Bhalka Teerth - Fatal arrow on Krishna ji

We all know that Krishna ji departed from the earth after his foot was pierced by an arrow, but when did this happen and where? That is not so frequently talked about.

As to when – Krishna's departure is stated to be in 3102 BCE and marks the end of Dvapar Yug and the start of the Kali Yug of the present Mahayug – the cycle of the four yugs. Kaliyug lasts for 4.32 lac years so we have a long way before this ends. Incidentally a Mahayug is ten times as long as a Kali Yug.

And where? In Gujarat, near Somnath. 

A beautiful murti of Krishna ji at Bhalka Teerth

After his clan of Yadavs killed themselves by infighting, Krishna retired into the forest and started meditating under a peepal tree. 

Next to the murti of Krishna ji, is the peepal tree, this extends outside the temple

The peepal tree is green even today.

Bhalka Teertha (भालका तीर्थ) located in the Prabhas Patan near Veraval is the place where the hunter Jara, mistook Krishna's partly visible left foot for that of a deer, and shot an arrow, wounding him mortally. Incidentally Jara in an earlier birth was Bali, brother of Sugriv, and who was killed by Ramchandra ji. Krishna walked to what is now known as Golokdham - where he is said to have left the earth and where he undertook his Neejdham Yatra to Vaikunth - his heavenly abode.

The temple at Bhalka was being renovated / constructed when we visited the place in 2017

More on this alongwith photos will come in the next post.

The area between Dwarka and Somnath is replete with stories about him. Gopi Talab /Pond is about 20 kms from Dwarka, near the Nageshwar temple and has a few associated stories. It is said to be the place where Arjun’s pride of being the best warrior was destroyed when he was defeated by the locals. It was here that Krishna ji killed Bhaumasur and saved 16,000 princess locked in his palace. And it is said that the gopis of Vrindavan visited Krishna and ultimately united with him– they turned into clay. The mud of the pond known as Gopi Chandan is yellow even today.

Beyt Dwarka

About 30 kms from Dwarka is the town of Okha on the banks of the Arabian Sea.

From here by boat, about 5 kms away, one can reach the island of Beyt Dwarka : Beyt means island.  

It was here that Krishna ji built his palace and where he also housed his queens. The palace has been destroyed by an earthquake and has been / is being renovated. It was also here that poverty-stricken Sudama came to visit his close friend Krishna with his ‘potli’ (a small package) of rice.

The entrance to the temple at Beyt Dwarka

Between Dwarka and Beyt Dwarka is the Nageshwar temple, in Jamnagar district. It is said to be one of the twelve Jyotirlings of Shiv ji and is in an underground sanctum. 

The Nageshwar temple in Gujarat

A tall statue of sitting Shiv ji is also seen here. 

Sitting Shiv ji outside the Nageshwar Temple

Incidentally our texts only indicate the Nageshwar jyotrling as being near the Darukavan forest, the location of which is debated. Two other sites, one in Andhra Pradesh and another in Uttar Pradesh also lay claim to be Nageshwar Jyotirlings.

Before Krishna ji selected Dwarka for setting up his kingdom, he, alongwith Balram, and his entourage are said to have had a temporary halt at Mul Dwarka - in the district of Junagadh of Gujarat. 

Mul Dwarka, Gujarat

An ancient and dilapidated temple of Krishna ji is found here, it also has a small stepwell. 

It also has a small stepwell

Down the stepwell - Mul Dwarka

The carving on the wall of the step-well

Further on, in Porbandar is the erstwhile palace and current temple of Sudama, the childhood friend of Krishna ji.

Sudama’s temple at Porbandar

Dwarka

Dwarka, in the state of Gujarat is the Hindu Dham of the west. “Dwar” means door and “ka” is Brahm, the formless and attributeless God. The temple here is dedicated to Krishna, the eighth avatar or incarnation of Vishnu. The tale goes that after killing his uncle Kans, Krishna, alongwith all his people, departed from Brindavan and Mathura (the twin cities where he had spent the early years of his life), and was looking for a suitable place to settle down. The City of Dwarka is where the Gomti River (not the one which flows in Lucknow) meets the Arabian Sea. Finding this suitable, Krishna prayed to Samudra, the Sea God to recede back and release land for his kingdom. 

Krishna then established his kingdom there with his clan – the Yadavs. The city is said to have been built by Vishwakarma, the architect of the Gods. Ultimately the entire clan was destroyed due to infighting. (It may be recalled that after the Mahabharat war was over, which had ended with all her sons being killed, Gandhari had cursed Krishna that he too would see the end of all his people).

When Krishna was to depart from this world, he went back to the Sea God who re-claimed all the land, which is why there are no remnants found in the area – though some years back there have been some archeological finds in the stretch of the sea between Beyt Dwarka and Porbandar / Somnath. It is said that Dwarka has been submerged several times and the present city is the seventh one. The temple too is of comparatively recent origin, being only some few centuries old but the city reportedly has a more ancient heritage, linked to the beginning of creation by Brahma, the stay of five rishis : Marichi, Atri, Angira, Pulah, and Krit, the vaman avtar of Vishnu etc.

The temple Dwarkadish (king of Dwarka) has two entrances known as the Swarg Dwar (door to heaven) and the Moksh Dwar (door to liberation). It is believed that entrance to the temple complex through the former and exit through the latter ensures moksh. The flag atop the temple is changed five times a day. One can also perform the ritual of getting a flag hoisted; here the flag is first carried (on one’s head) within the temple and around the main murti. It is said that those around while this is performed are also blessed. Incidentally, the present waiting period for this ritual is around 5 years.

