The Dwarkadhish temple, also called the Jagat Mandir, is a Hindu Temple dedicated to Bhagwaan Krishna, is worshipped here by the name Dwarkadhish, or ‘King of Dwarka’. The temple is found at Dwarka, Gujarat, India, is one among the four destinations of Char Dham, a Hindu pilgrimage site. The most important shrine of the 5 storied building, supported by seventy-two pillars, is called Jagat Mandir or Nija Mandir, archeological findings prove it to be 2,000 – 2,200 years old. The temple was enlarged within the 15th- 16th century. The Dwarkadhish Temple is a Pushtimarg temple, as it follows the rituals and regulations created by Vallabhacharya and Vitheleshnath.
The Legend
There is a legend behind the idol of Bhagwaan Dwarkadhish within the temple. Badana, an old follower, used to come every day from Dakor to Dwarka, to experience a glimpse of the Bhagwaan Dwarkadhish. The Bhagwaan was very pleased with her and one precious day, he gets along with Badana to Dakor, in idol form. The monks at Dwarka temple got agitated at Badana, who took the idol as claimed by them. The irritated monks pursued Badana to get back the idol. Badana convinced the monks to leave the idol with her and take gold instead.
The monks accept the condition and to their surprise, the idol happened to be as lightweight as a nose-ring. This miracle was done by the Bhagwaan himself, as he knew Badana had solely a nose-ring to provide. However, the Bhagwaan did not dishearten the monks and aforementioned that they will find a replica on a selected day. The monks couldn’t resist their curiosity and excavated the counselled site quite early. They found one half-grown idol that’s presently enshrined at Dwarka.
History
About 5000 years ago, Dwarka is believed to be designed by Bhagwaan Krishna himself. As per the ‘Harivansh’ (an appendix to the Mahabharata), Dwarka was positioned on the bank of the Gomati river. This Holy City is claimed to be the abode of Bhagwaan himself, for more than one hundred years, throughout his lifetime. Dwarka is assumed to have been submerged within the ocean, once the Bhagwaan returned to his divine world “Baikunth”.
In the early eighties, archaeology department disclosed that the complete coast of western India sank by nearly forty feet around 1500 B.C. The current temple is anticipated to not be older than the Mughal Period. The inscriptions on the pillars go back to the fifteenth century. Essentially, the traditional temple had been there, however it had been probably destroyed by Mahmud Begada in 1473 AD. This structure should have been assembled during the era of Mughal Emperor, Akbar.
Shrine
In the primary shrine, the prominent altar surrounds the idol of Bhagwaan Dwarkadheesh. The image is bestowed within the variety of four-armed Hindu deity (Bhagwaan avatar is that the incarnation of Bhagwaan Vishnu) called Trivikrama. except for this main idol, there are idols of Baldevaji (Balrama), Pradyumna and Aniruddha (grandsons of Bhagwaan Krishna) too. There’s a small idol dedicated to Kuseswara Mahadeva (Shiva) conjointly. Besides these, there are idols devoted to Devaki (mother of Bhagwaan Krishna), Veni-Madhava (Bhagwaan Vishnu), Radhika, Jambuvati, Satyabhama, Lakshmi, Saraswati and Lakshmi-Narayan within the temple.
