In Search of Dwarka That Krishna Built

Smoke coils upwards from the burning pyres as the old man, caretaker of the masaan (cremation ground), looks at the sea at Dwarka바카라�s Gayatri beach and recalls Arjuna바카라�s words from the 16th of the Mahabharata바카라�s 18 chapters, the 바카라�Mausala Parva바카라�: 바카라�The sea, which had been beating against the shores, broke the boundaries imposed by nature. It rushed into the beautiful city and swallowed everything in its path. I watched as the grand buildings submerged one by one. In just a few moments, it was all over. The sea had now become as placid as a lake. There was no trace of the city anymore. Dwarka was just a name, just a memory.바카라� The warrior prince had been motivated to fight his cousins in the Kurukshetra war in the verses of the Bhagavad Gita by Sri Krishna, also known as Dwarkadhish or lord of Dwarka바카라�the mythical coastal metropolis that Arjuna, long after winning that war, watched the sea swallow following years of bloodbath among the ruling Yadavas.

Badri Bhandari, the elderly caretaker who has premonitions of the mythical catastrophe befalling the city again, then turns to look at the two bodies on their last journey in the flames not far from a burial spot for dead children and says, 바카라�I바카라�m first a servant of death, only then a devotee of Krishna.바카라� This seaside cremation ground is at one end of the beach that takes its name from Gayatri Mata in whose honour a temple was built in 1983 at the other end. It바카라�s the only temple in Devbhoomi Dwarka district, on the south-western tip in the Gulf of Kutch, where the 바카라�mother of the Vedas바카라� is worshipped.

바카라�My clan may not have this abode in future to preserve the relics of the past,바카라� he says, sometimes shouting at the passersby, hoping his voice would catch their attention. 바카라�All of Dwarka rests on sand,바카라� he insists. 바카라�So, if we keep on digging the ground, the sand will give way and everything will be submerged.바카라� He paints quite a doomsday scene for the city famous for the Dwarkadhish temple, which, built over 72 pillars, is said to have been the site of Krishna바카라�s throne.

A year ago, in February 2024, Prime Minister Narendra Modi took a deep dive in the Arabian Sea for a glimpse of the submerged city during a visit to his native state for inaugurating the Sudarshan Setu, the longest cable-stayed bridge in the country and Gujarat바카라�s first sea link. Also known as Signature Bridge, the 2.32-km-long four-lane bridge connects Okha port in Dwarka town to Beyt Dwarka island, sparing the pilgrims headed for the several temples there a 30-45-minute boat ride. This February, the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) resumed an underwater excavation project off the coast of Dwarka that had in 2005-07 attempted to better understand the city바카라�s archaeological importance. The three-woman team was led by a veteran of the 2005-07 exercise in which 바카라�extensive survey and excavation had been done in Dwarka until the work was stopped바카라�, says Alok Tripathi, Additional Director General, ASI. 바카라�At that time, the work was done in a limited area. Now, further work has been started again on a larger scale.바카라�

This comes in the wake of the Gujarat government building the Dwarka circuit for religious tourism. The state바카라�s finance minister, Kanu Desai, announced the allocation of Rs 6,505 crore for religious tourism in 2025-26바카라�31 per cent more than the previous financial year. 바카라�Three projects are going on simultaneously and one might overlap with the other: Beyt Dwarka, Shivrajpur and the Dwarka corridor,바카라� says Ajit Joshi, project manager for Gujarat government tourism. The authorities have demolished several residential, commercial and religious buildings on the Beyt Dwarka and Pirotan islands and at Okha. These demolitions targeted illegal structures, including 250 residences, a dargah and nine mazaars (sufi shrines), after informing the parties concerned well in advance according to the norms, the officials claim. The Hazrat Panj Pir dargah at Okha was torn down as it was on land owned by the state-run Gujarat Maritime Board. Development is underway and the government is in a rush to decide what is legal and what is illegal.

바카라�We are too poor to matter,바카라� says Imtiaz Qureshi, a local. 바카라�This is Krishnabhoomi (land of Krishna), yes, but there is also a port here at Okha. Maybe it was my father바카라�s mistake to come here for a livelihood, and now we have to pay the price by leaving this place. Bheed kam ho jaayegi (it won바카라�t be as crowded anymore).바카라� All this is part of a three-phase plan to develop the temples, beaches and other areas at Beyt Dwarka and Okha to attract more pilgrims and other tourists. The state government has allocated Rs 150 crore for this project.

