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Lord Krishna

 

Lord Krishna

 

Lord Krishna is an incarnation of Lord Vishnu.

 

According to Pauranik literature, Lord Krishna settled and established his kingdom at Dwarka, in Jamnagar, after his migration from Mathura.

 

Archeological excavations reveal that the present day Dwarka is the 6th city on this site, the earlier 5 have submerged in the sea.

India has 4 Main Dhaams, 7 Puris, 108 Devi Peeths, 4 Shardapeeths, 68 Tirth and 12 Jyotirlings.

One Dham Dwarka, One Jyotirling Nageshwar and One Shardapeeth are the 3 places of International importance at Dwarka.

Dwarka :  Ancient name for this area was Kushsthali, then Dwarvati, then Usha mandal then Okha mandal.

Lord Krishna came to here to Kushthali with his whole Yadav clan to make a new world for his clan.

This pleasant sea side land, cooled the eyes of Lord Krishna, so he put the foundation of Dwarka.

This place was full of all the comforts of life so it was  called the Golden city.  The city had huge markets, good roads, There was a fort built around the city and there were 10 Kothas. The Palaces of the Yadav clan is said to have doors of gold.

Dwarkadhish Temple:

In the middle of the town is the Dwarkadhish Temple, which was built in the 16th century. Dwarkadish is another name of Lord Krishna that means the "Lord of Dwarka". The five-storey high temple is built on seventy-two pillars. The temple spire is 78.3m (235 feet) high. From the temple dome waves an eighty-four foot long multicolored flag decorated with the symbols of the sun and moon. Lord Krishna's grandson, Vajranabha, is said to have built the original temple of Dwarkadhish over the hari-graha (Lord Krishna's residential place). The sanctum of the temple is formed by the Jagat Mandir, or Nija Mandir, which dates back at least 2500 years. The Jagat Mandir has a tall tower and a hall of audience. There are two entrances to the temple. The main entrance(north entrance) is called "Moksha Dwara" (Door to Salvation). This entrance leads to the main market. The south entrance is called "Swarga Dwara" (Gate to Heaven). Outside this doorway are 56 steps that lead to the Gomati River. The audience hall has both ancient and fairly modem sculptures. The main Deity in this temple is Lord Dwarkadhish, who is on the central altar. The Deity represents the four-armed form of Vishnu called Trivikrama. There is a temple to the right of the main Deity that contains the Deity of Lord Baladevaji (Balarama), who is the older brother of Lord Krishna. The temple to the left of the main Deity contains a big Deity of Pradyumna and a small Deity of Aniruddha. They are the son and grandson of Lord Krishna. Opposite this shrine is the shrine of Purusottama (Vishnu). Next to this shrine is a shrine dedicated to Kuseswara Mahadeva (Shiva). The shrine facing Dwarkadhish is dedicated to Devaki, the mother of Lord Krishna. Next to this shrine is a temple dedicated to Veni-madhava (Lord Vishnu). Behind the main temple in the eastern part of the temple compound are shrines of Radhikaji, Jambuvatiji, Satyabhamaji and Lakshmiji. There are also shrines of Saraswati and Lakshmi-Narayan.

Rukshmaniji Temple:

 

1.5 Kms from Dwarka on Okha Highway, on the banks of Bhagirathi River, is the Temple of Rukshmaniji, the Patrani of Lord Krishna.

You can stop here while going towards Bet - Dwarka.

 

 

 

Gomti Ghat : This is the place where  Gomti River meets the Ocean, Pilgirms take the privialage here for a holy dip. if one wants then they can take a ferry and cross the Ghat and reach the opposite bank and visit the places of Pandavas.

Bet Dwarka :

Also known as Bet Shankhodar, was a full fledged port before the development of Okha Port. It was the residing of Lord Krishnas Queens. In the Temple of of the Bet, the idols of the queens such as Lakshmiji, Radhaji,  Satyabhamaji, Jambuvantiji are main.

On the Island thre are 23 Shivalays, 20 Vaishnav Temples, 9 Hanuman Temples, 6 DeviTemples including other many temples.

The Old Shankhnarayan Temple is belived to be built around V.S 1774.

The Mahaprabhuji Baithak was built here by Shrimad Vallabhacharyaji in V.S 1535. There is also a place for Balramji.

Bet Dwarka is about 15 minutes ferry ride from from Okha port.

Okha Port: The natural harbour of okha was made into a port by the Gaikwad Dynasty ruler of  Baroda, Shri Sayaji Rao Gaikwad on 14th February 1926.  Before that in 1925AD,Jamnagar Okha railway line had become operational.

Before Okha port was developed, Arambhada was the main port and people used this place for going towards Bet Dwarka for pilgirmage. Mendarda Port was also used for the purpose.

