Bet Dwarka - tourmet

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Sight Address : Bet Dwarka Beach, Jamnagar, India Edit

Detail InformationEdit

Bet Dwarka is an island, situated at a distance of 30 km from the main town. This island is surrounded by few temples, white beach and coral reefs. The main temple at Bet Dwarka is that of Lord Krishna, which is believed to be located at a site that was once the residence of Lord Krishna and His family. This temple is over 500 years old and was built by Sri Vallabhacharya.In addition to this, Bet Dwarka features temples of Vishnu, Radha, Lakshmi, Satyabhama, Devaki and Jambavati. There is a narrow street which leads to these temples that are crowded by vendors selling local crafts, idols, cassettes, coconut and seashells. Bet Dwarka is famous for its temples dedicated to Lord Krishna and is of great importance in the ancient Hindu tradition. It and other coastal sites have ample antiquities, mainly potsherds, suggesting maritime trade and commerce with the Mediterranean countries around the Christian era. This flourishing harbour and religious capital is believed to have submerged under the sea after the Krishna left Dwarka for Vaikunth. A team of archaeologists have carried out onshore and inter-tidal zone explorations and a few trial trenches were laid to trace a proper cultural sequence. The most potential sites, where a large number of antiquities were recovered are the sectors, Bet Dwarka-I, II, VI, and IX. The proposal for the Dwarka museum, submitted by the Marine Archaeology Centre of the National Institute of Oceanography in 1999, involves laying a submarine acrylic tube through which visitors can view through glass windows the ruins of the city. The State Government of Gujarat and the Travel & Tourism Department of Gujarat are working on this proposal. When completed, it will be the first museum to be built under the sea.

Bet Dwarka in Dwarka

HistoryEdit

The findings of Bet Dwarka may be divided into two broad periods: Pre-historic period which includes a small seal of conch shell engraved with a three-headed animal motif, two inscriptions, a copper fish-hook and late Harappan pottery (circa 1700–1400 BC) and the Historical period consisting of coins and pottery. Onshore and inter-tidal zone explorations have indicated some kind of shoreline shifting around the Bet Dwarka island as a few sites get submerged during high tide. Offshore explorations near present Bet Dwarka brought to light a number of stone anchors of different types that include triangular, grapnel and ring stones. They are made out of locally available rocks and their period may also be similar to those found at Dwarka and other places. Recently, Roman antiquities including shreds of amphorae and a lead ingot and lead anchors were found. There is also an indication of a shipwreck of Roman period in Bet Dwarka waters. The archaeological explorations at Bet Dwarka Island have brought to light a large number of data on India’s external overseas trade and commerce with western countries. Recent findings at the Bet Dwarka have shown evidence of Indo-Roman trade. India had an active maritime trade with Rome from the fourth century BCE to 4th century CE. These findings would concentrate on the time period from the first century BCE to the 2nd century CE. The discovery of the amphora in Bet Dwarka is significant in view of the maritime history of India in concerned. There are remains of seven amphora from which a black encrustation can be seen. This ware was mainly used for exporting wine and olive oil from the Roman Empire; it is most likely that these were wine amphora. The discovery of a large quantity of amphora sherds suggests that Bet Dwarka had international trade contact during the early centuries of the Christian era. The findings present the possibility of a shipwreck in this area associated with Roman trade, though it is unlikely that the remains of the hull of the wreck survive. Thus the presence of Roman amphora show that Roman ships reached Bet Dwarka waters earlier than has been previously noted. These same archaeological findings along with anchors have indicated the existence of several ports, jetties and anchoring points along the west coast of Indian. Though there are no remains of an ancient jetty at Bet Dwarka, the presence of stone anchors in the intertidal one indicates that the high tide was effectively used for anchoring the boats. The presence of a large number and variety of stone anchors in Bet Dwarka suggests that this was one of important ports in ancient times. The location of Bet Dwarka was favourable for safe anchorage in the past since it was protected from high waves and storms.
The proposal for the Dwarka museum, submitted by the Marine Archaeology Centre of the National Institute of Oceanography in 1999, involves laying a submarine acrylic tube through which visitors can view through glass windows the ruins of the city. The State Government of Gujarat and the Travel & Tourism Department of Gujarat are working on this proposal. When completed, it will be the first museum to be built under the sea.

Must SeeEdit

Must See

Visiting TimeEdit

6.30 am to 1.00 pm And 5.00 pm to 9.30 pm

Closed OnEdit

N.A.

Best Season to VisitEdit

October to June

Best Time To VisitEdit

Morning,Evening And Night.

Time Required for SightseeingEdit

N.A.

Ticket Required : No Edit

Individual National Adult Rs. : N.A.

Kids Rs. : N.A.

Individual Foreigner Adult Rs. : N.A.

Kids Rs. : N.A.

Still Photo Camera Rs. : N.A.

Video Camera Rs. : N.A.

Guide Required : No Edit

Approximate cost: N.A.

Dress Code (If Any) : No Edit

Dress Require: N.A.

Restaurants NearbyAdd / Edit

Chappan Bhog Multi Cuisine Restaurant ; Goverdhan Greens Resort PO Baradia, Dwarka, Dwarka, India ; Ph/M – 0 ; Food Serve – Chinese, Indian, Vegetarian

How to ReachEdit

Taxi : Transfer taxi services are available.

Bus : An excellent network of state and national highways runs through the entire state of Gujarat connecting it with other Indian cities. Interstate and local buses connect Dwarka with other cities within and outside the state. Dwarka is on the state highway from Jamnagar to Dwarka. Direct buses available from Jamnagar and Ahmedabad. Dwarka municipality runs a local bus to take the pilgrims across various destinations of religious and tourist prominence. The departure timings of the bus are 8:00 & 14:00 each day while the total time of the journey is around five hours. The ticket prices are Rs. 30 for an adult and Rs. 15 for a child. Tickets can be booked near the vegetable market, which is also the starting point of the journey. Major destinations covered are Nageshwar, Gopi Talao, Bet Dwarka and Rukminimata temple.

Train : Dwarka has its own railway station which connects it to other major cities in India. Regular trains are available from nearby cities such as Jamnagar, Rajkot and Ahmedabad. The best way to reach the place is to board a train to any of the major cities around and take a train to Dwarka from there. Dwarka is a station on the Ahmedabad-Okha broad gauge railway line, with trains connecting it to Jamnagar (137 km), Rajkot (217 km) and Ahmedabad (471 km), and some trains that continue all the way down the coast through Vadodara, Surat, Mumbai, Goa, Karnataka, to the southern tip of India in Kerala.

Air : Jamnagar is the nearest airport from Dwarka while Rajkot is another option to access the place by air. Government run Indian Airlines and other private airlines such as Jet Airways and Air Deccan operate regular services to both these locations. Ahmaedabad is another major airport which is connected by regular flights from all the major Indian cities.

Others : Local transport facilities including tongas, auto rickshaws and buses are available from the main town.

Things to CarryEdit

Carry bottle of drinking water. Sun-screen, sun glasses, tissue-rolls, roll of duct-tape, extra batteries, torchlight, water, energy-bars are ‘must-carry’ along with a First-aid kit.

Safety / WarningEdit

Don’t wear footwear in Dwarka and in Somnath, there are so many temples and holy places that you are constantly wearing and removing your footwear. It may be better to use slip ons for such visits.
Don’t dress immodestly.
Electronic items not allowed.