DWARKA : MOKSHADAYIKA BESTOWER OF LIBERATION

State Gujarat Important temples and sites Dwarden Temple, Rukshmanee Temple, Gomti Ghat, Beyt Dwarka, Nageshwar Jyotirlinga Temple Location Almost at the cusp of the startling mouth that shapes the map in this part of India’s extreme west, Dwarka nestles by the shores of the Gulf of Kutch Distances 457 km SW of Ahmedabad, 230 km NW of Somnath, 232 km W of Rajkot, 144 km SW of Jamnagar, 75 km NW of Porbandar Route from Ahmedabad NH8A to Rajkot via Bagodra, Limdi, Sayla, Chotila and Bamanbore; state highway to Dwarka via Dhrol, Jamnagar, Khambhaliya, Bhatiya and Baradiya Route from Somnath NH8D to Veraval; state highway to Dwarka via Chorvad, Madhavpur, Porbandar, Harsiddh Mata Mandir, Lamba and Baradiya . Dwarka is counted amongst the seven most sacred Hindu teerths and is believed to be the place where Lord Krishna moved after leaving Braj, where he lived and ruled. His temple here, the famous Dwarkadheesh Temple right on the shore, is central to this town’s topography. Dwarka’s story is told in the Puranas: Krishna acquired 12 yojanas (16 miles) of earth from the sea for constructing his divine, fortified capital here. Dwarka remained Krishna’s home when he eloped with Rukmini, married Satyabhama, vanquished Narakasura, protected Drau- padi’s honour, and led the war of Kurukshetra (part of the Mahabharata). Eventually, the Yadavas, Krishna’s clan, allowed Dwarka’s glory to wane. The god ended his earthly journey and the sea reclaimed the land, sparing only Krishna’s home. Years later, Vajranabha, Krishna’s grandson and successor, built the grand Dwarkadheesh Temple in his honour, according to the Puranas. Adi Shankaracharya travelled here and set up the Dwarka Sharadapeeth. It is also believed that six older cities . Dwar (door)-ka (Brahma) is considered the gat way to moksha. The holy city is counted among the seven most sacred Hindu tirthes this famous shloka in Sanskrit says: Ayya, Mathura, Maya (Haridwar), Ks, Kanchi, Avantika (Ujjain), Ar the city of Dwarka, Tise seven are mokshadayika (bestowers o Iberation).So auspicious is the location of Dwarka that Krishna is believed to have moved here for the well-being of all the Yadavas, leaving Magadha far behind after he killed his uncle, the tyrant Kamsa, son-in-law of Jarasandha, the king of Magadha. The Vishnu Purana ecords that for constructing his divine, fortified capital at Dwarka, Krishna had to acquire 12 yojanas (16 miles) of earth from the sea. Dwarka remained Krishna’s home as he eloped with Rukmini, married Satya- bama, vanquished Narakasura, protected Draupadi’s honour, and led the war of Kuru- kshetra. Eventually, the Yadavas became arrogant and allowed Dwarka’s glory to wane, Krishna ended his earthly journey and Samudra, the sea, reclaimed the land he had given, sparing only Krishna’s home. Many years later, it is believed that Vajra- nabha, Krishna’s grandson and successor, built the grand Dwarkadheesh Temple in the lord’s honour. A 1963 excavation led by the noted archae- ologist Dr DH Sankalia pointed to the existence of a city around the 1st century BCE. A series of 12 surveys led by Prof SR Rao between 1983 and 1990 found evi- dence of the existence of six submerged, well-organised island-towns and revealed a 9th century BCE temple to Vishnu, below which the remains of two more temples also came to light. Heavy anchors, a seal (the Harivansh Puran speaks of seals of identity carried by all residents of Dwarka), temple pillars and copper utensils inscribed with Vedic Sanskrit were among the evi- dences found. Prof Rao’s book, The Lost City of Dwarka, generated considerable interest and is based on his findings. Periplus of the Erythrean Sea, the widely acknowledged account of an unknown Greek traveller dated to the 1st century BCE, speaks of Dwarka as Baraka, an important overseas trading post. The saint-philosopher Adi Shankaracharya travelled here and set up the Dwarka Sharadapeeth, an event that has been placed by some scholars between 509- 477 BCE. Ideally, give yourself two days in Dwarka. It is also possible to do it all in a hectic day, spending the morning at the Dwarkadhe- esh Temple and other sites around Dwarka and leaving early in the evening for Beyt Dwarka, factoring in a trip to Nageshwar on the way back as it falls en route. Dwarkadheesh Temple Also known as the Trilokasundara Temple, the name pointing to its great significance and beauty (sundara) across the three worlds (triloka), the Chalukya-style temple has been constructed with locally procured stone that looks somewhat roughly hewn due to effect of the saline air but is none the less ractive for it. Devotees generally enter via main Moksha Dwar entrance but, aditionally, they are required to have a Kath in the Gomti, which flows behind the temple, and enter via the Swarg Dwar entrance on this side, reached by climbing the sacred chhappan sidi (56 steps, indicative of the 52 Yadava administrative divisions and the four gods among them – Krishna, Balram, Pradyumna and Anirudh). Even to those of us who have never been to Dwarka before, the black idol of Krishna looks instantly familiar. The temple has 16 smaller altars to other deities including Krishna’s eight patranis (queens). Also within the premises is a large hall done up almost entirely in richly carved wood, the official presence of the Dwarka Sharada- peeth at the temple. The math manages the Dwarkadheesh Temple, runs a famous Veda paathshala and oversees several other reli- gious and educational institutions. Tradi- tionally, the descendants of the family are priests at the temple. The 52-yard- temple flag is hoisted thrice daily . The dhwaja is usually made in silk though there have been flags cast in are especially gold as well. Flags stitched at one of the many shops near the temple and placed at the lord’s feet before the raising. At the time of writing, this unique seva had been booked for all days in the succeeding four months.   Gomti Ghat : Come by to the ghat (right behind the Dwarkadheesh Temple) either early in the day or late in the evening. A broad canal of merrily flowing water channelises the river into the sea. The water is saline but very clean and it is impossible to leave without wishing one had come prepared for a dip.

