The first clr historical record is dated 574 A.D. and occurs in the Palitana Plates of Samanta Simhaditya. This inscription refers to Dwaraka as the capital of the western coast of Saurashtra and still more important, states that Sri Krishna lived here. The establishment of one of the four of his pithas at Dwaraka by Sankaracharya attests to the grt religious sanctity the place must have attained by the eighth century A.D.
Dr. S R Rao has written: "The discovery of the ledary city of Dwaraka which is said to have been founded by Sri Krishna, is an important landmark in the history of India. It has set to rest the doubts expressed by historians about the historicity of Mahabharata and the very existence of Dwaraka city. It has grtly narrowed the gap in Indian history by establishing the continuity of the Indian civilization from the Vedic Age to the present day."
Here is a report about the latest excavations done by Dr. S.R. Rao of the Marine Archaeology Unit of the National Institute of Ocnography of India. Following this report are a few articles and s.
The Towering personality of Lord Krishna
Sri Krishna is a towering personality and it is difficult to separate the human aspect of his life from the divine in Krishna concept. He is a grand mystery and everyone has tried to understand him in his own way, according to his spiritual light or vision. The Yogis considered him to be the absolute truth, the Gopis the highest object of love, the warriors as an idl hero, Kamsa as an object of fr and Sisupala as an object of hate.
Whether one thinks of him as an object of love or hate, one attains him. Yudhishthira attained him through friendship and Narada by devotion. Krishna is the embodiment of lectual and spiritual glory. No other single id has so much influenced the course of India's religion, philosophy, art and literature as the life and personality of Krishna. As a child he was wonderful, as a youth he was physically most perfect and butiful. as an lectual he was the very embodiment of Vedic scholarship and his tchings in the Gita embody the immortal message of desire less action, knowledge and single-minded devotion. "As a fighter he was without rival, as a statesman most shrewd, as a social thinker very liberal, as a tcher the most eloquent, as a friend never failing, and as a householder the most id." It is with his help that the Pandavas were able to overcome all opponents and win the battle of Mahabharata.
In the words of Annie Wood Besant (1847-1933) was an active socialist on the executive committee of the Fabian Society along with George Bernard Shaw. "He (Krishna) is so fundamentally the God, who is human in everything, who bends in human sympathy over the cradle of the babe, who sympathizes with the play of the youth, who is the friend of the lover, the blesser of the bridegroom and the bride, who smiles on the young mother when her first born lies in her arms, everywhere the God of love and human happiness; what wonder that his winsome grace has fascinated the hrts of men."
(source: Discourses on Hindu Avataras - By Annie Wood Besant).
Krishna-Kanhiya
( source: Annals and Antiquities of Rajasthan: or the Central and Western Rajput States of India - By Colonel James Tod).Listen to The Bhagavad Gita podcast
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Sister Nivedita - Margaret Noble (1867-1911 wrote: "The Grand Personality that towers over Kurukshetra and enunciates the body of doctrines which all India knew....to be the core of dharma combines within himself the divinity of the Indian Shiva, the virility of the Greek Heracles, the simplicity of the Judian Christ, the tenderness of the Buddha, the calm, austerity and lrning of any tcher of the Upanishads."
It is however, essential to note that the Mahabharata itself trts Krishna both as a God and as a man, so does its essential part of the Gita. (IX. II).
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The first possible recorded instance of a Krishna who may be identified with the deity can be found in the Chandogya Upanishad (ca. 900 BCE). The tcher Ghora Angirasa discusses the nature of the soul with Krishna, the son of Devaki. However, this tcher is never mentioned in connection with Krishna in later works nor does any ancient or medieval author quote this instance of Krishna, the deity. The exact words that Ghora spks are trted by some as praise of Krishna and most others as a praise of the Atman, whose knowledge being imparted to Krishna. The doctrine taught by Ghora matches with the Bhagavad-gita and the name of the mother is the same as in later Krishna traditions.
Megasthenes, the Greek ambassador in the court of Chandragupta Maurya (4th century B.C) makes the first reference to the deifiion of Vasudeva. He says that Heracles (who is closest to Krishna-Vasudeva) was held in high regard by the Sourasenoi (Surasenas) who possessed two large cities namely Methora (Mathura) and Cleisobora (Krishnapura, that is Vraja and Vrindavana). Apart from references by Megasthenes to the deifiion of Krishna-Vasudeva, Buddhist texts mention the existence of shrines dedied to Vasudeva (Krishna) and Baladeva (Balarama).
