TEERTHAYAATRA TO PANCHA DWARAKA - Day 3

  

Om Namoh Narayanaya

TEERTHAYAATRA TO PANCHA DWARAKA

(2nd to 12th Aug 2023)

Author:  Sindhu Satish (Architect & Professor)

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Every inch of my Bhaarat is a Teerthabhumi!

- Swami Vivekananda

DAY 3 - AUG 4th, 2023

GOMTI DWARAKA, BEYT DWARKA, RUKMINI DWARKA 

Reaching Dwaraka by 4.00am we got out of our bus bleary eyed and entered Hotel “Swati”. Coming out of double height elegantly designed lobby the receptionist greeted and welcomed us in. A central seating hall separated the dining area from the lobby. At its rear end a staircase and a lift led to the upper floors. This seating hall formed a courtyard kind of a space with Corridors looking into this opening while giving access to rooms on all floors. I was little apprehensive about the hotel after what we experienced at Ahmedabad. However, once I entered the small but well-designed, neatly kept room and a super clean bathroom, I was happy. I tried to catch up on some sleep but in vain. Nevertheless, by 6.30 am we were already dressed up and gulping fresh, hot coffee which was served in the back yard of the hotel. I could hear the callings of peacocks although failed to locate it anywhere around the compound. One by one everyone from our group assembled in the seating area and soon we headed out to THE Dwarkadhish temple. 

We ladies were all in madisar (traditional Iyengar style saree), hence took the local rickshaw while men decided to walk to the temple. It was about few hundred meters from the hotel where we stayed.

We sighted a breathtaking profile of a tall shikara as soon as we reached the neck of the approach road to the temple precinct. Above the stupi was the first Dwaja (flag) flying. After depositing our phones and footwears. We quickly fell into the lines which took men and women in separate queues nside. As we entered the courtyard, magnificent temple of Dwarkadhish held our attention.  

Sketch by Ravi Krishnan

I stood there for a moment longer than the others appreciating the architecture, consuming its beauty before running to join the queue blissfully unaware of the possible crowd inside. I was taken by surprise with crowded ladies queue. The choc-a-block crowd was overwhelming but oozing out excitement from the chanting of Radhe Radhe. I stood stupefied not sure of which way to go. The crowd seemed impenetrable, yet I managed to stay in some line amidst all the push pulls and loud chanting. Divine darshan of Dwarkadhish left me in a trance. I was not sure if I had a good look at him. Wondering and lost in those thoughts I came out only to be pulled back again by my friend into what seemed like a secondary queue where both men and women entered, and this was short route which took us straight Infront of the sanctum. Infectious that it was we continued to go again and again in the short queue to feast our eyes of Divine Darshanam of Dwarkadhish. Finally, after four rounds we were happy and decided to see other deities in the precinct. We rode back in the rickshaws to Hotel Swati to have our breakfast. It was 8. 30 am. We trouped out again at 9.30 am towards temple greedily for few more darshans for it was only post lunch we were to visit Beyt Dwaraka. 

This time a spontaneous conversation was picked up by a young local temple priest who recognised us as Sri Vaishnavas. Of course, dressed in traditional attire there was no doubt we stood out in the entire crowd.  Nihal (the young priest) enthusiastically told us about Sthala purana, Dwarkadhish temple rituals, importance behind them and symbolic architecture of temple etc. while we stood waiting Nihal told us about how his ancestors who came from the Lineage of Vasudeva * Yadava clan and that he is very proud continuing his service in the temple. Nihal promised us to show Rajbhog Arthi, and so we remained in the prakara. With enriched awareness of the temple rituals unaware of the unexpected turn of events, I keenly waited along with the others in a corner of the temple prakara consuming all the activities around us. Amidst moving crowds, a group of ladies sat singing bhajans right in the center of the prakara, while another group of locals were busy with some more rituals in another corner. Harboured with fear and respect to the Lord Dwarkadhish coming from rural places these people seemed blissful in their own world. 

