Bet Dwarka | Gujarat Series

After our short and sweet sojourn at Gopi Talav (Click here to read about Gopi Talav) we boarded our autoriksha to go to Bet Dwarka, a journey of 19 kms to Okha port. Bet Dwarka is basically an island, In order to reach there we have to reach till Okha Port and from there take a boat to reach the other side.

The road ride was quite bumpy and dusty, many a times I could feel myself popping out of the auto, Thankfully I survived all the bumps. The road from Gopi Talav to Okha takes you through the salt town of Mithapur, which houses many Tata Factories. I was told that Tata Salt is also manufactured here. In fact we can see many salt pans as we go along the road. I'm told that the town Mithapur got its name from the Gujarati word Mithu which means Salt.

Okha Port View

It was around 10:30 am when we reached Okha Port. Our Auto driver told us to be back within 2 hours. My imagination of a port is that there are boats and ship docked, few boat officials but what I saw here was a melee and chaos, with fruit sellers, toy sellers etc you name it and that hawker is their vending their products. We quickly waded through this crowd and tried to reach the boat.

We waded our way towards the boat

Luckily We see a boat all set to go (Though it was very crowded), Without giving any further thought, we just jumped into it. We knew that, even if the next boat is anchored it will leave only once it is completely filled, which meant loss of time. Aur time hi toh nahi tha hamare pass ! Rahi baat jump marne ki, Yeh Mumbai ki local train me chadne ki practice thi jo yahan kaam aa gayi . 

Yoho !!  All set to go

We didn't get any place to sit, so we were standing in an overcrowded boat but what kept us engaged was the lovely sea-gulls following our boat.

Apna camera went wild, click click all the way clicking the lovely sea gulls , whom the people were feeding. So much was the fun that all the pain of travelling in the sun got drained away.

Seagulls all around us

So what is so special of Bet Dwarka, that we have boats loaded with people keep visiting it day in, day out.

Lots of people keep visiting Bet Dwarka 

 The story goes that Lord Krishna who administered the Dwarka stayed at Bet Dwarka and it was at Bet Dwarka that he met Sudama his childhood friend who brought rice as a present for lord Krishna.

Boats loaded with people eager to visit Bet Dwarka

But my dear friends there is more to Bet Dwarka than only this story. Bet Dwarka is actually a rich source of history dating to Harappan Civilisation. Check details given below:

1980: Remains of Earthen Pots and other artifacts of Late Harappan period were found near Sidi Bawa Pir Dargah.

1982:A 580 metres long wall dated 1500BC was foundwhich is believed to be damaged and submerged  due to the sea storm.
A copper Fish Hook, An Inscribed jar, Mould of Copper smith and a late Harappan seal was found.

The shipwrecks and stone anchors found during the excavations suggested that there were historic relations with the Romans.
(Source Wikipidea)

The excavation in Bet Dwarka Island has confirmed the oldest settlement dating back to the Late Harappan period.They have exploited marine resources available around the island. They had extraordinary technology for fishing, which has continued for thousands of years. The discovery of a copper fish-hook suggests that large-scale fishing activity continued around Bet Dwarka Island even after the Harappan period. Chronology has been verified with findings from Saurashtra as well as with absolute dating method.
(Reference source :A. S. GAUR* SUNDARESH National Institute of Oceanography, Dona Paula)



After knowing so much about Bet Dwarka We were naturally dying to see more but as soon as we reached the Bet Dwarka or Bet Island ,what We saw was not a very encouraging sight. Bet Dwarka was just like another crowded township, with series of houses of fisherman, anchored boats, smell of fish etc.

Bet Dwarka Side Jetty

 We were informed that 90 percent of the population on this island is Muslim. (It hardly makes a difference to me). We started walking along the road to the temple. The walk is hardly of 5-10 minutes in the congested bazaar, with shops and houses on the both side. 

Upon reaching the temple just like all temples here in Dwarka we were told to deposit our mobile phones, Cameras and leather belts at the locker.Hence we couldn't take any photos of the temple. However we took pics of some old structures around the temple.

