The Great Gujarat Road
Odyssey – Day 10
Chapter 1 – Dwarkadhish Temple
Early morning you are at
the Gomti River banks. The Kund or the River has the cleanest waters you have
seen. You can actually see the sediment at the bottom and these tiny fishes. On
the left is the Sudama Setu, a pedestrian bridge which takes you to the other
side of the river. A perfect place to be in the evening to see the sun set the
temple aglow in the golden light. You walk through the town lanes when you see
the Brahma Kund. It looks like a renovated masonry tank where it is said Brahma
came to meet Krishna.
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| Dwarkadhish Temple on the banks of River Gomti |
After the darshan come out back to the banks of River Gomti and watch the life at ghats. Crystal clear blue waters of the river meet the Arabian Sea ahead. The Sudama Setu will take you to the other side where in the evening you can watch the temple aglow as the sun sets in Ranchhod’s kingdom.
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| River Gomti at Dwarka |
You are at the majestic
Dwarkadhish Temple with a regular procession of devotees walking in. At the
entrance, beside the security checkpoint, you can see the remains of a temple.
Was this the original temple that was demolished in 15th Century? You
have darshan of Lord Krishna. Coming eye to eye with the deity, is like the
devotee completing the voyage from Mathura to Dwarka, just like the Lord did,
and then meeting Him. Inside, devotees sing and dance. A chart indicates a 71
generation Krishna’s family tree that includes a family called ‘Singh’ – are we
related?
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| Dhwaj Arohan at Dwarkadhish Temple |
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| Dwarka: Dhwaj Arohan at Dwarkadhish Temple |
Just looking at the men on
top of the amalak of the spire of the Dwarkadheesh Temple is giving you a
vertigo. Standing outside the temple the ground feels wobbly. Three men have
climbed the top of the temple to hoist flags. As far as you can see they don’t have
any safety harnesses. Reportedly the flags are changed five times a day. The
ceremony is called Dhwaj Aarohan. Devotees pay upto ten thousand rupees to have
their flag hoisted on the stambh that towers over the temple. Slots are booked
three years in advance. The devotees arriving in processions with accompanying
drum beating and dancing are here for their own Dhwaj Aarohan ceremonies.
Today, they are hoisting two flags one after the another for some reason. Is it
because they want to welcome someone from their Lord’s own native place?
You are not sure if flags
are hoisted for devotees at other Dhams too.
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| Dwarka: Streets of the Old Town |
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| Dwarka: Brahma Kund - Brahma came to meet Krishna here |
On the way back to the car, you lose yourself in the lanes of the temple town for some street photography.
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| Dwarka |
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The Journey Continues
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Chapter 2 – Miyani
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| Harsiddhi Temple on one side and Miyani on the other |
You are driving south now
along the sea. In these few years, you would have driven practically all along
the Arabian Sea from Lakhpat to Kochi. Oh yes, the Goa to Mangalore stretch was
on a passenger train – back and forth. Hope to do Kochi to Kanya Kumari stretch
soon.
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| Harshad Mata Temple, Dwarka, Gujarat |
Halfway between Dwarka and
Porbandar, you are crossing the bridge into Miyani from the village Gandhvi.
Gandhvi has the Koyla Dungar hill-top temple of Harshiddhi Mata Temple, built
by Krishna where He worshipped the ‘Happy Mother’ another name for Durga. You
will give the temple a miss and go see the temple in Miyani, where it is said
Devi descended down to.
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| Temple Complex, Miyani, Gujarat |
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| Miyani - 13th Century Shiv Temple, Miyani, Gujarat |
Miyani doesn’t seem to have
many people. A stone gateway with walls welcome you to the complex of three
temples apparently under ASI care. Maybe one time the entire town was
fortified. Now only few stretches of the walls survive. Out of the three temples,
the 13th century Shiv temple is the most ornamented; and decaying
with the shikhar enveloped in plant growth. The sanctum doorway and antaral
pillars are lavishly sculpted. Wish they would spruce up the temple. Is the
Harshad Mata Temple one of these – you are not sure but the sign on the stone
gateway does indicate this is the Harsiddhi Temple Complex.
Chapter 3 – Visavada
Okay so there are several
candidates for Mool Dwarka or the original Dwarka. It is believed before
constructing the capital in Bet Dwarka, Krishna established the Mul Dwarka. You
come across this Mool Dwarka in the town of Visavada in Porbandar district.
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| A pit stop before entering Visavada, Porbandar |
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| Mool Dwarka, Visavada, Porbandar |
The temple complex looks
interesting with some whitewashed temples. A sign here says that Vishnupad
pilgrim centre was famous as Visavada in the Puranic times. And since there is
a group of Vishnu Temples here, it was named Mul Dwarka.