Pradip, 48, spends his nights at the ruins of one of the abandoned shops at the back of the Dwarkadhish temple. During the day he can be seen walking up and down the lane with a bunch of flutes on his slender shoulder, stopping only when a few are sold. As the breeze rustles the tattered quilt, he yawns and gets up. Sticking close to the temple wall, he walks towards a big building. 바카라�The temple has got cracks now because of the adjoining buildings,바카라� he says. 바카라�If you dig at most places, you바카라�ll eventually find rocks, but here that바카라�s not the case. It바카라�s just a mound of sand. Any more construction, and the whole structure will collapse.바카라�

There are 16 ghats on the Gomti river, where pilgrims are expected to bathe before entering the Dwarkadhish temple through the Swarg Dwar in order to attain moksha. Sudama, Krishna바카라�s childhood friend who visited him at Dwarka, is said to have walked the 52 steps here. The Brahma Kund, where sages would take a dip, had been painted once but, over time, it, too, has paled. The earlier Old Gomti Ghat and New Gomti Ghat projects failed due to lack of maintenance. The famous Sudama Bridge, too, has been closed to the public for similar reasons. 바카라�Sanctioning more money and then pocketing half of it will not bring development,바카라� says Pradip.

None of this has affected the number of devotees, however, as their number continues to grow every year. The biggest crowds gather during Janmashtami, Krishna바카라�s birthday, and Holi, the festival of colours widely associated with his raas-reela.

바카라�Do you know why the Rukmini temple is here?바카라� asks the head priest, sitting cross-legged at the only Rukmini temple, just 1 km from the main city. 바카라�The legends say that even when God listens to his wife, there is turmoil,바카라� he laughs and begins to narrate a lesser-known myth. When Krishna and his wife Rukmini invited Rishi Durvasa, the sage kept a fast and promised to come only if both of them pulled his chariot. When Rukmini became thirsty while pulling the chariot and stopped, Krishna pressed his right toe into the earth and the Ganga came out to quench her thirst. The infamously quick-tempered Durvasa was enraged as Rukmini forgot to offer him the water first and he cursed the couple that they would never live together. 바카라�Hence, Rukmini stayed here, and anyone who comes here offers her water,바카라� he says. How much does the water cost? 바카라�Jitni aapki shraddha ho (it depends on your faith). You can pay Rs 1,000 or even Rs 5,000. Yes, water is costly.바카라�

After the Kashi Vishwanath corridor, the central government announced the creation of the Dwarka corridor, along with the Swami Vivekananda circuit. This is not the first time the government has focused on enhancing the religious significance of the area. In February 2017, the ministry of urban development had approved the development of the 6-km-long Bet Dwarka Darshan Circuit in Gujarat at a cost of Rs 16.27 crore under the Heritage City Development and Augmentation Yojana (HRIDAY) of the Union government. Connecting the Dwarkadhish Haveli with Hanuman Dandi, the only temple housing Lord Hanuman and his son, Makardhwaj, in Dwarka district, the circuit includes two significant waterbodies, Ranchod Talav and Shankhudhar Lake.

Religious tourism is clearly booming, according to a survey by professors of economics at the Banaras Hindu University based on data of the tourism department. 바카라�The question is how much money can a God fetch,바카라� says Jeet Mangalya, a photographer for Gujarat tourism and an ardent Osho preacher. 바카라�What value will you put on Rama, Krishna and Shiva? Rama has an edge over the others and now Krishna also needs to create his ground.바카라� He is obviously joking, for he quickly adds, 바카라�Faith is built and nurtured. You believe what you see and what the government feeds, and now the feeling has started for Dwarka바카라�바카라�

Dwarkadhish is one of the char dhams, the four supremely pious places for Hindus. Dwarka sees fewer pilgrims in comparison to the other three바카라�Badrinath in Uttarakhand, Jagannath Puri in Odisha and Rameshwaram in Tamil Nadu. The regular visitors from Rajkot, Porbandar and nearby cities outnumber the first-time pilgrims from across the country. Mukund Patel, 62, who is here for the third time in three years in a row, was a beneficiary of the Sharav Tirth Darshan scheme of the government of Gujarat during the first visit. Over 1.42 lakh devotees have benefited from this scheme launched in 2017-18 for people above the age of 60.

Research to uncover Dwarka바카라�s historical remnants began in the 1930s under Hiranand Shastri and the first major excavation in 1963 was led by J. M. Nanavati and H. D. Sankalia. Between 1983 and 1990, marine archaeological studies revealed several stone anchors, fortified structures, pillars and irrigation channels, indicating the existence of a meticulously planned ancient city. 바카라�Nothing final can be said as we have started the search just now,바카라� says ADG Tripathi.

바카라�They are all in search of the utopia that Krishna built, not the city now in need of repair,바카라� quips Mangalya, referring to the Gayatri beach, where the stairs crumble under one바카라�s feet, even as the government pushes ahead to build the Dwarka corridor. Rocks made of the same stone (Dariyayi Pathar) from which the temple was built were recovered during the demolitions. 바카라�Ancient architects must have understood that the soil would recede, so they might have placed rocks to ensure stability. But we are in the process of building another corridor, moving the sand underneath,바카라� says Mangalya.

Pritha Vashishth is a Mumbai-based journalist who writes about human rights, society and culture

This article is a part of Outlook's March 21, 2025 issue 'The Pilgrim's Progress', which explores the unprecedented upsurge in religious tourism in India. It appeared in print as 'The Lord바카라�s City Sits on Sand'.