Gopi Talav : Gopis used to take bath in this lake so its  called gopi talav. the red mud aroundt the lake is called `Gopi Chandan' here there are small and big Dharamshalas, Anandabawa Ashram, Kabir Ashram and Birla Dharamshala.

Shardapeetha: Aadh Shankracharya in 491 AD, founded this peetha himself as the 4th peeth.

Aadh Sankracharya had founded 4 peeths for withholding the traditions of India.

Dwarka Shardapeeth operates Sharda Vidyapeeth Art College, an Indian Research Temple and a Museum.

Madhavpur: Lord Krishna and Rukshmaniji married in Madhavpura, which is 60 KMS from Porbunder. A large fair is held here in March – April.

 

Dehotsarg, at Treveni Ghat is believed to be the site of Lord Krishnas mortal incarnations cremation. The Ahir community women of this area wear black even today.


Nageshwar Mahadeva Temple : contains one of the 12 Shiva jyotirlings in an underground sanctum. It is 17 km from Dwarka.

The jyotirling enshrined in the temple of Nagnath attracts thousands of pilgrims all round the year. This powerful jyotirlinga symbolizes protection from all poisons and those who pray to the Nageshwar therefore become poison free. This Shivaling is facing South, with the Gomugam facing East. There is a story for this position. A devotee by name Naamdev was singing bhajans in front of the Lord. Other devotees asked him to stand aside and not hide the Lord. To this Naamdev asked them to suggest one direction in which the Lord does not exist, so that he can stand there. The enraged devotees carried him and left him on the southside. To their astonishment, they found that the Ling was now facing South with the Gomukh facing east.

Lord Shivas huge sitting idol here near Nageshwar Mahadev Temple is awe inspiring.

 


Harshidhi Temple: The temple is situated on the top and bottom of Koyla Hill.  Harsidhi Matatji is also known as Ambica Mataji and Kalki Mataji.  The local people call her Harshad Mata.

The ancient temple on top of the Koyla hill, has the same construction styles of the Navlakha Temple of the Chalukya Dynasty in Ghumli, where as the temple in the bottom of the hill is quite modern.On the northern side of the temple is the fire pit, where Harshad Mata used to roast and eat the King of Minalpur  Prabhatsen.

Roast & eat??? Yes, the story goes like this, that before about 2000 years, the capital of the Chavda Kingdom was Minalpur, there the king was Prabhat sen Chavda. This minalpur was a main port and trading used to be done with foriegn shores.

Once during the holy festival of Navratri, the 7 wives of Prabhatsen were playing garba. So Jagdamba Mataji from the Koyal hill, also doned ornaments and fine clothes and took the appearance of a beutiful lady, came down to play the Raas.

King Prabhatsen who was watching the festivities from the palace got attracted to this fine lady and the flames of evil passion got ignited in him, so in the late night, when Mataji started going back to the hill, he started to follow  her. Looking at this she got angry and cursed him and told him to come every night to the temple to be eaten alive.

So every night, the King had to go to the temple to be roasted alive in the fire pit and to be eaten. The next day she would make him alive and send him back to his palace. This daily curse had taken its toll on King Prabhatsens health and he became very weak and thin.

During that time, the maternal cousin of prabhatsen, the Great King, Vir Vikramaditya came on the pilgrimage of Dwarka and became his guest. On seeing the condition of his cousin, King Vir Vikramaditya asked for the reason and he was told this tale of  tourture. So the great king vikram decided and took the appearance of Prabhatsen and went for fullfilling the curse of his cousin. Seeing show of love and courage pleased Mataji, so she granted a wish to him. King Vikram asked for 2 wishes. 1. to relieve his cousin of the curse and 2. to become his guest at the capital city Ujjain of his kingdomof Malvan. She granted his wishes.

But about accepting his wish about her visit to Ujjain, she kept the condition that she would follow the his caravan on foot and she forbade him to look back and check whether she was coming or not which he agreed and he looked then Mataji will stop at that point only.  On reaching the outskirts of his capital city of ujjain on the banks of river Shipra, King Vir Vikramaditya out of curosity looked back and thus Harshidhi Mataji stopped there itself.

Even today the Temple of Harshidhi Mataji is still there and It is said that since then, Mataji goes daily there for night stay and comes back to Koyla hill during the day.

One can visit the temple on the way back from Dwarka.

It is about 70 KMS from Dwarka while coming towards Jamnagar

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This website is for local & international tourists as well as for Jamnagar residents interested in knowing more about the area. This data is compiled from various websites, books as well as been fed by me. Pls feel free to take any data from this website.

i`ll try to keep updating this website. if you have want to add something about Jamnagar, then pls email me.

-M-

 

Created by -M- NoŠ 2005   
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