Heliodorus, the son of Dia (Dion), a resident of Taxila had come to Besnagar as an envoy of the Greek king Antalikata (Antialkidas) to the court of Kasiputra Bhagabhadra during his 14th regnal yr. Antialkidas is placed between 175-135 B.C. The Greek king Agathocles (2nd century B. C) was also devoted to the Bhagavata cult. The figures of Krishna and Balarama are shown on his coins found in the excavations at Al-Khanuram in Afghanistan.
Stambha or the column had been erected in BC 113 by Heliodorus, a Greek ambassador to India, a devotee of Krishna/Vasudeva at Videsha.Heliodorus’ Column publicly acknowledged in the most conspicuous way that Vasudeva, or Krishna, as the "God of gods."Watch Scientific verifiion of Vedic knowledge. Watch Lost / submerged city of
(For more refer to The Heliodorus Column - gosai.com). Refer to Vrindanet - Poland
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The column was ordered by Heliodurus, a Greek or Greek-named envoy of the Indo-Bactrian king, Antialkidas. He came to the court of King Kasiputra Bhagabhadra, the ruler of the Besnagar ar, from Taxila. To celebrate his conversion into Hinduism a pillar was erected which is dedied to Lord Vishnu. Heliodorus calls himself a devotee of Krishna/Vasudeva, one of the names of Visnu. Such offerings were common in fulfillment of religious vows (thus 'votive' offerings) at that time. This same column has survived to the present, and is one of the primary pieces of evidence used to prove the existence of Vasudeva-Krishna (Krishna-Balarama) worship in the pre-Christian era. On the column erected in Besnagar in central India nr Vidisha, north of Madhyapradesh State, at 113 BC (sometimes also dated 140/150 BC ) he calls himself a worshiper of Vasudeva (Vishnu). This is the first known record that other than Indian-born person became a follower of Vishnu (Vaishnava).
"This Garuda-column of Vasudeva (Visnu), the god of gods, was erected here by Heliodorus, a worshiper of Visnu, the son of Dion, and an inhabitant of Taxila, who came as Greek ambassador from the Grt King Antialkidas to King Kasiputra Bhagabhadra, the savior, then reigning prosperously in the fourteenth yr of his kingship." (Transliteration and translation of this ancient Brahmi inscription was published in the Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society (London: JRAS, Pub., 1909, pp. 1053-54.)
Dr. S. Radhakrishan wrote: "The Bhagavad Gita is "both metaphysics and ethics brahmavidya and yogasastra, the science of rlity and the art of union with rlity. The truths of spirit can be apprehended only by those who prepare themselves for their reception by rigorous disciplines"
Dwaraka had found a place in the texts on grammar, for Panini, the grt grammarian, refers to Cakragirti, which is identified with Cakratirtha at the mouth of the river Gomati where Dwaraka is situated. The durgavidhana and durganivesa prakaranas of the Arthasastra of Kautilya prescribe the layout of a city. The description of Dwaraka in the Mahabharata and Jnata-dharma-katha as large, well-fortified and prosperous due to s trade confirms hat it was a port city.
(source: The Lost City of Dvaraka - By S. R. Rao ISBN 8186471480 p. 1 -25 and wikipedia.org). Listen to The Bhagavad Gita podcast
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Dwaraka – The Importance of Heritage
Dwaraka has a special importance as one of the major Hindu pirim place, known as the capital of Lord Krishna's Kingdom. It is also an important historical monument. The region of the west coast, where Krishna was to settle the Yadavas was full of flowering and fruit-bring trees. Here grew the nagacampas, grapes, coconut trees and many others. It was the land of the hunter Ekalavya. Dronacarya had also lived here. Krishna decided to built a new city here and laid the foundation at an auspicious moment. He named the new city Dvaravati. Much later the poet Magha in his Sisupalavadha, sarga2, describes in slokas 31 onwards, the city of Dwaraka, sloka 33 can be translated:
"The yellow glitter of the golden fort of the city in the s throwing yellow light all round looked as if the flames of vadavagni came out tring asunder the s."