Outside the temple the river Gomti flows nearby. There is a short bridge known as the Sudama Setu; further on one can see where the river meets the Arabian Sea. A temple dedicated to Rukmani is about 2 kms away – the temple being at a distance due to a curse given by Durvasa rishi.

Char Dham

While India has innumerable religious sites and temples, we Hindus consider four pilgrimages as essential in one’s lifetime. There is one site/temple in each of the four directions. Thus we have: 

• Badrinath (Uttarakhand) in the north which is the place where Vishnu as NarNarayan performed tapasya. 

• Rameshwaram (Tamil Nadu) in the south is the spot where Ramchandra ji, on his return from Lanka, prayed to Shivji for absolution of any and all sins committed in the war and especially from brahminhatya when he killed Ravan.  

• Dwarka (Gujarat) in the West is where Krishna ji made his kingdom after leaving Mathura and Vrindavan. 

• The fourth is Jagannath Puri (Odisha) in the east, which is dedicated to Krishna ji.

Incidentally, Badrinath is also one of the four Dhams in Uttarakhand, the other three being Kedarnath (a jyotirling), Gangotri (the source of the River Ganga) and Yamunotri (the source of the Yamuna river).

Tirupati Padmavati

 A visit to Padmavati Temple for her blessings is considered essential before visiting the Venkateshwar Temple of Tirumala, which is said to be complete only with the blessings from Padmavati.

Outside Padmavati Temple

                                                              Padmavati Temple

It is said that Lakshmi once, annoyed with Vishnu (for his forbearance over an insult from Bhrigu rishi), left him. After several years, her incarnation was as Padmavati, the daughter of Akashraja, and is believed to have been found on a lotus flower in a tank in Tirupati. Meanwhile Vishnu, as Venkatesh or Srinivas, came to earth and later married Padmavati. The tale goes that after marriage, searching for curry leaves she reached the Padma tank where she was born, and decided to remain there. It is said that Srinivas travels from Tirumala to Tirupati, and visits her at night to enquire about her welfare – how many times he visits her is not known but his footwear at Alipiri is said to be worn out. Alipiri is the foot of the seven hills of Tirupati and the journey to Tirumal starts here.

The city of Tirupati is at the foothills of Tirumala and has a few other noteworthy temples. There is the temple of Govindaraja Swamy, the elder brother of Venkatesh, who was the caretaker of massive wealth obtained from Kuber for conducting the wedding of Venkatesh / Balaji with Padmavati. He efficiently utilised this wealth to conduct one of the most glorious weddings of religious history.

A newer beautiful temple is that of ISKCON.

Iskcon Temple at Tirumala

Tirupati Balaji

An important temple in Chittoor district of Andhra Pradesh is that of Balaji / Venkateshwar / Vishnu at Tirumala near Tirupati. Two aspects of this temple are unusual, first that it is comparatively new. References to it are found in the Purans, where the site is associated with Vishnu’s Varaha avatar. The temple itself traces back to the 10th to 15th century CE. The second important aspect is that unlike most temples where the idol is representative of God, here the idol is said to be Vishnu himself.

Image outside

The story goes thus – Vishnu, in his incarnation as Srinivas had agreed to marry the daughter of Akasa Raja (and that is another story). His daughter Padmavathi (also known as Alamelu Mangamma), was found in a lotus in a pond. For the marriage Srinivas / Venkatesh / Vishnu borrowed heavily from Kuber, the treasurer of the gods. He also promised the following:

- that he would stay at the spot till the end of Kaliyug

- That he would fulfil the wishes of any devotee visiting there, and all donations at the temple would go towards repayment of the interest on Kuber’s loan.

Today the number of pilgrims visiting Venkatesh temple is very very large (in the range of 40,000 to 70,000 per day) and for a few seconds of darshan one has to stand in the queue for 8-10 hours. Photographs are strictly prohibited.

The beautiful area around

Incidentally the 30 kms drive from Tirupati ti Tirumala is enjoyable – the road is really well maintained and the view picturesque with flowers all along.

Sita, Luv and Kush at Valmiki’s ashram in Bithoor

Valmiki, the author of Ramayan, had his ashram in Bithoor near Kanpur in Uttar Pradesh.
Ram had met Valmiki during his 14 year exile. Later, when his wife Sita was banished, she took refuge in Valmiki’s ashram where she gave birth to twin sons Luv and Kush. The early years of the twins was spent here. 

Valmiki ji

                                                     Entrance to Valmiki ji’s Ashram

Luv Kush janm bhoomi Mandir, outside Valmiki's ashram, Bithoor

Ram, Sita, Luv and Kush

Sita with Luv and Kush

Hanuman temple in the Luv Kush janm temple outside Valmiki's ashram in Bithoor

In preparation for the ashvamedh yagya in Naimisharanya (please see earlier posts on this blog), Ram had released his horse – it reached Valmiki’s ashram and was captured by the twins. It is here that the latter also fought and tied up Hanuman.

Luv and Kush capture the horse and tie-up Hanuman. (Valmiki's Ashram in Bithoor)

Sita ki rasoi or Sita's kitchen at Valmiki's ashram, Bithoor

After the yagya, Ram visits the ashram to take Sita back to Ayodhya but she prefers to go back to Mother Earth who hears her prayers and opens herself to take Sita.

The spot where Sita entered Mother earth. Valmiki's ashram in Bithoor

Valmiki wrote the Ramayan about 2000 - 2500 years ago in Sanskrit. The poem has approx. 24000 shloks (verses/couplets) in 7 kand (काण्ड ) or chapters, and has the famous tale of Ramchandraji, the 7th incarnation of Vishnu.

The entire Ramayan is written in pillars in Valmiki's ashram in Bithoor

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(Grateful thanks to Shri Uttam Chand Bansal for these photographs.)