UNESCO World Heritage site since 1992 the ankor wat was built by suryavarman 2 between 1113 & 1150 over an area of 500 acres . Khmwr is the official language of cambodia & the temple is the expression of the highest order of the country & its genius in architecture. This temple is not only stunning but also incredible in detail. The towers the decorations and the refinements are hard to describe with a pen according to the first visitor there ( antonio de madelena ) . The temple was dedicated to the hindu god vishnu & later shifted to buddhism . It was intially drawn to represent mount meru which was the home of devas according to hindu lore . There is a huge moat covering the entire temple and its precise 90 degree angle for the entire site are nothing short of remarkable. Legends say that 300, 000 workers with 6000 elephants toiled for 37 years to build it and millions of slabs of sandstone were floated down the phnom kulen mountain range .

The golden cave temple or the royal rock temple complex has five separate caves that contain about 157 stunning buddha statues and mural paintings covering 2100 sq meters some of srilankas most important and evocative religious art . Created over 2,000 years ago they have been embellished over centuries by subsequent kings . The early paintings of dambulla are believed by some to belong to the 8th century AC . A sacred pilgrimage site of 22 centuries it is the largest best preserved cave temple in srilanka . The site is insulated and vast in size with its perpendicular height about six hundred feet . Few parts of the complex are covered with wood and the surface is largely bare and black . Dating back to the first century BC , this temple was designated a unesco world heritage site in 1991 .