KRISHNA’S CLAN:  We are aware that Lord Krisna belonged to the Yadava clan.  This clan could have been the first democratic society ever. The were a confederation of 18 tribes. Each tribe had their own chieftain. However, all of them elected one Yadav leader as their supreme governor. Lord Krishna was the elected governor and thus was the leader or head of all the 18 tribes but without a title of a King.

As we stood waiting Nihal went inside and tried to make a special way for us. "There was a great roar from the delirious crowd “gathered near the entrance line simply flooded in as soon as the screen was pulled, and Dwarkadhish unveiled with all the Rajbhog placed in front of him ready for the Aarthi. We were conveniently pushed behind and didn't have the luxury of time. Soon Rajbhog darshan was over. We had lost a good chance to observe Rajbhog seva. However, although I was utterly disappointed, I told myself to come again for the night darshan with resolve in mind and hope in my heart.

KRISHNA’S CITY OF DWARAKA

Lord Krishna and his beloved Golden city of Dwaraka would have been part of an evolved settlement, THE SARASWATHI DWARAKA. Krishna’s city was called Dwaravati, in Samskrutha, which means the city of many doors. Common belief of the local people was that the Lord Krishna’s city was submerged 6 times and rebuilt on each occasion. Hence the modern ay Dwaraka is supposedly the 7th incarnation of the original. Dwarka was an embodiment of Spatha Dweepa. 

Krishna asks the divine architect Vishwakarma to build Dwarka city. Vishwakarma builds the city on the submerged remains of the previous empire Kushrasthali (ancient name of Dwarka). Massive expanse of land was reclaimed from the sea to achieve this. The fabulously beautiful city of Dwaraka that emerged in Gujarat was a city of palaces gardens, lakes, temples, sculptures, and unimaginable wealth. 

Few kms off the cost of Gujarat the legendary city of Dwarika was explored in 80s by the famous archaeologist S.R. Rao led expedition. They dived the into the seas off the coast of modern day Dwaraka to search for the legendary Dwaraka. The team soon discovered stone walls underwater and 6 layers of ruins, proof of what was written in the ancient text that the city had been built upon previous cities. They located an ancient harbour seal with animal motifs, Vishnu idols, and even massive triangular stone anchors indicative of the maritime trade of Dwarika. The archaeological survey of India and the National institute of Oceanography initially discovered the submerged ruins just off the present day’s city of Dwaraka at a depth of 15 to 20m below sea level. Dwarka is a continuum a city built and rebuilt 7 times. The most recent reconstruction is the modern-day city and the oldest is out in the ocean where rising sea levels have inundated it. The estimation of it is around 9 km along the seabed of the gulf of Kutch at a depth of between 25 and 40 m. As a proof to the Dwarka here is the same Dwarka that has been described in the Mahabharat we need to do a cursory reading of the Harivansh. It tells us that the land was reclaimed from the ocean to construct Dwarka. 

This text describes how Dwarka was conceived and constructed.

कल्पितेयं मया भूमिः पश्य त्वं देवसद्मवत् !

नाम चास्याः कृतं पुर्याः ख्यातिं यदुपास्यति!!

Lord Krishna said, ‘Look at this land selected by me. It is almost like heaven. I have also decided a name for this city by which it will become famous.’

इयं द्वारवती नाम पृथिव्यां निर्मिता मया!

भविष्यति पुरी रम्या शक्रस्येव अमरावती!! 

‘This city made by me on Earth, named Dwaravati, will be splendid like Indra’s city of Amaravati.’

तस्मिन्नेव ततः काले शिल्पाचार्यो महामतिः!

विश्वकर्मा सुरश्रेष्ठः कृष्णस्य प्रमुखे स्थितः!!

At that very instant, the preceptor of architects, Vishwakarma, the best among the devas with great intellect, stood before Lord Krishna.

विश्वकर्मोवाच

शक्रेण प्रेषितः तव विष्णो धृतव्रतः !

 किंकरःसमनुप्राप्तः शाधि मां किं करोमि ते !!

Vishvakarma said, ‘O Vishnu, the One who is firmly resolute! Sent here urgently by Indra, I have come here as your servant. Tell me, what do you want me to do?’

