature….

The Vishnu Purana also mentioned the submersion of Dwaraka stating that on the same day that Lord Sri Krishna departed from the earth the powerful dark bodied Kali Purusha descended bringing Kali Yuga into existence and the Oceans rose and submerged the whole of divine Dwaraka City. Thus, the original City of Dwaraka built by Celestial Architect Viswakarma which was located near the current City of Dwaraka, was eventually deserted and submerged into the Arabian Sea.

The Dwarakadheesh Temple or Jagat Mandir is believed to have been originally built by Vajranabha (also known as Sambha), Lord Krishna’s grandson, over the Hari Griha, the Lord Krishna’s residential palace. Lord Sri Krishna in the temple is dressed in a Royal Wedding costume. Five times in a day the dress is changed depending on the seva performed. The place is very sacred because Lord Sri Krishna himself had resided in this place and his successors had built the temple, in memory of him. The temple has a five storey tower on which a flag is hoisted five times in a day. In the temple complex there were shrines for Devaki, Vasudeva, Balarama, Revati, Subhadra, Rukmini, Jambavati and Satyabhama.
Sri Dwarakanath

Sri DwarakaNath Temple

















LORD SRI KRISHNA IN A ROYAL WEDDING COSTUME

Adi Sankaracharya visited Dwarakadheesh shrine and established Dwaraka Peetham here. This Dwaraka Peetham is also in the temple complex of Jagat Mandir. Presently there is only one Sankaracharya for Jyoshi Math and Dwarala Peetham. There is a separate special temple for Rukmini Devi on the way to Bet Dwaraka, an island in the Sea, which was at a distance of about 30 km from the Jagat Mandir. There is also another temple in Bet Dwaraka in which a similar idol of Lord Sri Krishna was kept. Bet Dwaraka is said to be the Antahpuram of Lord Sri Krishna.

HISTORICAL FACTS BASED ON RECENT ARCHEOLOGICAL FINDINGS

Archeological Survey of India conducted underwater studies in the Arabian Sea near the present Dwaraka and their studies revealed the existence of a City dated to the second millennium BC. The Marine Archeology Unit of the National Institute of Oceanography, took part in this search since 1983 and the explorations upto 1990 revelaed the well fortified township of Dwaraka that extended more than half a mile from the shore. The township was built in six sectors along the banks of a river and the foundation of boulders on which the city’s walls were erected proved that the land was reclaimed from the sea as mentioned in Puranas. The sub merged city Dwaraka extended upto Bet Dwaraka in the North and Okhamadhi in the South; Eastward it extended upto Pindara. The general layout of City of Dwaraka as found by Archeolo-
Logical Survey of India agrees with the ancient texts of the City submerged as detailed in Mahabharata. A large number of antiquities, mainly potsherds were found during the excavation. Copper fishhooks, coins and Harappan pottery of the period 1700 to 1400 BC were found. Offshore explorations near present Bet Dwaraka brought to light a number of stone anchors of different types that include triangular, grapnel and ring stones. They are made out of locally available rocks and their periods may also be similar to those found at Dwaraka and other places. Recently, a shipwreck of Roman period in Bet Dwaraka waters was found along with a lead ingot and lead anchors.

Recent findings at the Bet Dwaraka have shown evidence of Indo-Roman trade. Indians had an active overseas trade links with Rome from 4th centruty BC onwards. Perhaps, this prompted Alexander to conquer India. The presence of Roman amphoras near Bet Dwarak show that Roman ships reached Bet Dwaraka waters earlier than has been previously noted. The location of Bet Dwaraka appears to be favourable for safe anchorage in the past as it was protected from high waves and storms. The State and Central Governments are proposing to have a Museum involving laying of a submarine acrylic tube through which visitors can view through glass windows the ruins of the original Dwaraka of Lord Sri Krishna. Of course, this proposal was pending for over two and half decades. We do not yet know when this proposal will take real shape.

We returned to the Hotel by 8-30 p.m and at Reception enquired about our next days’ programme to visit Nageswara Jyotirlingam. The Receptionist informed me us that on account of heavy rains all the routes were closed including the routes to Somanath, Bet Dwaraka and the road to Nageswara Jyotirlingam. It is gathered from the news in TV that Porbandar and Somnath areas recived 42.3 CM of rain on the night of Thursday and in this season a total rain of 171.1 CM which was said to be double the amount of rain fall in an year. Porbandar received 172% of its annual rainfall in two days. The coastal High Way from Dwaraka to Somanath was blocked due to heavy rains. With this unhappy news, we retired to the bed hoping for the best the next day and the good thought of spending more time in the kingdom of Lord Sri Krishna.

OM TAT SAT OM TAT SAT OM TAT SAT

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RAGHAVARAO U.V.G.V. DUGGIRALA,

HYDERABAD, Dt.23rd SEPTEMBER, 2009.

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