The northern most jyotirlinga traditionally the third stop in the char dham yatra after yamunotri and gangotri is located at 11746 ft above sea level close to the source of the river mandakini . The experience of offering holy water from gangotri to he who held the holy ganga in his locks can only be described as divine . From gaurikund the roadhead kedarnath is a 14 km trek northwards which can be negotiated on foot or on ponies or palanquins hoisted by four men . The trek to kedarnath is along the river mandakini . It is an uplifting experience to walk by stark mountain faces , snow peaks , spectacular waters , flowers and floating clouds . The trek is steady ascent along a stone paved path in large parts through a thick forests of himalayan oak , rhododendron and a profusion of ferns . It is steep until garuda chatti ( about 10 kms from gaurikund ) one can spot the snow covered sumeru peak the spectacular backdrop of kedarnath temple – in all its majesty . According to the vayu purana , vishnu as narayan came down to the earth for the good of mankind . He landed at badrinath which was then the abode of shiva . On narayan’s request shiva accepted kedar as his permanent abode . Kedarnath is also part of panch kedar yatra . Adi shankaracharya attained samadhi at the age of 32 in the shrine behind kedarnath temple . He appointed veera shaiva priest as the rawals ( chief priest of kedarnath. At present the 337 th rawal is holding the seat governed from ukhimath which is also the abode of deity during winter . There are also local priests from the villages around guptkashi and ukhimath.  They are not part of the temple committee but they take care of the pilgrims on the basis of their origin having divided the country between themselves into 360 districts for administrative purposes . The katyuri style temple stands againist the back drop of lofty , snow covered peaks . It is built with extremely large , heavy , and evenly cut grey slabs of stones and has a wooden ceiling topped by a golden kalash . Outside the temple door a massive stone idol of nandi stands guard.  The temple has 3 parts the garbhagriha the darshan mandap where pujas are been conducted and the sabha mandap where devotees assemble.  The inner walls of the assembly hall are decorated with figures of deities and scenes of mythology. Pilgrims also worship idols of ganesh with riddhi and siddhi , parvati , vishnu and lakshmi , krishna , kunti , draupadi , yudhisthir , bhim , arjun , nakul and shadev . Pilgrims offer butter and ghee to the jyotirlinga and then embrace it touching it with their forehead.  In the month of july august september the rare brahma kamal flowers bloom in the area . Timings : 6 am – 2 pm  , 5 -8 pm Season : The opening date of kedarnath is not fixed . It is decided every year on shivratri ( mid feb ) by panch purohits ( five priests) in ukhimath and then announced and cummunicated through various agencies . It usually falls around mid may.  The closing date is however fixed and falls on yama dwitya or bhai duj . The temple’s of temple’s of yamunotri and gangotri close on the same day . The main rush of pilgrims takes place in may jun.  Nobody lives in kedarnath after temple gates are closed for winter . The pandas return to guptkashi and the rawals live in ukhimath the winter abode of kedarnath. Pilgrims offer silver plated bilvapatras ( leaves of bilva tree ) which are available outside the temple and also in gaurikund to the lord . Holy water from gangotri is also part of the offering . Bhog is offered by priests at 4 pm . Pilgrim can assemble for it in the mandap but are not allowed in the garbgriha.  The shravani annakoot mela is celebrated on the day of raksha bandhan ( mid aug) . On that day the jyotirlinga is covered with cooked rice which is distributed as prasad . On the day the temple closes for winter a special samadhi puja is held.  There is no special or vip darshan . However pilgrims who visit by helicopter which has to return as soon as possible due to changing weather conditions can have darshan immediately.  Shringhar darshan is from 5 pm onwards aarti is performed at 6:45 pm . During the peak may jun season devotees may have to wait 3 – 4 hours for darshan . They start queuing up from 2 am . The temple’s committee office ( opens 6 am – 8 pm ) closed 4 -5 pm undertakes bookings for special pujas which are performed between 4 and 6 am , that is before the temple opens for general darshan . But when the rush is greater special pujas during the visit devotees can also arrange for special puja to be performed on fixed days during the year for a period of 20 years . 

High up in a deep cleft on the western face of the banderponch peak is yamunotri traditionally the first destination on the chardham yatra . The picturesque journey to yamunotri is along the river yamuna itself . The main temple here is dedicated to goddess yamuna who is represented by a black marble idol . The other deity is a white image of goddess ganga . Just outside the main temple is the divya shila a dark rock from which springs a stream of very hot water . This is a most holy area the origin of yamuna and pilgrims offer puja here before going to the temple . Technically the cold stream source of the river is on the champasar glacier near saptarishi kund a trek of 1 km above the shrine beyond yamunotri . But at 14,500 ft above sea level across very difficult terrain it is not accessible to the average yatri . According to legend surya dev the sun god married married sandhya daughter of vishwakarma .They had twins yama and yamuna.  But sandhya could not bear the fierce heat of sun . She created her clone chhaya and begged her to take her place.  Without telling anyone the truth sangya then left surya dev’s home . Chhaya agreed to keep the secret but said she would reveal the truth if ever surya dev punished her by pulling her hair . One day the child yama tried to strike chhaya with his leg .An affronted chhaya cursed him that his leg would rot and fall off .Surya dev was very surprised and angered by the severity of curse that too from mother againist her own child . In anger he pulled her hair . Chhaya then revealed that she was not his true wife and only a stepmother to yama and yamuna . It is said that yamuna came down to earth and did severe penance to save her brother from the effects of the curse and succeeded in her efforts . Yama the god of death then offered her a boon .She asked that her devotees be protected from akaalmrityu ( untimely death ) .It is believed that a bath in the holy waters of yamunotri will protect the devotee from an untimely death and lead to the attainment of moksha.  It is believed that the hot spring at divya shila is the blessing of surya dev for his daughter the tank next to the divya shila is named after him Pilgrims take a holy dip in the hot waters of the taptkund next to the main temple of yamunotri which gets its water from suryakund nearby.  There are separate bathing tanks and enclosures for men and women.  Then puja is offered at the divya shila.  This is of great significance and is done before visiting the main temple. After this a small offering of rice and potatoes is cooked in the suryakund.  This is offered to the deity in the main temple and returned to the pilgrim as prasad . Pilgrims carry water from yamunotri to offer it to krishna in their homes during janmashtami or on other special occasions related to krishna.  It is believed that yamuna was one of lord krishna’s eight queen. In 1816 james frazer a british army officer reached yamunotri.  He found a 3 foot high temple built of stone and a priest performing worship there . There were some tridents to show that other devotees had also been visiting . A record of his visit is available.  Subsequently local kings contributed to the setting up of the temple . Around 1850 sudarshan shah king of tehri had a wooden structure built and the deity consecrated. Later pratap shah rebuilt the temple in stone . But heavy snow in the region periodically damages the temple ( this happened last in 1982 ) and reconstruction has been done many times . The surajmal jain trust renovated the temple and this work was completed in 1994 . The temple is run by the panch panda samiti of about 200 priests .When the temple closes in winter the deity is taken to kharsali village ( 2 km from janki chatti across the river ) its winter abode . The yamuna valley called rawaai ghaati is decidedly most spectacular for its scenic beauty.  The mountain roads are very narrow with frequent twists and the view is a surprise around every bend . The yamuna flows wild all along the journey because the dark mountain ranges are close to each other and there is no long straight stretch of water . The vegetation is lush but does not restrict the view one gets across the ranges . En route barkot is an interesting and very scenic halt . This is an area where the mountains range open up . Stepped rice field and red topped choulai ( a variant of spinach) field seem to be arranged for the pleasure of the visitor.  The drive from barkot to janki chatti should be done at a leisurely pace if time permits that is.  The flowers in the phul chatti area present several charming photo opportunities. 

