Dwaraka The Ancient Kingdom Of Yadavas

Dwaraka the Ancient Kingdom:

Dwaraka is one of the ancient Indian kingdoms of Yadavas and is also known as Dwaravati. It was also the gateway for foreign Kingdomain into India’s mainland. The city is a sacred pilgrimage to the Hindus and one of India’s seven most ancient religious sites. Jarasandha, King of Magadha, terrified the Yadava chiefs and made them flee from his Kingdom. Yadavas came to the city and founded Kingdom in its name. The Kingdom has included the states of Andhakas, Vrishnis and Bhojas. The Yadavas ruling Dwarwaswere also known as Dasarhas and Madhus. The prominent chiefs were Vasudeva, Krishna, Bala Rama, Satyaki, Kritavarma, Uddhavr, Akrura and Ugrasena, residing in Dwaraka.

Dwaraka in Mahabharatha:

Dwaraka is a Sanscrit word, which means the gateway to the sea. It’s another name in Puranas was Mokshapuri. According to ancient Indian texts, Shri Krishna was known as the king of Dwaraka.

Shri Krishna was born in modern times in Magadha, just south of Delhi, at midnight on Friday, July 27, 3112 BCE. This period was calculated based on the planetary positions on that day by Sage Vyasa, who wrote Mahabharatha in ancient India: his uncle Kamsa was the tyrannical ruler of Madhura. Shri Krishna killed his uncle Kamsa for his Sins and settled in the Kingdom; later, he migrated from Mathura.

There is another story about the city. One day Krishna asked Vishvakarma, the deity of construction, to build a beautiful new town for his Kingdom. Then Vishvakarma informed him the task could only be completed if Samudradeva provided some land. Krishna worshipped Samudradeva; he was pleased with the dedicated devotion of Krishna and gave him 12 yojanas(773 kilometres) of land for construction. In this land, Vishvakarma constructed the beautiful ancient Indian city of Dwaraka.

Dwaraka Under Sea:

After the Mahabharata war, Shri Krishna was hit by a hunter’s arrow near Somnath at Bhalka’s birth. Then Shri Krishna left for the heavenly abode. This incident caused fights among the Yadavas, and the principal Yadavas Chiefs were killed in the wars. Arjuna visited Dwaraka to bring Krishna’s grandchildren and Yadav’s wives to Hastinapura. As soon as Arjuna left, the city was submerged in the sea.

Dwaraka excavation:

There was a curiosity among the ecologists who wanted to bring out the city’s presence in ancient India. In 1983 under the guidance of Dr Rao, a great marine archaeologist, a team formed consisted of Underwater explorers, trained drivers cum photographers and archaeologists. This team was supported by the Marine Archaeology Unit(MAU), the National Institute of Oceanography, and the archaeological survey of India. This team carried out 12 objects of articles and antiquities from 1983 to 1992. Finally, the excavations at Dwaraka under the sea showed that the city had advanced societies to the Indus Valley civilization.

The archaeologists discovered the ancient Indian city under the sea, which submerged into the sea in 1443 BCE.