Old Structures around the temple

Old Structures around the temple

After depositing our mobiles and camera we entered the temple. We were hurried by the ushers to do the Darshan, as the temple was to be closed for the afternoon. we were then quickly whisked away by the pandit to adjoining room where he made all of us sit down on the floor and started to narrate as to how Krishna Met Sudama his childhood friend on this island and in the same breath he informed us that the tirth of Dwarka is not complete if we don't donate rice here. Just like the menu card of Udipi restaurant he announced the various rates. 

We soon came out from the temple and rushed to see Makardwaj temple. Most people who come here often do the Darshan of Bet Dwarka mandir and go back but I had read that there is also a temple of Hanuman's son Makardwaj.

Dad, did you say Son of Hanuman !

Son of Hanuman !  My daughter looked at me and said "Lekin Dad Hanuman toh Bhramchari the na" and honestly I too was at loss of words so we googled then and there to find out as to how this happened.It so happened that after burning away the Lanka Hanuman took a dip in the sea water and a drop of his perspiration fell into the mouth of a mighty Makara, Thus Makardhwaja was born !! and then I looked at the bewildered face of my daughter " Come on Dad do you want me to believe this " I sighed and walked away to find auto to go to this temple.

Auto mil gaya 

There are these sharing autos that take you to the Makardhwaj Temple at Rs 30 per seat however they ply only if there are 10 pax. As we were short of time and though we asked few people to join us but no one came along.(Major reason is the waiting buses or auto don't give you sufficient time for this visit). Anyways we booked the whole auto to ourselves and this 4-5 kms rides again was very bumpy and dusty, as there is no proper road. It was lunch time when we reached the Makardhwaj temple sadly no pictures here too. 

Another clumsy auto ride to Makardhwaj Temple

There was no one  in the temple except the caretakers hence we were able to get darshan very quickly. Interestingly they were having bhandara there so we had our lunch sitting on the floor and after finishing the lunch each of us washed our dishes and left the temple very contented. Isse kismat kehte hai, kisne socha hoga ki hum bet Dwarka me ek mandir me lunch karenge

As soon as we got into the auto to reach the Jetty we got a call from our auto driver who was fuming because we went to this temple and were late. 

We quickly made our way back to the jetty and were again lucky to find the boat all set to leave and in no time we were back in our auto to go to our last destination today i.e Rukamani Temple.

Dwarka | Gujarat Series

It was around September 2017 when  I last visited Gujarat  and I was simply zapped by the beauty of Champaner UNESCO World heritage site.( To know more about Champaner you can check my Champaner Series Blog.)

The beauty of the ancient Mosques,Temples and stepwells stirred the wanderer spirit and nudged me to search for more such ancient sites in Gujarat and hence the quest to explore ended with plan to visit Dwarka-Somnath-Diu-Sasan Gir.

Once the plan was fixed I called up my friend Pooja and Nikhil who too wanted to come along and from my side my wife and daughter joined in and we were a team of 5 people all set to go

Gujarat here we come

As usual the programs are more of impromptu kind thus railway bookings in such situations are always a herculean task and this time too we ended up with RAC tickets. Gujarat trains waiting list are quite slow in moment hence even on the day of journey our tickets were not confirmed and upon that we were hit by another bomb when Nikhil called in to say that he cannot make it as some urgent work has turned up at his office. I take these kind of things in my stride because for a regular traveler these kind of situations are more of Deja Vu experience and like a seasoned traveler we have to work around all these obstacles, hence I requested Nikhil to meet us in Diu and this way he too can travel and only miss out on Dwarka.

We took Saurashtra Mail  which leaves at 21.35 from Mumbai Central and the train reached Dwarka in the afternoon at 4 pm ( Official time is 2:30 pm , our train was late)

After getting down from the station we took autoriksha to our hotel. During the auto journey to hotel I fixed up with my auto guy to take us for local sightseeing; Within an hour we were all ready and all set to explore local Dwarka today.

Dwarka is one of the Chardham, other three being Puri ,Badrinath and Rameshwar. Dwarka is also one of the Sapta Puri meaning that it is one of the seven most ancient cities of India. Dwarka is situated on the coastal strip of Gujarat.

There are so many tales connected with this city which we will keep narrating in the due course of my blog. For a start let us begin with the connection of Dwarka and the name given to lord Krishna "Ranchod Das"

 Jarasandha, the king of Magadha, had married his daughters Asti and Prapti to Kamsa, Krishna's maternal Uncle. After Krishna killed his Uncle Kamsa, Jarashandh was furious with him because his daughters were widowed due to Krishna. He decided to teach Krishna and the Yadavas a lesson. Since the Yadavas were concentrated in and around Mathura, he decided to battle them and destroy the race forever. 

