Dwarka, India
India is a land of spirituality. There are many regions in India that are known all over the world for their religious and spiritual significance. People from all over the world come for spiritual travel in India and visit these places to experience peace of mind. Today we will discuss about one such divine spiritual experience. The area that we are going to cover in today’s spiritual travel in India is Dwarka. This spiritual city is located in Gujarat. We will give you a detailed guide of what to see in this city and how to get there in this article on Spiritual travel in India.
About Dwarka
Let us first discuss Dwarka. It is the city where Lord Krishna used to rule. This was his capital. Lord Krishna built this city in three thousand B.C. It was built by Vishwakarma on the request of Lord Krishna. It was built so that it would be a model city for all. It is one of the oldest cities in the world. It is considered to be a Dham in the char Dham that all the Hindus must visit in their life. It is said that the city was very beautiful. It had seven lakh palaces that were made of gold and silver. Lord Krishna was very proud of his capital city. The scriptures say that the day Lord Krishna left earth for vaikunth the same day the original Dwarka went inside the sea. This is now called the Bet Dwarka. People from all over the world visit this small island that is the ruins of the old city of Dwarka. A very big under water survey was done by the archaeological survey of India in 2001 and they did find the ruins of an old city here. The artefacts and other important items that were located under the sea some of them are place in this island. The remaining findings were sent to the various museums. The experts did find the traces of an old city that makes us belive in the story of how Dwarka vanished.
There is a ferry that leaves from the port of Dwarka and takes one to the Bet Dwarka on a daily basis. The ferry is at every five minutes. You can also take a personal boat if you want. The tickets are around 10 rupees per head. It will take about ten minutes by boat to reach bet Dwarka. There is a temple in Bet Dwarka. The temple is open mostly during the day. Except at the time of bhog you can do the darshan. Prasad is given to the devotees who offer prayer here. There is a very interesting story about Bet Dwarka. In the year 1965 when Pakistan attacked India they chose Dwarka as it was very close to Karachi. About fifty shells were thrown at the temple. However, not even a single shell exploded. This shows the power of the temple.
The main Dwarka temple or the Dwarkadish temple was built in the sixteenth century. It is located in the main city of Dwarka. It was built by the great grandson of Lord Krishna. It is a five floor high lime stone temple. The idol of the lord in both the temples of Dwarkadish and Bet Dwarka are similar. It is made of black stone and is adorned with jewels. There is a temple of Rukmini mata near the Dwarkadish temple. She was the wife of Lord Krishna. It is said that if you don’t visit her temple after the Dwarkadish temple then your journey will be incomplete. The city also has temples of Subhadra, Vasudeva, Balram, Devaki, Revati and SatyaBhama. All these people were very closely related to Lord Krishna. There are pandas (they are associated with the temple) in the temple who guarantee that they will make you do the puja fast. They charge huge figures we strongly recommend not to take them.
If you are visiting Dwarka then you must not miss on the Nageshwar Jyotirlingam that is present about half an hour from Dwarka. It is one of the twelve Jyotirlingams in India. The temple also has a huge idol of lord Shiva that was constructed later. Many devotees from all over the country come to this temple every year. You can offer prayers here and also do pujas. The temple is closed only in the night. During the day you can visit anytime.
The best place to stay here is Dwarka city that has many hotels that are located close to the temple. You can get good food in this area but the food is mostly veg. If you want to buy some souvenirs then you can pick up idols of Dwarkadish and the pictures of the temples. You can offer puja to the lord. You will get prasad and you can also buy the prasad from the stores. The Dwarkadish temple has a light and sound show that is arranged every evening.
You must attend the same as it will give you a good insight into the history of Dwarka. You will also find a lot of cows in the city. Cows were very close to Lord Krishna. You can feed these animals as they are very friendly and some of them even enter the temple with the devotees. No one hits the cows here or tell them to get away.
To reach Dwarka you must take a train or flight to Ahmedabad. This is the capital city of Gujarat. From there you can take a bus or you can take a personal car and drive down to Dwarka. You can also do Somnath as it is very close to Dwarka. The road is good. This is exactly why the four hundred and fifty kilometres can be covered in seven hours. You can also go to Dwarka from Jamnagar. Jamnagar is also connected to many major cities in India.
From Jamnagar the distance is about one hundred and thirty two kilometres. You can take a cab or a bus from here too. The best time to visit Dwarka would be in winters as a summer in Gujarat is very hot. You can carry a light shawl too as the evenings in this area can be very cold in winters. The city is very safe and the people of Gujarat are friendly so you will not have much trouble.
I hope you will find this article of use while you plan your Spiritual travel in India to the holy city of Dwarka. It is a must do and we can guarantee you that the feeling will be a life time experience.