A visit to Dwarka, Beth Dwarka & Nageshwar Jyotirlinga(m) in Gujarat

A visit to Dwarka, Beth Dwarka & Nageshwar Jyotirlinga(m) in Gujarat (Part – 1) :

A wind mill

  9017 Saurashtra Janta Express reached Jamnagar at 09:45 Hrs. Jamnagar railway station has just 2 platforms. The Platform, outside the station & entrance gave a deserted look. As there was no connecting train at that time, myself & Kumar as planned earlier, decided to go forward to Dwarka by bus. Asked an auto, he said ` 10/- each, but starting looking for more passengers. I told him I will pay ` 30/- . In 15 minutes we were at the Bus station. On enquiry, we were told that there is a bus for Dwarka at 10:15 Hrs. There are a number of private buses also for Dwarka & other places. We got the window seats & the bus left Jamnagar at 10:30 Hrs. The bus took the SH-25 route and the distance from Jamnagar to Dwarka is 137 Kms. (169 Kms upto Okha/Beth Dwarka). The bus past through the Essar Oil & 1200 MW Salaya Power Project on the way to Dwarka. The fare (Adult)  was ` 84/-. Essar Oil petrol bunks can be seen on the way. The road to Dwarka is very wide & smooth. There are several wind mills (probably installed by Suzlon Limited) which could be seen on the entire stretch of the Rann of Kutch.

Lush green fields with cash crops
 on the entire route

The road to Dwarka is very wide & smooth. We reached Khambala (52 Kms) at 11:40 Hrs, then Bhatiya (95 Kms) at 12:55 Hrs. The bus Driver & Conductor got down to have lunch at a small dhaba. Not very neat but the only hotel to be seen in the area. We sat at a table beside the Driver, a box with 4 pots- raw onion & mirchi in each pot, kheera & some chutney in the rest two. The plate was served with 4 bowls- watery lady finger, dal with sweet taste, moong dal & potato curry. I had 3 chapathis with some ruce. Kumar poured water from the jug which contained some white liquid. He could not drink that water, asked the boy & reply came “ Chaaz”, which means butter milk.

         

Resumed the journey at 01:20 PM & reached Dwarka at 2:00 P.M. many auto rickshaw drivers will be asking you to take you to some hotel. But there are a number of hotels nearby & also at the ISKON Gate at a walkable distance. We crossed the main road and came across several hotels like Hotel Ganga, Aarti, Maruthi, Guru Prerna, Ramji, etc. The Maruthi hotel -1^st hotel from the main road was not bad, The boy at the reception asked ` 400/- for a double room with attached bath & TV, but I bargained for ` 300/- for which he agreed. He asked for my ID card, which has become a must at most of the hotels. As we have planned to move to Somnath by the evening, we had a quick shower (as it was 2 days we had a bath). The hotel owner asked if we required any auto for local sight-seeing, he phoned to the auto driver & we fixed the charges at ` 550/-. (normally they charge ` 600/-) for Beth Dwarka, Nageswar Jyotirlinga, Gopi Talav temple, Rukminiji ka mandir & finally Dwarkadish temple.

          

         

 About Dwarka:

Located at a distance of about 497 from Ahmedabad, it houses one of the most holy places of worship in India - the Dwarkadish temple. It is believed that Lord Krishna spent close to 100 years of his life in Dwarka. It is popularly known as ‘City of gold’ and is believed to have submerged after the Lord left for his heavenly abode.

The excavated city of Dwarka is held in very high esteem by the Hindu community, which has kept the holiness of this place alive. During Janamashtami, devotees throng this holy place and offer their prayers at the temples. Though the Janmashtami festival is celebrated all over India to commemorate the birth of Lord Krishna; in Gujarat, it acquires a uniqueness of its own. Especially in the ancient city of Dwarka, the festival is celebrated with great fervor which falls in the months of July/August.

Places to Visit En Route :

Ø       Rukmini Devi Temple : It is a 12th century architectural masterpiece dedicated to Rukmini, the consort of Lord Krishna. Elaborate with intricately carved walls and festooned with beautiful paintings it is located outside the city.

Ø       Gomati Ghat Temples : The meeting point of river Gomati and the ocean is known as Gomati Ghat. It is believed that bathing at this place is the shortest way to attain Nirvana; hence it is highly revered among the believers. There are many small temples surrounding the Ghat.

Ø       Nageshwar Temple : The temple has a serene environment and is located on the route between Dwarka and the Beyt Dwarka Island on the coast of Saurastra in Gujarat. A large statue of Lord Shiva which is 45 Feet high is seen here.

Ø       Beth Dwarka Beach : Covering an area of 4kms Beyt Dwarka Beach is actually an island with people visiting from the seafront of Okha. We bet you would love the boat/ferry ride from Okha to the island. Diverse water birds and other marine organisms namely the dolphins, porpoise, sea turtles, octopus, starfish, and sea urchins are bound to lure you. If you are at the island at the right time you may also get a view of the colorful migratory birds. A hot spot for picnickers, the beach is also a favorite for those who come to visit Dwarka for religious purposes.

Ø       Gopi Tallav : On the way to Beyt Dwarka one may also visit the pond where Lord Krishna met the Gopikas. The clay found at Gopi Tallav is used by devotees of Lord Krishna to make tilaks on their body. It is located 20km north of Dwarka. Other places of visit are the Bhadkeshwar Temple, Sunset Point, Shri Jagatguru Shankaracharya Math, Ved Havan, Light House, Shardapith Math Museum are other holy and tourist places of Dwarka where one can visit. Our visit to Dwaraka  is certainly going to be an experience that we will cherish forever.

