Along-with covering various tourist places, the ghumakkars are also on to cover certain landmarks such as hill stations, rivers, jyotirlings, etc.  Having covered seven jyotirlings so far and with a view to cover one more this time, a visit to Ahmedabad and Dwarka was planned. 

Dwarka is a city and a municipality of Devbhoomi Dwarka district in the Gujarat state in India.  It is one of the foremost dham of four sacred Hindu pilgrimage sites, and is one of the Sapta Puri seven most ancient religious cities in the country. Dwarka is also the ancient kingdom of Krishna and is believed to have been the first capital of Gujarat. The Dwarakadheesh Temple was built in the 6th to 7th century. Dwarka is 444 Km. away from Ahmedabad. Prior to the reallocation of the districts, this city was part Jamnagar District.

A fact about Dwarka that we came to know only during our visit is that Dwarka, although surrounded three sides by sea, it does not have source of potable water for itself.  The people, there, daily bring tankers of drinking water from nearby districts.

The visit commenced on 21.12.2013 by Rajdhani which started on time at 7.55 p.m.  As old age is setting in, I shudder if I have to climb to the upper tier in AC3Tier and thus this time for a change we booked tickets in AC2Tier.

In the morning, on reaching Abu Road, we found that the train was running late by almost 40 minutes.  It made up about 10 minutes and when we got down at Sabarmati Station, it was late by ½ an hour. 

The driver was waiting at Sabarmati and within an hour we were at the guest house.  After freshing ourselves, we started at 11.45 am.  On this day 22.12.2013, we went to Gandhi Ashram, Kankaria Lake, Stepwell and Akshardham Temple in Gandhi Nagar.

Gandhi Ashram was set up on a quiet stretch of the Sabarmati River in 1917. During the lifetime of Mahatma Gandhi it was known as Satyagraha Ashram and was the center of freedom movement. Mahatma Gandhi began his famous "Dandi March" from here in 1930 to protest against the Salt Tax imposed by the British. 'Hridaya Kunj', the simple cottage where he lived, is preserved as a National Monument.  Gandhi's spartan living quarters are preserved as a small museum and there is a pictorial record of the major events in his life.  Entry to the ashram is free.

Kankaria Lake is a circular lake constructed in 1451 by Sultan Qutub-ub-Din. In the center of the lake is an island garden with a summer palace known as Nagina Wadi. The lake is a popular recreation center, surrounded by parks, 'Bal Vatika', an aquarium, a boat club, a natural historical museum and a zoo.  A Toy train is also available for ride for all.  The lake was very clean and beautiful.  We couldn’t take the boat ride as it was closed due to lunch hour.

Adalaj is a small village, situated at a distance of 18 km to the north of Ahmedabad. Vav means a step well. Adalaj Vav was built by Queen Rudabai, in 1499 AD. A beautifully chiseled step well, Adalaj Vav is counted amongst the finest architectural structures of Gujarat. The unique feature of Adalaj Vav is that apart from conserving water for drinking purposes, it also serves as a cooling chamber in the hot summer months. The steps of the well were used by the travelers and caravans passing from the area, on the due course of their trade routes. With time, the well has become a memorial of the love of the queen for her husband. One can still see water in the well which is a living example of spirit of the queen.

Akshardham Temple is situated in Gandhi Nagar about 30 kms from Ahemadabad.  At the center of the spacious Akshardham complex, a delicate and beautiful architectural masterpiece - the Akshardham Monument - enshrines the golden murti (idol) of Lord Swaminarayan, the founder of the Swaminarayan Faith. The main attraction at this temple is the lazor-water show which is world’s number 1 show and is a must seen place.

The Sat-Chit-Anand Water Show or the lazor show reveals India’s ancient secret of inner light through an Upanishadic story of Nachiketa, a nine year old boy, who bravely confronts Yamraaj, the God of Death, and receives from him the knowledge that has made India, a land of enlightenment. 

Nachiketa, a nine year old boy, who by his father, raged by his inconvenient questions, is offered to Death God, Yama.  The boy in his innocence reaches Yama Puri and finds that Lord Yama is away for three days.  The boy, without food and water, waits for the Yama God to return.  On return, Yama is surprised to see a boy of 9 years in his body at his gate.  The boy seeks confirmation of Yama that he is the God of death.  When the boy inquired as to why people are afraid of him, Yama tells the boy that people are afraid of the fear of uncertainty.  He then demonstrates his destructive powers by manipulation of the five elements of water, fire, air, space and earth.  Finding that it is not the time for the boy to be called by Yama, Lord advises him to go back.  The boy expressed his inability as that would amount to be disobedient of his father’s orders.  The Yama God is very pleased by the boy and asks him to seek three boons.

As the first boon, the boy seeks his father’s happiness.  As second, he seeks beneficial power of fire for general welfare of the mankind.  From that day onwards, the Agni of Hawankund is called ‘Nachiketa Agni’.  The Yama God is again pleased that the boy has not so far sought anything for himself.  As the third boom the boy requests the Yama God to reveal the mistery of death and whether the death is the end of life or whether life continues after death.  The Yama God allures Nachiketa in many ways to avoid this question.  He offers riches, kingdom and other pleasures.  But the boy is adamant.  Ultimately the Yama God has to give in.

