My Solo Road Trip to Dwarka The Other Side of the Holy City of Gujarat

Originally Published on June 2015 and Updated in Aug 2020
 

I always dreamed to go on solo trip around Dwarka and the dream came true when I recently visited my home town œBhatiya  during weekend. I took a bike of my friend and started my journey early in the morning around 6:00 AM. There was no fix route or fix plan, the motive behind this road trip was to explore different places and clicking the beauty around Dwarka. See this beautiful view of the road leads towards the holy city of Gujarat.

Within 10 minutes, I was on the state highway 29 (GJ SH 29) which is surrounded by wind farm operated by Suzlon & Enercon. It was early in the morning but somehow I managed to click few photographs of wind farm installed in nearby area. This is the great example of how this area is being developed with the help of these renewable energy companies and looking forward to see more of such amazing work in the future.

If you love watching bird, you can visit Gaga wildlife sanctuary en-route located in Gaga village around 15KM from Bhatiya. It is famous for great Indian bustard, gorad, piloo and other spices. As the place is hardly maintained, you will need to ask the local to reach this place. 

Okha Madhi

My second stop was at Okha madhi; earlier I heard a lot about this place but could not visit due to busy schedule. When I entered at Okha Madhi beach, I was the only person in entire area. I set there with closed eyes for over 15 minutes; I can still feel the voice of sea waves, air and birds. When I was returning back from the beach, I met one person from forest department. He was surprised to see me at early in the morning and keen to share more information about turtle conservation. Yes, Okha madhi is a marine national park and turtle conservation site. He shared some important information about turtle conservation and invited me to visit during best season.

Note: Its been almost 5 years when I captured this picture and if you visit this place now, you will hardly find any difference. Yes, the crowd is now more as Okha Madhi beach has received good exposure from the tourist and bloggers.
 

Then I started driving towards Dwarka, the holy city of India. Dwarka is one of the most important pilgrimage places in India, located on the west coast of state Gujarat. The state Gujarat is known as the jewel of the west in India where you can find the nice blend of modern milieu and old traditions. Dwarka is one of the most visited destinations of the state that holds Indian as well as western crowd. This divine place is known as the kingdom of Lord Krishna and included in the Char Dham Yatra.  This pilgrimage centre offers numerous temples in and around the city. You can go Dwarka anytime of the year as climate is generally moderate throughout the year.

Here is one of my clicks I captured before entering in the city which shows the ancient temple of lord Krishna.

Popular places to visit in Dwarka:

Dwarka is well-known for religious activities and surrounded by various places. Some of the important temples of the city include:

Dwarkadish Temple:

This temple is also called as Jagat Temple, originally constructed by the great grandson of Lord Krishna, named as King Vajranabha. This five storied temple has a multi-colored 24m long flag at the temple dome. During Janmastami, this place is very crowded and occupied with the pilgrim.

Darshan is open during 6:30 AM to 01:00 PM and 5:00 PM to 9:30 PM. Here is the detailed time table I found on official website.

Morning Timing		Evening Timing
6.30	Mangla Arti	5.00 Uthappan	First Darshan
7.00 to 8.00	Mangla Darshan	5.30 to 5.45	Uthappan Bhog: Darshan Closed
8.00 to 9.00	Abhishek Pooja [Snan Vidhi]: Darshan Closed	5.45 to 7.15	Darshan
9.00 to 9.30	Shringar Darshan	7.15 to 7.30	Sandhya Bhog: Darshan Closed
9.30 to 9.45	Snanbhog : Darshan Closed	7.30 to 7.45	Sandhya Arti
9.45 to 10.15	Shringar Darshan	8.00 to 8.10	Shayanbhog: Darshan Closed
10.15 to 10.30	Shringarbhog: Darshan Closed	8.10 to 8.30	Darshan
10.30 to 10.45	Shringar Arti	8.30 to 8.35	Shayan Arti
11.05 to 11.20	Gwal Bhog: Darshan Closed	8.35 to 9.00	Darshan
11.20 to 12.00	Darshan	9.00 to 9.20	Bantabhog and Shayan : Darshan Closed
12.00 to 12.20	Rajbhog: Darshan Closed	9.20 to 9.30	Darshan
12.20 to 12.30	Darshan	9.30	Darshan Mandir Closed
13	Anosar, Darshan Closed

Dwarka Light House

Dwarka light house is located near Bhadkeshwar mahadev temple which is a must visit place in Dwarka. You can have wonderful view of entire Dwarka city from the top of Light house. When i visited Dwarka, the place was closed due to maintainance.