There are 3 routes to Beth Dwarka- first one is the state highway which extends all the way from Jamnagar to Beth Dwarka, which does not touch Nageshwar Jyotirlinga & Gopi Talav, The second route is through Nageswar temple & the third route is a “kachha“ road. The Beth Dwarka temple opens at 4:00 PM.

We started at 3:00 PM & first we reached Nageshwar Jyotirlingam temple (16 Kms). In case of Nageshwar Jyotirlinga… there is a different opinion,  some people contend that actual Nagnath is near Almora in Uttaranchal. Some other however contend that it is actually in Aundha, Maharashtra. (Near Parbhani). There is a huge 45 feet tall sitting posture of Lord Shiva beside the  temple. We had to deposit our mobile & camera at the cloak room in the queue at the entrance of the temple. Charges: Camera - ` 5/- & Mobile - ` 2/-. The temple is a newly constructed pillar structure, much different from the Nageshwar jyotirlinga temple at Aundha Nagnath. The Shiva linga is installed at a depth of 5 feet & with footsteps (5 each) on either side. No one is allowed to touch the lingam as is done in most of the jyotirlinga temples.

  

      There is a steel railing and pilgrims have to offer prayers from a 10’ distance. I asked a pandit & he offered to do ‘Abhishekam’ & he told that they will supply ‘dhoti’ also (as dhoti is a must for abhisekam). The ticket for ‘abhishekam’ ranges from ` 201/- to ` 1001/- for different types of ‘abhishekams’. As I believe that abhisekam is to be performed before 11:00 AM, we dropped the idea.

   Therafter, we went to Gopi-Talav temple, (20Kms). There are many temples in the area with photo frames of Lord Krishna with Radha, Gopikas, Sudhama,etc. There is a lake with plenty of fish & we can see children offering "aata" balls to the fish. There are few stall selling all types of pooja samagri, idols, photo frames,etc and particularly "Gopi-Chandan" . I did not find any yellow soil (as is told) nearby, which is called "Gopi-Chandan"; maybe the lake bed which is full of water at present,  may contain the smooth & yellow color clay.

The road wards Dwarka to is full of potholes & bumps. It took more than an hour to reach Dwaraka Beth. The original Dwarka of Sri Krishna is said to be based here. The place carries the name because Sudhama came to meet Sri Krishna with “Beth” i.e. offering. It was 5:15 PM , the auto driver ‘Dhawal’ , took our mobile number & told us that it will take at least an hour & half to visit the island temple. I wrote Dhawal’s mobile No (09924248542) & auto number GJ 10X 4574. We caught a boat immediately, but the boat started only after adding some more standees.  We arrived Beth Dwarka island at 05:30 PM. The temple is under construction & renovation work is under progress. There are many small small temples at Beth Dwarka. Photo frames & small statues are provided. After offering prayers, we left Beth. As sooner as we reached the jetty, a boat was ready to sail off. We were at the shore at 06:30 PM.

            Fearing the police who may charge ` 75/- , Dhawal took another route to Dwarka. The road was horrible with water logging at many places, pot holes, etc.  On the way there were many herds of cattle, camels, etc  and at one or two places we found snakes crossing the road. At 07:30 PM, we reached Dwarakadish Temple. 

           

Dwarakadish Temple :

It is a splendid temple with full of lighting arraignments. The ‘Shayan aarti’ takes place at 08:30 PM & the temple closes at 09:00 PM. A panditji arranges a velvet bed with 3 pillows on either side. The temple resounds with the chanting of “Hare Krishna, Jai Jai Krishna…………………..”

            At Swastik Travels, we enquired about the bus to Somnath which was to depart sharp at 10:00 PM.  We booked two tickets for ` 280/- (` 140/- each). We had a quick Gujarathi thali (` 40/- with ` 10/- extra for a glass of curd) at Hotel Aarti. ‘Papad & Chaaz will be served only once’ was written on the wall. The hotel was deserted with only two of us having dinner. Insects were crawling on the wall & tube-light. One of the insects fell into the glass of ‘Chaaz’, the boy shouted, “Doosra Lao”, and I told Kumar that it may be “Doosra” for me but the “Pehla” for the next customer.

            Went to our room, had a quick shower and were at the travels sharp 10:00 PM. The bus was already full & we occupied our seats 44 & 45. (Window & middle). My side seat was vacant and I felt happy that I could sleep comfortably, but my happiness did not last long. The bus left at sharp 10:00 PM and in 5 minutes that was the first bump and afterwards we got used to such jolts about a 100 or more ranging from a few inches to a foot, we thought that the driver might have been a pilot earlier. We bounced upto one feet & back on our seats. The road from Dwarka to Somnath is horrible. It would have been better we had the other way out from Dwarka to Rajkot & then to Veraval by train. I could not take a nip in the bus. The bus halted at about 01:45 AM, near some remote dhaba on the roadside. The Driver, conductor & most of the passengers got down. As Kumar was fast asleep, I got down the bus and had a cup of tea. The bus resumed the journey at 02:00 AM and I slowly dozed off for next lap of our odyssey.

To be continued : (Part – 2)