Nageshwar Jyotiling | Gujarat Series

Yesterday we visited some local temples of Dwarka( you can click here to read the earlier blog), Today we decided to explore the temples which are on the outskirts of Dwarka city.

Ceiling Of the Swami Narayan Temple visited during the local sightseeing yesterday.

As usual we all got up early and were ready by 7:30 am. In order to do the sight seeing of Nageshwar Temple, Bet Dwarka and Rukmani Temple ,we had the option to take either the Local bus or our own private vehicle viz hired car or autoriksha. Knowing our passion for photo sessions I was very sure that the public bus option could be a disaster. "Kyo ki hum logo ko toh photo ka angle decide karne me hi 15 minute lag jate hai aur photo lena toh door ki baat"  hence we decided to go by the local autoriksha. The auto drive from Dwarka to Nageshwar was very adventurous, you must be wondering Why adventurous ?, Well when you happen to travel with three ladies and that too in an autoriksha, you have no option but to sit with the auto driver, so for now, all three ladies were on the back seat and me enjoying the chilly breeze of Dwarka sitting along the auto driver on the front seat. Hawa hawa, Talking of Hawa i.e wind we noticed that it was quite windy in this region consequent to which series of windmills can be seen on the way to Nageshwer temple from Dwarka.

Windmills along the road on the way to Nageshwar Temple

Nageshwar Temple is around 17 kms from Dwarka. The ride was little bumpy but morning chill made it quite enjoyable and by 8:30 am we were at the Temple.

The tall Shiva statue can be seen from far  with an impressive Arc like gate and you realise that you have arrived.

Gigantic gate and tall Shiva Statue 

Nageshwar Jyotingling templeis one of the 12 Jyotilings. However what I found very different here was the absence of ancientness about the temple. The structure looked quite contemporary in architecture and design.I have seen many Jyotiling Temples they are mostly built of stone.Anyway mere ko kya, kyo ki agar maine kuch jyada bola toh there is every chance of me displeasing my wife who is a devout follower of Lord Shiva.

Well me and my daughter decided upon the angle to take the picture and all this while the helpless auto driver was wondering yeh logo kab andar jayenge darshan ke liye... Bechare ko pata nahi aage kya hone wala hai 😜

Finally angle set, hum aur bhagwan sath sath me 😄

In the meanwhile my wife went about to purchase the offerings to god I got busy with my shoot and as I was clicking the picture of the Lord Shiva Statue I noticed there was a peacock perched on its head . Oh What a sight it was!

Peacock perched on the head of Lord Shiva 

There are few tales associated with this temple, one been that once there was a fierce Rakshas named Daruk who lived in the forest with his wife Daruka , Due to the powers granted by Parvati by the way of boon to Daruk he had become very arrogant  and in one of his act of meanness he captured Supriya a great devotee of Lord Shiva and with his associates and imprisoned all of them in a hidden Dungeon. Supriya who was an ardent devotee, had full faith in god so he kept on worshiping, chanting non stop Om namo Shivaye... despite all the torture inflicted upon him. Seeing his unconditional devotion Lord Shiva came to his rescue  and vanquished the demons and the Jyotiling was establisehed and the place became known as Darukvanam ( Dwarka Forest) while the linga came to be know as Naganath.

Standing in front of the temple you are dwarfed by this gigantic Statue of Lord Shiva. ( I was told that late Gulshan Kumar of T-series  has initiated the construction of the same so as to popularize this place). we all entered the main gate and quickly rushed towards the waiting queue where we someone reminded us that we need to keep our mobile and camera shut. following the small crowd guided by the steel pipe barricades we reached the main hall of the temple. 

Contemporary looks of the temple

Iske baad woh hi hua jo her mandir me hota hai, standing in the queue I paid my respect to the god but my wife been a devout devotee wanted to do pour the water on the jyotiling and do the Aarti so she went ahead near the shivling, when the poojari rudely stopped her and asked Aap log kitne log ho jine andhar jana hai we said 3 and he said 600Rs fee, 200 per person. I later saw that they had placed a board mentioning the rates. I was put off so I moved away from there because I know I dont need such agents , Apna connection waise bhi god ke sath direct hai.

Once the Darshan were done we hopped back into out waiting auto to our next destination Gopi Talav. 

Stay tuned for my next blog on Gopi Talav

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)

Champaner Series | Iteri Masjid | Part 3

After exploring the Shaher ki masjid(Click here to read), I enquired with the the security guy as to where the other mosques are. He advised me to check out other mosques like Kevada Masjid and Nagina Masjid first and in the end finish my exploration with Jami Masjid. In fact most of the tourist who come here generally go to  Jami Masjid first. 

