13 November 2012

Dwaraka Yatra 3

We reached Veraval near Somnath by Somnath Express. We had booked a room at Sukhsagar. I had looked at Trip Advisor and written to a few hotels. Sukh Sagar was the most proactive one, calling me the same day to confirm. I had also asked for a car. Jethubhai of Sukh Sagar called be the day before giving the nos of the car driver. We reached the hotel. The rooms were pretty decent. Freshened and had breakfast. 

Muldwaraka
Muldwaraka is about 40km from Somnath on the coast. The drive, though on National Highway, was pretty bad. The old temple is on the beach atop a mound near Ambuja Cement's jetty. The temple is pretty old, dilapidated and abandoned. We had a quick darshanand drove back to Somnath.

Muktidwaraka
Muktidwaraka is near Veraval/ Somnath. This is the place from where Krishna went back to his heavenly abode. The smaill temple is open 7am to 7pm without break.

Other Places in Somnath
There are places in Somnath on the banks of Hiran river - Githa Mandir, Krishna's footprint, Balarama's Guha, Surya Temple, Triveni Ghat. We quickly visited the temples and came back for lunch.

Somnath Temple
Somnath is a Jyotir Lingam. Historically, the temple has been repeatedly destroyed and rebuilt. The current temple is a huge one built in 1951. There is temple is under a large security apparatus due to obvious reasons. While you can have darshan at this temple, you can perform puja at the old Somnath temple which just infront of the main temple. We performed puja at the old temple and had evening harati darshan at the main temple.


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