Rukshamanee Mandir:

This temple is dedicated to Lord Krishna 's wife, Devi Rukmani. The beautiful temple is decorated with the 12th century paintings which attract tourists even more.

In addition to these temples, tourists can also visit, Gomati Sangam Ghat, Bhadkeswar temple, sunset point and Gita Mandir during their Dwarka trip.

After visiting Gomati sangam ghat and light house, I started moving towards Okha port via Mithapur. You will have to park your vehicle at Okha port and take a boat ferry to reach Bet Dwarka.

Bet Dwarka

Bet Dwarka is a small island, located at 30 miles away from Dwarka. The religious fact with this place is that, Lord Krishna spent some time here with his wife Rukmani in order to save himself from the scorching heat. The scenic beauty and divine serenity of the place give wonderful experience to its visitors. The beach is loaded with the colorful corals and white sand.

This place is famous for Hanuman ji temple known as Hanuman Dandi. You can get local rickshaw to reach this place and can also visit ashram located at walking distance from Hanuman dandi.

I learned from local guys, there are some tour operator arranges trips for groups. One person told me that œtour operator offers exciting ride from Dwarka to Bet Dwarka by rowing or motor boat is another important reason of its high crowd. During the journey you can explore rare and beautiful birds and many other picturesque sites. Bet Dwarka is also considered as an ideal destination for camping and many other adventurous activities. This exciting place has everything to cater the delightful experience to its visitors 

I was surprised to learn about such tour as I never heard of it or did not even find any operators around. I will share more information incase if I will get it from any sources.

I return back to Okha port and started driving towards Dwarka. This time I took a different route as to visit Nageshwar Jyotirlanga located at 19KM from Okha. The road was nice except from Mithapur to padali village. I took 15 minutes of break at Gopi village which is famous for Gopi Lake (See below picture). Nice and ancient place having some connection with lord Krishna and gopi. Then I started driving towards Nageswar temple.  

Nageshwar Jyotirlinga

Nageshwar temple is another most important jyotirlinga of Lord Shiva, located at 18 kms away from the Dwarka. As per the Shiv Purana, Nageshwar is considered as the first jyotirlinga on earth and one of the 12 self-existent jyotirlingas of the country. The most important fact with this temple is its construction which is done by the pink stone. The idol Dakshinamurti and Shani are worshiped in this temple.

The best time to visit this temple will be during Shivaratri festival which is celebrated with lot of enthusiasm. The temple of lord shiva is nicely built surrounded by nature. The place is also known as Nageshar village and can be easily reached from Dwarka.

There is a big tall statue of Lord Shiva which is one of the best attractions of this place. It is believed that by praying in this temple, people can purify their soul and mind and get rid from all difficulties of life. The entire premises of the temple are widely adorned on the eve of Shivratri. Due to the high popularity and significance of this place, many municipal buses, cabs and auto rickshaws are available to this temple.

I was there for 2 hours and clicked Lord shiva 's statue and other surrounded places. It was amazing experience worshiping lord Shiva at Nageshwar temple. Then I started driving towards my home town and reached at my home by 8PM.

Route map of my Entire Dwarka Trip:

I spent over 15 years at my home town (Bhatiya) but during this trip I explored many places which I never visited before. This solo trip provided an opportunity to spend quality time with myself and some beautiful places around.

If you are planning to visit Dwarka and need any assistance, do write here by comment or write me through contact page. I will revert at earliest.