As advised by the security guy I ventured to explore Kevada Masjid, Taking the directions from him I set out , little walk and on my left I saw this gate of custom house.

Custom House

 I think it housed Govt office so I didn't go inside to check out. Again a little walk into the village Yes! within the walls of Champaner you find these small village houses, reaching at a T section I turned left with the boundary walls of the heritage site quite visible on the right side.

Boundary walls on the right side quite visible

Its here I got little confused when a villager told me to turn around and take the route exactly opposite to where I was walking. I said but the sign board say its on this side. He mocked at me and said "Arre Is raste se jungle me kahan batak te rahoge", for a minute I was in two mind and turned back but I dont know what came over me and I started to follow my original instinct to walk through the thick vegetation route.(The thing he called jungle 😜 )

Exit to thick vegetation route

Actually only Shaher ki Masjid is within the fortified walls of the complex, rest of all the Masjids are scattered outside this complex hence I moved out of the complex from the exit door and began my solo walk.
Hey neele gagan ke tale, jungle ki aur chale 

Exit Door

 With only the sound of birds and not a soul to be around you, the feeling could be very eerie. 

Bole tho darr bhi lagta hai aur majja bhi aata hai

Dhadakta dil ek hi baat bol raha tha woh Sholay wala dialogue                                    "Bhai Itna sanaata kyo hai"

Itna Sanaata kyo hai bhai

Sunsan raste per chalte hue ek minute ke liye yeah khayal bhi aaya ki, yahan akele me koi loot kar legaya toh... 

well actually these are honestly the vagaries of a Solo backpacker, walking little more deeper into this lonely track I saw this board of Brick Masjid alias Iteri Masjid . "Arre but no one told me anything about this Mosque".

Sign board of Iteri Majid and Amir Manzil

I took the left turn from the signboard and walked further, Just because I had seen the sign board so I was feeling confident that I'll find the place otherwise the track was too lonely and dense for my comfort. In fact at one moment my heart came in my mouth when I saw moment in the bushes and next moment PLOP! out jumps the peacock and run over towards the bushes on other side. Sigh !

The path was getting more dense

Just when I was losing all hopes I see this hopelessly standing Masjid of bricks in front of me.

Iteri Masjid

But before I could jump with happiness at my find, I saw few of these Buffalos grazing and seeing an intruder like me with swinging camera and walking towards them must have startled them, Perhaps that is the reason  they gave me fierce and fiery looks which almost stopped me in my tracks. 

Aa Dekhe Zara moment

Sach pucho toh yeh "Aa Dekhe Zara kisme kitna hai dum" moment tha. Half shivering I bravely stood my ground and took the picture of Brick masjid from a distance. "Ab yeh pata nahi tha ki woh kali bhains mere se utna hi darr rahi thi jitna mai usse."

Mere angane me tumhara kya kaam

I took few pictures and started to walk further in search of Amir Mahal, but after walking for 10 minutes I came to a dead end hence I retraced my steps till I was again at the Brick Masjid.( Sadly I didn't find Amir Mahal) 

View of Iteri Masjid

Luckily this time those dangerous looking baffalos had moved out. Garnering some courage I candidly moved near this Mosque to have closer look.

Closer looks of the Iteri Masjid

I climbed on the broken wall to reach the mosque platform to entered the Mosque. As the wall was narrow hence I had be be careful and worst the bricks were unevenly place. Ek khayal aaya tha tab, ki agar gir gaya toh koi utane hi nahi aayega aur phir ghabrat me woh kali bhains bhi yad aayegi

Narrow broken wall from where I climbed 

Upon reaching the top of platform I realised that there is not much to be seen. So the next best thing that I could think of was to shoot this Mosque from different angle. 

Angle Play

The plaster of this mosque has come off, exposing the bricks , probably that is the reason for the name Brick Masjid.

 Though on the minarets of the centre entrance few dilapidated carvings could be seen.

There was hardly anything behind the structure except for few ruined walls of the rooms and some overgrown grass.

Ruins behind the Mosque Facade

I wanted to explore little deeper but got worried that some snake may pop out from the grass to greet me Good morning 😅😅😅😅 

Socha aaj ke liye Bhains aur peacock ka fright kafi tha....


This mosque is in total neglected state, No ASI sign, no gate, no caretaker.

Dilapidated Walls of masjid

Probably it may not be so significant structure of its times. But who cares!

Hum toh woh hai , jin ko Dewaar toh chodo, Giri Dewaaro se bhi pyar hai, Hence enjoyed the moment and moved on.

Thank you for reading the blog hope you enjoyed the journey and be prepared to read about another beautiful Mosque i.e Kevada Masjid in my next blog, till then stay tuned.

TRAVEL TIP:1.Please carry your food and water.
                      2.Cap and Sunglasses could be quite handy.