तदियं पूः प्रकाशार्धं निवेश्य मयि सुव्रत!

मत्प्रभावानुरूपैश्च गृहैश्चेयं समन्ततः!!

Lord Krishna said, ‘Construct a city for me, suitable to my splendour, along with houses showing your incredible skill.’

मम स्थानमिदं कारय यथा वै त्रिदिवे तथा!

मर्त्याः पश्यन्तु मे लक्ष्मीं पुरीं यदुकुलस्य च!! 

‘Make my palace as though it were in heaven. Let men see my city as the seat of prosperity of the Yadava people.’

सर्वमेतत् करिष्यामि यत्त्वयाभिहितं प्रभो!

पुरीत्वियं जनस्य न पर्याप्ता भविष्यतीति !!

Vishwakarma said, ‘O Lord, I will do all that you wish but the area that you have marked will be insufficient as a city for your people.’

यदिच्छेत्सागरहा किमचिदुत्क्रष्टुमापि तोयरत ततः स्वायतलक्षण्य पुरी स्यातपुरुषोत्तम।

‘If the king of the oceans yields some space, O the best among men, then the city will be adequate and proper with all good signs.’

एव,’ प्रत्युवाच सर खनसिक्सबमेफामुक्तस्ततः कृष्णः प्रागेव कृतनिष-चायह सागरमसरिताम् नाथमुवच वदतं वराह |

Hearing what was said, Lord Krishna, the best among speakers, who had already made up his mind, spoke to the ocean—the lord of rivers.

समुद्र दशा च द्वे च योजनानि जलशये प्रतिसंहृतमात्मा यद्यस्ति मयि मन्यते।

 ‘O Ocean! Please leave an area of ten and two yojanas within you if you respect me.’

अवकाशे त्वया दत पुरयम् ममकं बलं पर्याप्तविशाय रम्य समाग्राम विसाहश्यति।

‘With the area that would be yielded by you, this city will be sufficiently large to support my entire army.

ततः कृष्णस्य वचनं श्रुत्वा नदानदीपतिः स मरुतेन योगेन उत्सर्ज जलाशयम्।

Hearing Krishna’s words, the ocean, along with the help of wind, left the area hitherto occupied by water.

In ancient texts even science was conveyed in magical terms. A complex task of engineering land reclamation has been described as praying to the ocean to yield 12 yojanas of land. All the structures that were discovered by the archaeological team so far show that the foundations are not on the ground, but they are on a bed specially made of boulders. The traditional method of land reclamation involves throwing massive quantity of boulders into the sea. As the water withdraw one is then free to construct on the bed of rock thus been created. This proves that land reclamation was undertaken in ancient times. Hindu scriptures talk of the universe consisting of Sapta dweep – All 7 islands could have been in ancient Dwaraka itself. It was the world!

HISTORY & ARCHITECTURE – GOMTHI DWARKA

Sitting impressively at the cusp of Gomti River and the Arabian, Jagat Mandir also known as Trilok Sundar (the most beautiful in all the three worlds) of Dwarkadhish, the main temple at the Dwarka city of Gujarat’s Devbhoomi Dwarka district is one among the Pancha Dwarka or Nava Dwarka. This temple site protected by the Archaeological Survey of India is visited by Vaishnava devotees all through the year in great number. Originally believed to be built by Vajranabh, the great grandson of Lord Krishna, more than 2500 years ago, it is a glorious structure. 

In 800CE, the temple was renovated by philosopher and theologian Adi Shankaracharya, and a memorial of his visit is placed within the temple’s complex. Thereafter, there are believed to have been several renovations. The temple faced a major destruction in 1472. Thus, the present structure of the temple seen in Dwarka was rebuilt in the 16th century in the Chalukya style of architecture and is quite different from the original temple.

The temple is built of soft limestone and consists of a sanctum, vestibule, and a rectangular hall with porches on three sides. Its exquisitely carved Shikhar is of 7 storeys reaching 43 m high and the huge flag made from 52 yards of cloth over the kalash can be seen from as far away as 10 km. The flag which depicts the Sun and the Moon, symbolising that as long as Sun and the Moon exist, so will Lord Krishna. The walls contain carvings of mythical creatures as well as popular legends, pristine condition.

