Yatra to Pancha Dwarakas- An Introduction(Continued)

Why did Lord Krishna choose Dwaraka in the first instance and how and why Dwaraka got submerged in the sea? These questions are better answered by a study of the Puranas.
To escape the continuous attacks of Jarasandh on Mathura and save the lives of its inhabitants (Yadavas), Lord Krishna shifted the seat of his Kingdom to Dwaraka. The city of Dwaraka was built by Viswakarma, the divine architect in the midst of the sea at the behest of Lord Krishna.
The Yadavas dominated the whole earth and had become arrogant after being intoxicated by their power. There is an interesting tale of how this powerful yadava dynasty met their downfall –

At the end of the Mahabharata war, all the sons and grand sons (Kauravas) of Gandhari (wife of Dirudhirashtra) were killed and she blamed Shri Krishna stating that he could have stopped the massacre but did not do so on purpose. She therefore cursed Shri Krishna stating that he & his Yadava clan will be destroyed in 36 years.
Once, some young yadavas played a prank with Sage Kanva, which caused the downfall of the Yadavas. One day, some Yadava children went at the bank of river Narmada where sage Kanva was doing penance. Samba was one of those Yadava children. He disguised himself as a pregnant woman by keeping an iron pestle under his clothes. All the yadava children then went near Sage Kanva and asked him as to when was the pregnant woman supposed to deliver a child. Sage Kanva furiously cursed them that the whole clan of Yadavas would be liquidated because of that very pestle. All the children were scared and told Sri Krishna about the mistake they had made. Sri Krishna ordered that the iron pestle be crushed to powder and be thrown into a pond. But, that was not the end of the matter, as long reeds grew all around the pond. The reeds had very sharp edges. A fish swallowed a small part of that iron pestle and was subsequently caught by a fowler, who retrieved that iron-piece from the fish and fixed it on the top of his arrow.

In course of time all the Yadavas developed enmity among themselves and killed each other with those sharp-edged reeds. Once, Sri Krishna was taking rest under the shade of 'Kalpa' tree. The fowler mistook his pink foot to be that of a deer and pierced it with his arrow. When the fowler arrived at the spot he found Sri Krishna in an injured condition. The fowler regretted his action and begged for Sri Krishna's pardon. Shri Krishna also breathed his last thereafter. After Shri Krishna’s demise, the sea engulfed Dwaraka and submerged the city.

The city of Dwaraka is important in many other ways too. It was a big seaport, a door through which the wealth of the west poured in. The city thus earned the name Dwar-ika or simply Dwaraka. Dwaraka is one of the seven holy cities in India, the others being, Ayodhya, Mathura, Gaya, Kashi, Kanchi & Ujjain. It is one of the Char Dhams or Kingdoms of God, the others being, Badrinath, Puri & Rameshwaram. Dwaraka is one of the 4 places where Adi Sankarar established his Mutts the others being Puri, Sringeri & Joshimath.

There are 9 Dwarakas (some count only the prominent ones and state that there are Pancha Dwarakas). These are:
1. Dwarakadeesh Dwaraka
2. Gomti Dwaraka
3. Rukmini Dwaraka
4. Bhet Dwaraka
5. Sudhama Dwaraka
6. Moola Dwaraka
7. Mukti Dwaraka
8. Dakore Dwaraka
9. Shrinathji Dwaraka
Except Shrinathji Dwaraka, which is in Rajasthan, all the others are in Gujarat. All of them bear the surname Dwaraka as Lord Krishna is either believed to have lived there or a devotee at that place had seen his vision.

Our tour with Sri Mahalakshmi Yathra Service took us to Ahmedabad, Porbandar, Veraval, Somnath, Udaipur, Mount Abu, Ambaji, Ajmer, Pushkar & Jaipur besides the above stated 9 Dwarakas.

We reached Ahmedabad on 31 Jan 2005 evening. Ahmedabad as you might be aware is an old city and the capital of Gujarat is now Gandhi Nagar. The Sabarmati River separates the two.

Prominent among the places visited by us in Ahmedabad & Gandhi Nagar are the Swaminarayan Temple at Akshar Dham and the Sabarmati Ashram established by Mahatma Gandhi.

- Continued-

Yatra to Pancha Dwarakas- An Introduction

Introduction

Very few of us have the time & inclination to indulge in Religious & Spiritual Exercises in the prime of our youth. This is primarily due to the fact that we are busy in our work and also in bringing up our children. It is only after we retire and our children are well established in life that we think in terms of religious & spiritual pursuits seriously.
I am not spiritual or religious by any stretch of imagination and my travels after retirement was primarily intended to take me to places, which I had not seen during my career in the Armed Forces. Moreover, I was curious to see the length & breadth of India having read books on Indian Civilization & Culture written by eminent people like Jawaharlal Nehru and A L Basham. Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan has also published excellent books on the same subject when K M Munshi was heading it.
I was also curious to see in person the architectural wonders created by our ancient rulers like the Cholas, Pandyas, Cheras, Rashtrakutas, Pallavas, Chalukyas, Hoysalas etc. I developed an interest on this issue as a result of teaching World History to Pre-University students soon after my graduation.
I shall, in these columns, will be writing a series of articles, which will be more in the nature of an exercise to motivate other like-minded people to undertake similar excursions. Hence, I am open to criticism and suggestions if the articles do not come up to your expectation.
One such tour/excursion took me to Gujarat & Rajasthan. My wife & me went on a Pancha Dwaraka tour with Sri Mahalakshmi Yathra Service from Jan 30, 2005 to 15 Feb 2005. A word about the tour operators will be necessary at this juncture. This was their 331st tour. They are in this line since last 31 years and have had only one accident. They have their own staff consisting of cooks and administrators who accompany us from Chennai. Their rates are reasonable, accommodation enroute is comfortable and the food cooked is palatable.
We started on 30 Jan 2005 by Navajeevan Express leaving Chennai at 0930 hrs. We returned to Chennai on the 15th of Feb 2005 by Jaipur Express, which left Jaipur on 13 Feb 2005 evening. There were in all 68 Yathriks.
Dwaraka is the place where Lord Krishna established his own Kingdom faraway from Mathura, his birthplace. People have discounted the existence of Lord Krishna. Dwaraka and the occurrence of the Mahabharata war stating that these are a poet’s imagination. These persons may not agree that the Bhagavat Gita was the handiwork of the Lord himself. They cannot, however, help appreciating it since it has fetched Rabindranath Tagore, a Nobel Prize in literature. Dwaraka is said to have been submerged in the sea soon after the passing away of Lord Krishna. The non-existence of Dwaraka added strength to the arguments of the non-believers. Dr S.R.Rao and his team of Marine Archeologists undertook a search of the seabed from 1984 to 1988 along the coast of Gujarat where the present Dwarakideesh temple stands and stumbled upon evidences that proved the existence of the city of Dwaraka. They succeeded in unearthing the submerged ruins of the city of Dwaraka.

-Continued in the next issue-