The installation of a deity should be done when the Sun is in the Northern course. The lunar month of Magha should be avoided. According to Kalaprakasika, the ceremony is to be done when Jupiter and Venus are dignified and devoid of adverse influences.

Rohini, Mrigasira. Punarvasu, Pushya, Uttara, Hasta, Swati, Uttarashadha and Uttarabhadra are good constellations for this purpose. All odd lunar days (except the 9th) including the 2nd, 6th and 10th are favourable. The Lagna must be a fixed sign. A common sign may be selected for a female Deity. Movable signs should always be rejected. The Lagna should not be conjoined by the luminaries or malefics or otherwise the town concerned will be destroyed. No malefic should occupy the 7th. There should be no planet in the 8th. The ceremony should be avoided at the end of an Ayana, the end of a year, of a lunar day and of an asterism; and on days on which halos round the Sun and the Moon are visible.

Kanchi kamakoti peetham, also called the kanchi matha or the kanchi monastery, is a hindu institution, located in kanchipuram , tamil nadu. It is located near a temple dedicated to goddess kamakshi ( durga, kamakoti) of the shaktism tradition, along with a shrine for the advaita vedanta teacher adi shankara.Its founding is traditionally attributed to adi shankara who it is said lived some of his final years here.

Positive parameters of kanchi kamakoti peeth

1. The main entrance of the ashram is located in northern northeast .

2. The ashram is located in a site belonging to northeastern block with roads in east and north.

3. Within the campus internal roads are laid in western and southern directions with highly build structures.

4. The abode of paramcharya the great philosopher is located in the southwestern corner of the ashram on a higher plinth .

1. Situated on tricut mountain and faces towards the west direction .

2. The mountain behind the temple is in its east direction and is quite high .

3. The mountain in from of the temple in west is low where water flows continuously.

4. The north direction of the temple is quite deep . This depth goes on increasing from east to west .

5. In the south side of the temple where bhairavjee temple is situated the mountain is very high . This height extends upto west of southwest zone which is on the left side mountain in middle of hathi matha .

6. Inside the cave pure water flows upto the calf height this is called charan ganga . since there is height in the east and continuous flow of water in the west .

7. Two new caves were constructed in north or northeast zone of temple on eis used for entering in the temple other for exit the slope of the floor of these two caves is in north direction

8. Backside is high and front side is low and water flows in front direction.

9. Height of trikut mountain is in back side of temple which is in east direction.

10. Inside the temple charan ganga flows in front of idol maa  the west direction.

11. Outside the temple in west direction there is slope in the mountain where water flows continuously.  

Very interesting – Can you guess what is common between all these prominent temples.

1. Kedarnath
2. Kalahashti
3. Ekambaranatha- Kanchi
4. Thiruvanamalai
5. Thiruvanaikaval
6. Chidambaram Nataraja
7. Rameshwaram
8. Kaleshwaram N-India

Very interesting – Can you guess what is common between all these prominent temples.

If your answer is they all are Shiva temples, you are only partially correct.It is actually the longitude in which these temples are located.
They all are located in 79° longitudes. What is surprising and awesome is that how the architects of these temples many hundreds of kilometres apart came up with these precise locations without GPS or any such gizmo like that.