The temple has two gates – Swarga Dwar in the south and Moksha Dwar in the north. Moksha Dwar means the Door to Salvation. Salvation or Moksha is a key phenomenon linked to Lord Krishna since it is the central point of his message to Arjun in the Bhagavad Gita before war of Mahabharata ensued. This entrance connects the temple with the main market. On the other hand, the Swarga Dwar or Gate to Heaven leads to the Gomti River via the flight of 56 steps leading to the rear side of the edifice on the side of the river Gomti. 

The grandeur of the temple is enhanced by Colourful dwaj which I believe is changed about 6 times. The temple is open to visitors between 6 am to 1 pm and then from 5 pm to 9:30 pm. Best time to visit the temple is during the Krishna Janmashtami, which marks the birth of Lord Krishna, as the festival is celebrated with much fervour and enthusiasm at the Dwarkadhish Temple.

Dwarkadhish Temple: Night view

We were aware that we must take a boat about 5 km in the ocean to reach Beyt Dwarka via Okha and that the boat connectivity can be sporadic and delayed in the evenings we left early by 3.00 pm after a sumptuous lunch and siesta. 

Modern Dwarka that I saw on the way to Beyt Dwarka was simply a municipality of Jamnagar district in Gujarat, which seemed liked any other city of India hopelessly trying to cope with overcrowding, pollution, and traffic. I looked out of the window only to be greeted with usual mess like in any other city with potholed roads, stray dogs, vehicles, vendors justling for space a super chaos surrounding.

Description of Lord Krishna’s Golden city of Dwarka now occupied my mind. Excitement built up in anticipation of seeing Beyt Dwarka the residence of Lord Krishna during his ruling years at Dwarka my imagination was growing richer by minute. Floating in that imagination I sat oblivious to the surroundings. Before I realised, I was told that we were at Okha. It was just about 20 mins from Dwarka by road. 

We got down from the bus and walked to the ferry terminal to get into the boat, which was identified by Balaji Maama, I could feel the sweat trickling down my back. The August air uncomfortably humid resulting in profuse perspiration. It was only drizzling lightly fortunately not heavy rains for, none of us carried any umbrellas. The boat ride in the ocean ended even before I could settle in to feel the ocean waft and the odour of the sea had just started to tickle my nose and we were already there. It took us only about 10 mins to reach. Upon reaching I saw scores of boats tied along the shore. We walked on what seemed like a long edge road about 300mts from the ferry terminal to reach the temple. There were many petty tea and sweet stalls along this road near temple. We were not allowed to carry mobile phones, but no place to deposit them. Hence, we all dumped them into a big bag and left it with Balaji Maama who waited for us outside. The temple closes at 12:30 pm and opens only at 4.30 pm hence we had to wait a good full hour before we could go in. The precinct was a huge courtyard which was dominated by a big banyan tree shading a vast ground below it. The place was incredibly crowded with many devotees. Like in all other temples here too there was two separate queues for women and men. The modest temple fine and beautiful sculptures showcasing scenes from Krishna’s life on its external wall. The deity resembles that of Dwarkadhish at Gomthi Dwarka. Most of this seemed to have reconstructed or restored on the old ruins. However, I was utterly disappointed probably because I was hoping to find some reference to my imagined golden city. I could neither appreciate the poorly maintained temple surroundings nor the lack of crowd management from the temple administration. 

We climbed into the same boat that took us to Beyt and soon were on the sea. We came to know that the ferry rides would soon be a thing of the past as we saw a cable sea- bridge already manifested would soon be ready that would connect Okha to Beyt Dwarka making the island accessible by road. In the bus as we were heading back to Dwaraka, I noticed the Okha port housing 3000 odd fishing boats. 