These repeated attacks on Mathura forced Lord Krishna to move out of Mathura and settle at a new place. But to build a whole new city was not a joke but it was here that Vishwakarma the chief architect of gods in those days came to the rescue of Lord Krishna because when he was questioned as to how long it would take to construct a new city he smiled and replied that the city has already been built under water and can be raised above the sea water anytime on their approval. Infact behind this whole tale the was a name given to Lord Krishna i.e."Ranchod Das" meaning the one who ran away from the battle. Ran-Battle Chod-leave or run.( But one must remember here that lord Krishna didnt leave because he was a coward but because he was to save the subjects of his kingdom from the wrath of Jarasandha. 

Dwarka town is full of temples, you find temples at every nook and corner. "itne resturants nahi milege jitne mandir honge". 

As far as our journey was concerned we started our sightseeing the Laxmi narayan Mandir. It was a simple temple with not much to talk about. We had a darshan here and moved on to our next temple i.e Gayatri Sakhtipeeth Temple.

Gayatri Sakhtipeeth Temple

View from the Gayatri Sakhtipeeth Temple

Talking about Gayatri Sakhtipeeth, this temple is just next to the sea and is probably the only temple of Gayatri Mata in Dwarka. One Dharamshala next to the temple could be seem. I presume its associated with this temple to facilitate the religious pilgrims who come there.

View from the Gayatri Sakhtipeeth Temple

More than the temple I liked the beauty of the settings around it.

Impressive structures near the temple

The sea,the sitting area created across the temple, which of course is not the part of the temple looked very beautiful.

Sitting area near the Temple

Taking advantage of the ambiance we all took turns to indulge in photography.

Golden glow of the sun creating a picture perfect image

Trying different angles

Standing next to the temple one can also see Lighthouse which look very attractive with the combination of sea, stones and the sun.

Combination of sea, stones and the sun

From here on we moved toward the Gita mandir 

Gita Mandir is situated towards the Western Ghats of Dwarka, close to the Bhadkeshwar Mahadev Mandir. This temple was built by the industrialist family of Birlas in 1970. The temple is constructed using marble, which adds to the beauty of the temple. This shrine was built to protect the rich scripture, teachings and values of the religious book of Hindus, the 'Bhagavad Gita'.

Besides, the walls of the temple are carved with the hymns of Bhagavad Gita. We were informed by the priest that the temple ceiling is designed is a special way so that every voice heard in the hall is echoed.( I felt it was more due to emptiness of the hall). (Sorry don't have the pictures of this temple due to some malfunction with my camera here) 

The sun was on the verge of setting

The sun was almost on the verge of setting so we rushed toward the Bhadkeshwar temple , as I didn't want to miss the beauty of the setting sun on the horizon of the Arabian sea.

Bhadkeshwar Mahadev temple

Bhadkeshwar Mahadev temple as the name suggest was Shiva temple which is little away from the land mass joined by the cemented path built from land to the temple. The Badkeshwar darshan timing are from sunrise to sunset. The best time to visit Bhadkeshwar is around sunset when you get enchanted by the golden sheet of sea bed and the towering temple in that backdrop.This spot is so beautiful that you can indeed have panoramic view of the coastline with small boats blinking in the view on far horizon.

boats blinking on the horizon

Our first day at Dwarka was drawing to close and with heavy heart we had to bid adieu to the magical sea,Gentle breeze and those exotic birds but not before hogging few Panipuris, Bhuta and yummy Kesar pista Kulfi and finally boarded autoriksha to our Hotel.

Exotic Bird

Tommorrow we shall be visiting Nageshwer Jyotiling (Click here to read the next part), one of the famous Jyotiling out of the 12 jyotilings spread across the length and breath of our country India. To know more check my next blog on Nageshwar Jyotiling temple.

Traveler Tips:
1. Do your train booking well in advance.
2. Autorikshas are available from outside the station. some are big and can accommodate more than 5 people.
3.Autorikshas are not metered so do collect some info in advance as to the fare charged.
4. We paid Rs 300 for local city sightseeing.(year 2018)