DWARAKA CITY - ARCHAEOLOGICAL FINDING OF UNDERWATER STRUCTURES
Dwaraka is a city as well as a municipality of Devbhoomi Dwaraka district in Gujarat state of India and is one of the foremost Chardham four sacred Hindu pilgrimage sites. It is also one of the Sapta Puri, seven most ancient religious sites in the country.This city is mostly identified with the Dwaraka Kingdom which was the ancient kingdom of Krishna and is believed to be the first capital of Gujarat. The lost city of Dwaraka is evidence that plasma mythology as well as electric universe catastrophe took place with further evidence that the ancient stories of awe and shock in the skies and solar systems were based on true incidents.
Archaeological discoveries have led to findings of underwater stone structures which indicated settlement during proto historic period with evidence of stone block with Gujarati script. The stone that are dressed showed that dowels had been used and on close examination of anchors that were found on the site, indicate that the harbour site dates to historical times along with the underwater structure being of late medieval period. The cause of the destruction of the ancient port could be the coastal erosion which probably took place during that time.
DWARAKA - STATE WHERE SRI KRISHNA LIVED
Dwaraka, according to Vishnu Purana, got submerged by the sea after the death of Lord Krishna and was regarded as a great metaphor and a part of a story which was accompanied with great myths.
Towards early eighties, an important archaeological site was discovered at Dwaraka, in India which was the legendary site of Lord Krishna. Recent discovery has led to believe that the whole coast of western India sank by about 40 feet around 1500 BC.
The earliest historical record of the lost city dates back 574 AD and occurred in the Palitana Plates of Samanta Simhaditya while the inscription is referred to Dwaraka being the capital of the western coast of Saurashtra, the important state in which Sri Krishna lived.
ARCHAEOLOGICAL DISCOVERIES BY DR. RAO
Recent archaeological discoveries by the pioneering team which was led by Dr. S. R, Rao, are the structures found under the sea bed off the coast of Dwaraka in Gujarat.
Dr. Rao, one of India's respected archaeologists and an emeritus scientist at the marine archaeology unit of the National Institute of Oceanography, had excavated a large number of Harappan sites inclusive of the port city of Lothal in Gujarat.
The archaeological site discovered underwater at the Bay of Combat near Dwaraka dates back to 7500 BC and the oldest sites of ancient civilization.
The excavation done by Dr. S. R, Rao at Dwaraka site indicate that the descriptions that are found in the texts are not to be regarded as fanciful but to be treated as true events as seen by the authors.
The architecture of the old Dwaraka city of Shri Krishna is also considered to be majestic and amazing and this wonderful discovery has perplexed all those who had been speculating over the years that Vedas and Puranas were products of imagination and not just mythical stories.
DWARKADHISH TEMPLE/ISLAND OF BET DWARAKA
From all the temples at Dwaraka, which have been dedicated to Lord Krishna, two are of importance here, the first being the majestic and huge Dwarkadhish Temple also known as Jagatmandir and its sanctum also known as Nijmandira which has a shikhara of its own.
It belongs to the 12th-13th century AD while the grand edifice inclusive of the five storeyed mahamadapa stands on 72 carved pillars belongs to the 15th century AD. The second is the `island of Bet Dwaraka', which is said to be the pleasure resort of Krishna where his consorts Satyabhama and Jambavati seemed to have resided here.
Besides this, the island is also known as Sankhodhar or Sankoddhara due to the large quantity of conch shell found in this place. There is also a story behind this in the Padma Purana, where Sankodhara made attempts to steal or destroy the Vedas wherein Vishnu intending to kill him took the form of a fish. The Gargya Samhita on the other hand has a different version regarding Sankhodhara.
Dwaraka earlier, according to mythology, had been known as Kushasthali which had been abandoned by King Revata after the town had been attacked repeatedly and when Revata returned he had found Kushasthali who had settled by the Yadava in what is known as Dwaraka. King Revata later on married his daughter to Balarama.
MYTHOLOGY AND HISTORY
Mythology and history are intertwined so deeply in Hindi epics such as the Mahabharata, the Puranas and the Ramayana that it tends to get difficult in identifying fact from fiction. Mahabharata is called history or itihaasa and while most scholars tend to agree that the incidents related in the Mahabharata or the Ramayana are based on historical or factual, there is a lot of speculation over the extend of the details and additions that could have taken place over the years.
For instance, Mahabharata relates that a billion people had died in the war at Kurukshetra, which could be an exaggeration on the number which conveys the huge loss of lifethat occurred within the eighteen days of battle at Kurukshetra while on the other hands, scholars are speculating that the modern day towns and places like Kurukshetra, Indraprastha, Mathura etc. seem to be the same as those mentioned in Mahabharata.
The city of Dwaraka which was founded by Shri Krishna and whose destruction he foresaw remained submerged for many years. Krishna was responsible in influencing the course and evolution of Hinduism more than Rama and it is natural to expect sociologist, archaeologist and historian together with religious scholars to take deep interest in this town and its history.
UNDERWATER CULTURAL HERITAGES NEEDS PROTECTION
Recently more than two hundred experts from around eighty four countries had gathered under the aegis of UNESCO in Paris and examined a draft convention on the submerged city and unanimously agreed that the underwater cultural heritages needed protection from destruction as well as pillaging in Dwaraka. Krishna had built a mighty empire on a site which was selected for him by Vishnu's learned `vahan', Garud where the city he built was supposed to have extended over 104 kms.
The city was surrounded by a moat and well-fortified, spanned by bridges which were removed when attacked by enemies. Archaeological excavations have discovered artifacts which indicate that modern Dwaraka is the sixth settlement on this site while the earlier cities at various times had been washed by the sea.
