Dwarakadheesh Temple

The Dwarakadheesh temple (Gujarati: દ્વારકાધીશ મંદિર) is a Hindu temple dedicated to Lord Krishna, who is worshipped here by the name Dwarkadhish, or 'King of Dwarka'. It is situated at Dwarka, Gujarat, which is believed to have been built after the historic Dvarka city, the Kingdom of Krishna himself which submerged in to the ocean after the Mahabharata war. The main shrine of the 5-storied building, supported by 72 pillars, is known as Jagat Mandir or Nija Mandir, and is believed to be 2500 years old. The Dwarkadhish Temple is Pushti Marg Temple hence it follows the guidelines and rituals created by Shree Vallabacharya and Shree Vitheleshnathji.

The present temple was built in 16th century CE, while the original temple was believed to have been built by Krishna's grandson, Vajranabha, over the hari-griha (Lord Krishna's residential place) and became part of the Char Dham pilgrimages considered most sacred by Hindus in India, after Adi Shankaracharya, the 8th century reformer and philosopher, visited the shrine and even today a memorial within the temple is dedicated to his visit. Dwarakadheesh is the 108th Divya Desam of Lord Vishnu on the subcontinent, glorified in the Divya Prabandha sacred texts.

History :

The town of Dwarka in Gujarat has a history that dates back centuries, and is mentioned in the Mahabharat as the Dwaraka Kingdom. Situated on the banks of river Gomti, the city's legend for being the capital of Lord Krishna. The ancient city was submerged by raging sea waters 8 times, but the remains do still exist.

Architecture :

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. The beautiful temple rises up to a height of 51.8 mts. Also known as the Jagat Mandir, the temple has two Sikhara. The Nij shikhar (The longer sikhar) is where the deity of Lord Dwarkadhish is placed. The huge temple consists of 60 exquisitely carved pillars and a number of sculptures that depict the influence of various dynasties such as the Guptas, Pallavas and Chavdas (referring to Chavda Kingdom) that ruled Dwarka over the years.

The entrance to the temple is from the north, also known as the Moksha Dwaar while towards the south is the Swarg Dwaar, from where a series of steps leads down to the banks of river Gomti. According to legend, the temple was constructed in a single day by Vishwakarma, the lord of construction. The deity of Lord Dwarkadhish is made of shiny black stone and is about 2.25 ft in height. The four hands of the Lord carries a conch, wheel, a mace and a lotus each and is popularly known as 'Shankh Chakra Gada Padma Chaturbhuj'. It is said that the deity was hidden for years to protect it from invaders while another deity brought from the Rukmini temple was installed in its absence. The original deity was reinstalled during the 16th century after the construction of the new temple.

Temple Specialties : 

• The flag atop the temple shows the sun and moon.
• The flag is changed from 5 times a day, but the symbol remains the same.
• The pristine condition of the temple and an important discovery in its surrounding has led to the nomination of UNESCO world cultural heritage site status to the temple.
• There are two styles of building a temple, Dwarkadhish temple is built in Shaiv style whereas Bet-Dwarka temple is built in Vaishnav style.

Becharaji Temple

Becharaji or Bahucharaji (Gujarati: બેચરાજી કે બહુચરાજી) is a small town and taluka, a place in Mehsana district of Gujarat state, India. It is situated in northern part of Gujarat. It is a very popular religious place of Hindu religion. It is among the three Shakti Pith's worshipped in Gujarat as Bala at Bahucharaji, as Ambika at Ambaji and as Kalika at Pavagadh.

History :
The town's name is derived from Bahuchar Mata or Bahucharaji Mata, a popular deity or 'Devi' of Hindus. Earlier this town was a small village. Although, still it is a Gram Panchayat. Its development is mainly due to temple of Bahuchara Mata. Other reasons for its development are it being declared as Taluka Place or Taluka Panchayat and centre for shopping for peripheral villages. For the development of temple of Bahuchar Mata, Sayajirao Gaekwad extended the Gaekwar's Baroda State Railway (GBSR) that was under the control of his state up to Becharaji.

Becharaji Temple

Temple :

The Temple of Bahuchara Mata is located in mid Bechraji town. It is 110 km from Ahmedabad and 35 km west of Mahesana. The main temple fort and gate was built by Manajirao Gakewad in Samvat 1839 or 1783 AD when he was Suba of Kadi. He gave 3 villages for the maintenance of the temple. These villages were subsequently taken over and Rs. 10,500/- per year was paid towards maintenance, which is merged and is now under Government control. For the development of this temple Sayajirao Gaekwad extended the GBSR railway that was under the control of his state up to Becharaji. The centre temple was built by Maratha Fadanvesh. It has been renovated. Learned Saint Kapildev built the varakahdi temple and was then renovated by Kalari king Tejpal. That temple too has been again renovated.
On night of every Punam (15 th day of the month as per Vikram Samvat calendar) and on 8 th day of Aso sud and Chaitri sud police with arms pay Guard of Honour to Mataji's procession. It is also considered as important place for the 'Hijras (Eunuchs)'.

This taluka comprises population of around 1 lakh. A majority of the population follows Hindu religion, although there are some villages with Muslim population. Among Hindus, the main communities are Patel, Brahmins, Jain, Charan, Rabari, Bharwad, Thakore, Khant, etc.

 Transportation Facility :
Bahucharaji is well connected by Railways and state transport (ST) buses. There are many private vehicle operators as well. It is connected with Mehsana, Chanasma and Viramgam by state highways.
Bahuchraji is located on Ahmedabad-Rantej-Patan metre gauge railroot.
State highways no. 7 connects NH-14 from Deesa, Patan, and Chanasma to Becharaji, from where it further goes to Viramgam, Dhrangadhra, Halvad and Maliya. From Maliya, one can connect to NH-8A and reach Kutch.
Whereas state highway no. 19 connects Mehsana, Kalri to Becharaji, from where it further goes to Dasada, Zainabad, Patdi, and Surendranagar.
Another state highway, precisely no. 134, connects Mehsana, Modhera and Kalri to Becharaji.

Sai Baba