Beyt Dwarka: Ferry 

HISTORY & ARCHITECTURE – BEYT DWARKA

Idol of Lord is at least 5000-year-old, dating minimum 3500 BC. It was created and worshipped by Rukmini Devi herself, thus being of significance.https://www.tirthayatra.org/bet-dwarka/

On the way back we visited RUKMINI DWARKA, yet another beautiful modest temple dedicated to Lord Lord Krishna’s chief consort Rukmini, incarnation of Goddess Laksmi.  

RUKMINI DWARKA: 2500 years old reconstructed over times and the current one being built in 12th century with some reconstructions as late as 19th century this temple is located relatively at the outskirts of the Dwarka city. Carvings of gods and goddesses embellish the exteriors, and the main idol of Rukmini is housed in the sanctum. Modest but beautiful temple. As we started to walk up and into the modest temple for Rukmini Devi’s darshan we realised a crowd gathered already were being addressed by the priest. He was reciting the legend associated with this temple. We gathered behind the crowd. The place was simply infested by houseflies and soon they were getting too irritating. I was extremely distracted by these houseflies and could hardly focus on what was being told by the priest. Once the crowd started to move in, I let it slide from my thoughts and came to my senses, as planned before donating for water to the person who sat in a corner to collect the money for water on the way back after darshan. Goddess Rukmini looked beautiful with sankha, chakra and gada in her hands.

Rukmini Devi’s Temple 

STHALA PURANA: After marriage, the newlywed couple (Lord Krishna and Rukmini) invited sage Durvasa to their abode seeking his blessings. But Sage Durvasa told them that he will come, only when they take him personally on the chariot without the horses. Sage Durvasa is renowned for anger. Lord Krishna and his wife Rukmini pulled the chariot removing the horses as desired by the great sage. After a certain distance, Rukmini was thirsty and informed Lord Krishna. He pressed his toe on the earth and Ganges came there to quench their thirst. However, when they forgot to ask their guest if he wanted some water as courtesy Sage got angry. Stating that he was insulted he cursed Rukmini, that she will remain there separated from her husband for 12 years. He also cursed that the water surrounding the area will be salty. Rukmini did a great yagna for 12 years and then was united with Lord Krishna. Pilgrims visiting this temple therefore can donate good water to the locals for a money, if they wish. 

On return to our hotel, I wasted no time, quickly freshened up changed into fresh clothes, went to dining hall for our daily dose of evening coffee. Then I got out with Satish and Ranga to see the Dwarkadhish temple in the night light. We took a rickshaw that left us to the Gomti ghat at the rear end of the Temple. With almost choregraphed movements as I walked on the edge of the ghat feeling the cold wind caressing my face I could see the tip of the shikhara with a golden profile like a Figment of imagination. I walked now hurriedly to see it from a closer distance. As we came to the foot of the north entrance 50 steps leading to Swarga Dwar from Gomti ghat I was elated by the sight of gorgeously lit temple shikara and dwaj. 

We decided to walk around it to reach Moksha Dwar in the south which connected the main market since the others would come there to meet us before going into the temple. We met the others deposited our phones and footwears and proceeded to have 8.00pm Shayan Aarthi and darshan. 

Anticipating the usual crowded situation, I carefully made my way into the queue and stood on my toes to get the better view of the Aarthi. I managed to balance myself on a ledge near the door which gave me a straight view to the divine sight of Dwarkadhish. I stood there for the entire time of Aarthi. I truly cannot describe the feelings of that time in words. My eyes brimming with tears of happiness thanking the Lord for his gracious darshan I could only mutter hope in the heart never lets u down. I guess this truly made it up for the loss of Rajbhog Aarthi. 

We ladies could not find the men and so we decided to go out and do some quick shopping. We must have been at store for more than 30 to 40 mins and still men were not out of the temple yet. Wondering we stood near the footwear counter waiting for them. It must have been close to 15 mins when they came out grinning end to end. Taken over by the desire to see the Lord again and again, they went 4 times in the queue for darshan and the last time they were stuck as the screen was drawn and until it was opened, they could not move. Anyways, everyone seemed tremendously happy and so we all hoped into rickshaws to return to the hotel. 

Soon we were holding plates and lined up again, only now to worship our bellies. 

Day 4 : To be continued ... click here