1. Kedarnath 79.0669°
2. Kalahashti 79.7037°
3. Ekambaranatha- Kanchi 79.7036°
4. Thiruvanamalai 79.0747°
5. Thiruvanaikaval 78.7108
6. Chidambaram Nataraja 79.6954°
7. Rameshwaram 79.3129°
8. Kaleshwaram N-India 79.9067°

See the picture — all are in a straight line.

You will be surprised to know that there are Shiva temples in India which are built in a straight line from Kedarnath to Rameswaram. Wonder what science and technology we had with our ancestors, which we could not understand till today? The Kedarnath of Uttarakhand, the Kaleshwaram of Telangana, Kalahasti of Andhra Pradesh, Akhaseshwar of Tamil Nadu, Chidambaram and finally the Rameswaram temples have been built in the geographical straight line of or nearer to that of 79 ° E 41 ‘ 54 “Longitude.
All these temples represent the expression of gender in the 5 elements of nature, which we call the punch Tatwa (FIVE Elements) in common language. Punch tatwa i.e. Earth, water, fire, air and space. These has released these five Shiva LINGAS on the basis of five elements.

1. Water is represented at Thiruvnanakwal Temple,
2. The representation of the fire is in Thiruvannamalai,
3. The air is represented in Kalahasti,
4. The earth is represented in Kanchipuram and in the cold
5. The space or the sky is represented at Chidambaram Temple! These five temples represent the wonderful mating of Vastu-Vigyan-Veda.

The speciality is also found in these temples in a geographical manner. These five temples were built according to yoga Science, and have been placed in a certain geographical alignment with each other. There will certainly be science that will affect the human body.
These temples were constructed about four thousand years ago when there was no satellite technology available to measure the latitude and longitude of those places. So how was the five temples so accurately established? God Only Knows.There is a distance of 2383 km between Kedarnath and Rameswaram. But all these temples fall in almost the same parallel line. After all, thousands of years ago, the technology of which these temples have been built in a parallel line is a mystery to this day. The Shimmer lamp in the Srikalahasti temple shows that it Represent AIR Linga. The water spring in the inner plateau of the Thiruvanikka temple shows that Represent WATER-Linga. The huge lamp on the Annamalai hill shows that Represent FIRE-Linga. The Sawanbhu Linga of the sands of Kanchipuram shows that Represent the EARTH Linga and the incorporeal (NIRAKAR) state of Chidambaram is Representing as the incorporeal, heavens(AKASH) Eather element of God.What is more surprising now is that the five Lingas, representing the five elements of the universe, have been installed centuries ago in a similar line. We should be proud of our ancestors ‘ knowledge and Intelligence that they had a science and technology that did not even distinguish modern science. It is believed that it is not only the five temples but also the many temples in this line which lie in the straight line from Kedarnath to Rameswaram. This line is also called the “SHIVA SHAKTI AKSH Rekha”. It is likely to be made by keeping the entire temple of Kailash in the regions which falls in 81.3119 ° E!? The answer only God Knows.. …Amazing thing. Mahakal What is the relationship between the Shiva Jyotirlingams……?? The distance of the remaining Jyotirlingams from Ujjain is also interesting-

Ujjain to Somnath-777 km
Ujjain to Omkareshwar-111 km
Ujjain to Bhimashankar-666 km
Kashi Vishwanath from Ujjain-999 km
From Ujjain, Mallikarjun-999 km
Kedarnath from Ujjain-888 km
Ujjain to Tryanbakeshwar-555 km
Ujjain to Baijnath-999 km
Rameswaram-1999 km from Ujjain
From Ujjain to Nauseshwara-555 km

There was nothing in Hinduism without any reason .Ujjain is considered to be the centre of the Earth. As a centre for thousands of years in Sanatan Dharma, a man-made instrument for calculating the sun and astrology in Ujjain has also been created about 2050 years ago.And when the imaginary line on Earth Imaginary was created by the British scientist about 100 years ago, the central part of it was Ujjain. Even today, scientists come to Ujjain to know about the sun and space.

A brass statue of swami vivekanand the disciple of shri ramkrishna paramhans who spread religion and philosophy is set up at kanyakumari .In the indian ocean  in tamilnadu this temple is situated on a large stone and is famous as a place of pilgrimage . For reaching this temple one has to travel  by motor boat through sea . After a lightning from the boat reaching the temple one has to go by a road on the north east side . The devotees enter the temple through a gate in a north east entrance are two natural gifts which have made this temple of swami vivekanand very famous .