Dwarkadhish Temple, Dwarka

About Dwarkadhish Temple, Dwarka

The 'Jagat Mandir' — Krishna's 2,500-year-old capital city on the Arabian Sea — a five-storey, 78-metre temple whose 52-yard flag is changed five times a day and visible from anywhere on the Gomti coast. One of the four Char Dhams and the seat of the Dwaraka-Sharada Peetham founded by Adi Shankaracharya.

History

Scriptural Dwarka is Krishna's city — built in a single night by Vishwakarma after he led the Yadavas out of Mathura to escape Jarasandha's 18 invasions. Marine archaeological surveys off the Gujarat coast since 1983 have documented submerged stone anchors, walls and gateways datable to 1500 BCE, lending weight to the tradition that the original city was indeed drowned by the sea seven days after Krishna's ascension. The present temple was built in the 15th–16th century over a foundation that Archaeological Survey of India carbon-dates to 200 BCE; it was ravaged by Mahmud Begada in 1473 and rebuilt by Vallabhacharya in 1500. Adi Shankaracharya established his western Math (Sharada Peeth) here in the 8th century, completing the four-corner spiritual geography of Bharat (Puri, Rameswaram, Badrinath, Dwarka). The red-and-yellow 52-yard flag — changed five times daily on a pole requiring 11 priests and a full hour of chanting — represents the 52 Yadava warlords who served Krishna.