It is I which dies.  Anyone who has stopped seeing things from centre which is “I”, for him/her there is no death.  The consciousness, distinct from matter, does not die but continues.  What one has to realize is that one is not matter.  

Security at Akshardham Temple was very tight and no one was allowed to take mobile, camera, hand bags or even water bottles inside the Temple complex.  Many corner shops and a big restaurant were available inside the temple complex for water and snacks, etc.

Next day on 23.12.2013, we left Ahemdabad at 7.30 am for our journey to Dwarka.  In between, we stopped for breakfast and lunch and reached Dwarka at 3 pm. We very much enjoyed the Gujarati breakfast of ‘Dhokla’, ‘Phaphra’, etc at Honesty Restaurant.  We enjoyed the road journey as the roads in Gujarat are very smooth except a few patches on National Highway.  We felt like flying on the road during our entire road journey.  On our way, we saw many new water and flying birds. Some of these birds are migratory birds. We also saw many wind-mills installed while approaching towards Dwarka.  Wind-mills are used to generate power by using wind force.  This is the best way to use heavy flowing winds in an area. 

On this day, we saw main Dwarkadheesh Temple, Rukmini Temple, Sunset point, etc.

Dwarkadheesh Temple also known as Jagat Mandir is situated on the banks of river Gomti. The ancient Dwarka city is believed to have been submerged by raging sea waters to the bottom of the sea, where the remains are still believed to exist. A temple was built at the site around 400 BC by Vajranabhji, the great grandson of Lord Krishna, however the present structure was built during the 16th century in a typical Chalukyan style of architecture.  One has to climb 56 steps to reach the Temple. From here, the name of the dwar(door) is ‘Swarg Dwar’.  However, there is one more entrance in the North, the name of which dwar(door) is ‘Moksha Dwar’.  


One has to go through security check, before entering the Temple Complex and no one is allowed to carry mobiles, cameras, hand-bags, etc inside the Temple. The idol of Lord Dwarkadhish is made of shiny black stone and is about 2.25 ft in height.  A fresh flag is unfurled five t

imes daily at the top of the temple. 

This place is pious for the locals of Gujarat as Gomti River merge into sea.  Some people take bath before visiting the Dwarkadheesh temple.

Rukmini Devi Temple, located 1.5 km north of town is dedicated to Rukmini, the consort of Lord Krishna. This 12th century architectural masterpiece is perfected with beautiful paintings and intricately carved walls. According to legend, sage Durwasa cursed Rukmini that she would be separated from Lord Krishna, as a result of which the temple of Rukmini is located outside the city, while that of Krishna inside. 

In the evening, we assemble behind Dwarka Light House to see sun set in the sea but it was not very clear due to thick clouds. 

We stayed at the Guest House of Kachigarhi light house which is around 13 kms away from the main Guest House in Dwarka city as the same was under renovation.

24.12.2013

We started at 8.30 am.  Before that we tried to capture sunrise from the top of the light house.  The sunrise was not very clear due to fog and light clouds.  On this day, we visited Beyt Dwarka, Gopi Talav, Nageshwar Jyotriling, Gomti ghat and Dwarka beach.  We reached the ferry point at Okha (30 kms from Dwarka City) at 9 am so as to reach Byet Dwarka.  Ferry took around 20-25 minutes to reach the other shore.  Most of the archaelogical ruins excavated here and religious manuscripts correspond with Beyt Dwarka as the original abode of Lord Krishna.  During our ferry journey, we saw birds hovering over ferries in search of food as tourists used to feed them.  We also bought some packets of food to feed them.

Nageshwar Jyotriling is one of the 12 jyotrilings.  We were lucky enough to be a part of noon Arti and got ourselves blessed with a lovely darshan of God.

After lunch we re-visited Gomti Ghats behind main Dwarkadheesh Temple.  On the other side of the bank is an almost untouched beach.  One has to take a boat to go and come back from the beach.  We could not stay at beach much as the sun was scorching and was unbearable.  We therefore came back to the Guest House at 3.30 pm and took a nap.  At 6 pm, we rushed to see sunset behind the light house premises and then took a long stroll at another untouched beach near Kachigarh Light House.  The sand at this beach is white and it was totally a clean beach of approximately 3 kms.

25.12.2013

We left Guest House at 7.30 am for our return journey to Ahmadabad to board the Rajdhani express to New Delhi.  Before starting we again tried to capture sunrise from the top of the light house.  This day the sunrise was better though not very clear.  During our road journey to Ahmadabad, we saw birds like Indian Roller (Neel Khanth), Bank Myna, Black Drongo, Green bea-eater and Demoiselle Cranes and reached Ahemdabad Railway Station at around 4.30 pm.  In between, we did some shopping for Aditya and mom.   The train started on time and reached next day 26.12.2013 at New Delhi Railway Station at 8 am.