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| Ranchhodji Temple, Mul Dwarka, Porbandar |
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| Mul Dwarka: 16th century Shiv Temple, Visavada |
The Mool Dwarka Panchayatan
group of temples were built in 16th Century. Out of the two main
temples, the east facing is dedicated to Shiv and the west facing is dedicated
to Ranchhodji. Each is surrounded by smaller temples effectively making a saptayatan
and a panchayatan on a single platform. The mandaps have pyramidal roofs and the
sanctums have nagara shikhars.
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| The 13th Century L Shaped Vav in Visavada, Gujarat |
The interesting part of the
complex is the 13th Century L-shaped Vav here that is locally known
as Jnanavapi. The vav has pyramidal mandaps at the entrance with seats and
backrests, there are kutas which are pavilion towers, and images of Surya,
Vishnu and Brahma.
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As you close in on the
Porbandar city, you see a congregation of birds around a water body. The birds
look beautiful and look lady like. You have no idea who they are. Couple of
months later, you will make your way to Khichan in Rajasthan to meet the birds
again. They are the Demoiselle Cranes from Siberia who have made Khichan their
winter home and where they are looked after by the village community.
Here is the link to the
story:
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Chapter 4 - Porbandar
On the way to see Bapu in
Kirti Mandir, it is time to stop by Sudama Mandir, the temple dedicated to
Krishna’s friend from Mathura. Built by Jethwas in early 1900s, the complex has
few things of interest.
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| Sartanjino Choro in Sudama Mandir, Porbandar |
Leaving behind the car, you
walk through the Manek Chowk, a vibrant and atmospheric plaza in the old city. This is the walled city of the Jethwas who
ruled over this part of Gujarat and were probably descendents of earlier
Saindhavas. You enter the chowk through a gateway surmounted with a balcony
built of stone and wooden roof. Gandhiji’s statue stands in the middle of the
chowk. Another gateway with a similar pavilion on top leads you to the Kirti
Mandir.
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| Entrance to Kirti Mandir - the birthplace of Mahatma Gandhi in Porbandar |
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| Mahatma Gandhi's Birthplace in Porbandar |
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| Kirti Mandir in Porbandar, Gujarat |
Kirti Mandir is a quiet complex in the vibrant Old City with a vibe that you associate with every place that has connection with Gandhiji
across the country. In the south-west corner of the complex is the house where
Gandhiji was born. Originally, a single-storey house, it grew into a
three-storey house as each generation of family added a storey and rooms. You
make your way up the rooms, through passages decorated with paintings climbing narrow
wooden stairs.
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| Room where Mahatma Gandhi was born - Kirti Mandir, Porbandar |
A sign indicates the room where Gandhiji was born. The rooms, the windows in the passages opening out to the courtyard below, the walls; everything here has those echoes of a world when ordinary humans were born and who went out to do great deeds. You felt the same way when you went around Lokmanya Tilak's house in Ratnagiri and Tagore's thakurbari in Kolkata. And then they stopped making people like that. Now, people born ordinary, aspire to evolve into low lifes, just like some low life virus, they go virulent and infect lowlifes around them.
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| Kasturba Gandhi's parental house in Porbandar, Gujarat |
Out in the back, you walk
the lane that leads to Kasturba’s parental house, again a pretty place with wall
paintings and decorated wooden door frames.
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| Kirti Mandir, Porbandar |
Back in Kirti Mandir, you
spend some time looking at the photos and walking around the complex and again
realising how blessed we are to have him as our Father of the Nation. There are
a few more places you have in mind to visit – Dandi Beach, Wardha and maybe
Champaran some day.
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| Ibis being fed on Porbandar Chowpatty |
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| Heuglin's or Siberian Gull perched against the Arabian Sea |
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| A Black Ibis among a group of Black Headed Ibis - Porbandar Chowpatty |
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| An Egret outlined against the Porbandar Chowpatty skyline |
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| A Black Headed Ibis at Porbandar Chowpatty |
Now it is over to the sun, sea and the boats:
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| Porbandar Beach |
Before you look for a hotel, the worst job of of the day while road tripping, it is time to enjoy another sunset; this time at the Porbandar Chowpatty. Instead of sand, the shore is all rock shaped into a miniature skycraper city. And then you see all these Ibises flocking as a local feeds them grain. You have never seen so many different birds
on a beach before. This is another surprise after seeing those Demoiselle Cranes. For the next hour, you will catch the
changing moods of the skies, and the sea and the birds as they hop around
posing for you.
Life on the road continues.
Day's Stats
- Route Taken – Travel south on NH 51 as the
road hugs the sea on some stretches
- Distance covered today – 110 kms
- Total Distance covered so far - 2652 kms
References
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