Is Lord Krishna’s Dwarka under water? The many legends, traces of a lost city

Is Lord Krishna’s Dwarka under water? The many legends, traces of a lost city

Subject: History

Section: Art and Culture

Context:

• PM Narendra Modi recently performed underwater prayers at ‘Dwarka Nagari’, believed to be the kingdom of Lord Krishna.

More on news:

• Since the start of the 20th century, several attempts have been made by scholars to establish the location of Dwarka as mentioned in the Mahabharata.
• PM Narendra Modi inaugurated several infrastructural projects, including the Sudarshan Setu, India’s longest cable-stayed project connecting Okha town with the island of Beyt Dwarka.
• He also went scuba diving off the Panchkui beach coast and performed underwater prayers at the site of what’s considered to be Dwarka Nagari – the mythological kingdom of Lord Krishna in the Mahabharata.

Dwarka in mythology

• Dwarka has immense significance in Hindu culture due to its association with Lord Krishna and the Mahabharata. 
• It is believed that after killing his uncle Kamsa, Krishna migrated from Mathura to Dwarka with his Yadava clan, and founded his kingdom here by reclaiming 12 yojana land from the sea.
• References in the Vishnu Purana suggest that Dwarka was a city of beautiful gardens, moats, ponds and palaces.
• The town is believed to have been submerged under the sea after the death of Lord Krishna.

Locating Dwarka

• Present-day Dwarka is a coastal town located at the mouth of the Gulf of Kutch, facing the Arabian Sea. 
• The town is a part of the Krishna pilgrimage circuit, which includes Vrindavan, Mathura, Govardhan, Kurukshetra and Puri, and is home to the 13th-century Dwarkadheesh temple dedicated to Lord Krishna.
• There are a number of other places scattered along the Saurashtra coast that find a mention in legends associated with Lord Krishna, including Bet Dwarka and Mul Dwarka.

Is it the same as present-day Dwarka? A town that possibly now lies under the sea? Or a mythological town whose historical authenticity may never be established?

• Dwarka was located on the ‘Raivataka’, a mountain range mentioned in the Mahabharata, and which is believed to be the present-day Girnar hills in Junagadh, around 200 km away from Dwarka town.

Archaeological findings on land

• From the 1960s onwards, attention shifted from ancient literature to finding material evidence for the existence of Lord Krishna’s Dwarka.
• While the early excavations focused on land around present-day Dwarka, as speculation over a submerged city heightened, later explorations were conducted under water.
• The first excavation was carried out close to the Dwarkadheesh temple in 1963 by the Deccan College in Pune, in association with the Gujarat government’s Department of Archaeology.

About Sudarshan Setu:

• This landmark project, recently inaugurated by Hon’ble Prime Minister Narendra Modi, connects Okha and Beyt Dwarka island.
• Spanning 2.32 km over the majestic Arabian Sea, Sudarshan Setu stands as an engineering marvel.
• It is India’s longest cable bridge.