Literary texts like the Mahabharata, Harivamsha, Sijupdlavadha and Puranas contain traditions about foundation of Dwaraka, its planning and glory. Before the ledary city of Dwaraka was discovered some scholars were of the view that the Mahabharata being only a myth it would be futile to look for the remains of Dwaraka and that too in the s. Others held that the Mahabharata battle was a family feud exaggerated into a war.
The Mahabharat war at Kurukshetra with Lord Krishna as the charioteer to the Warrior Arjuna.The Bhagavad Gita has influenced grt Americans from Thoru to Oppenheimer. Its message of letting go of the fruits of one’s actions is just as relevant today as it was when it was first written more than two millennia ago.
Dwaraka on mainland which was one of the busiest ports of the Mahabharata Period met a sudden end due to the fury of the s. After the Mahabharata War Krishna lived for 36 yrs at Dwaraka. At the end, the Vrshnis, Bhojas and Saatas destroyed themselves in a fratricidal feud at Prabhasa but Krishna did not interfere to save them. The portends of destruction seen by Sri Krishna who advised immediate evacuation of Dwarakaare stated in Bhagavata Purana. Dwaraka abandoned by Hari (Krishna) was swallowed by the s. The submerce took place immediately after Sri Krishna departed from the world.
Construction of Dwaraka
Interesting descriptions about its construction are found in Puranas.
"Fring attack from Jarasangh and Kaalayvan on Mathura, Shri Krishna and Yadavas left Mathura and arrived at the coast of Saurashtra. They decided to build their capital in the coastal region and invoke the Vishwakarma the deity of construction. However, Vishwakarma says that the task can be completed only if Samudradev, the Lord of the s provided some land. Shri Krishna worshipped Samudradev, who was plsed and gave them land msuring 12 yojans and the Lord vishwakarma build Dwaraka, a "city in gold".
This butiful city was also known as Dwaramati, Dwarawati and Kushsthali. Another story says that at the time of the dth of Shri Krishna, who was hit by the arrow of a hunter nr Somnath at Bhalka Tirth, Dwaraka disappred in the s.
The information and material secured through underwater excavation off Dwaraka corroborates with the references to the City of Dwaraka, made in the Grt Epic Mahabharata and various other Sanskrit literary works. In Mahabharata, there is a specific account about the submerging of Dwaraka, by the s which rds thus:
Sculpture of Vishnu from onshore excavation, Dwaraka.( source: The Lost City of Dvaraka - By S.R. Rao).***"The s, which had been bting against the shores, suddenly broke the boundary that was imposed on it by nature. The s rushed into the city. It coursed through the streets of the butiful city. The s covered up everything in the city. Even as they were all looking, Arjuna saw the butiful buildings becoming submerged one by one. Arjuna took a last look at the mansion of Krishna. It was soon covered by the s. In a matter of a few moments it was all over. The s had now become as placid as a lake. There was no trace of the butiful city which had been the favourite haunt of all the Pandavas. Dwaraka was just a name; just a memory."
The importance of the discovery of Dwaraka lies not merely in providing archaeological evidence needed for corroborating the traditional account of the submerce of Dwaraka but also indirectly fixing the date of the Mahabharata which is a landmark in Indian history. The Thermoluminiscence date of the pottery from Bet Dwaraka which is also connected with the Krishna led is 3520 yrs Before Present. Identical pottery is found in the submerged city of Dwaraka. Thus the results have proved that the account in Mahabharata as to the existence of a butiful capital city of Dwaraka of Sri Krishna was not a mere figment of imagination but it did exist.
Besides the s-ports, there were renowned cities which were washed away by the rivers on whose banks they were situated. We may cite here the case of Hastinapura and Pataliputra, situated on the bank of the river Ganga and falling victims to flood-fury. The Mahabharata mentions that Hastinapura was washed away by the Ganga and consequently the Pandavas had to migrate to Kaugdmbi. Pataliputra which was the premier city of the land (agranag-ara) and the test of the excellence of all the cities (samasta-nagarf-nikasdyamand) in the words of Dandin, the author of the DaSakumaracharita, later became the worst victim of inundation. The submerged parts of these cities are to be trted as protected monuments and grt trsures of our ancient heritage. If Dwaraka excavations throw a flood of light on the history of the city which was associated with the life events of Krishna, the under-water excavations of Ayodhya situated on the bank of the river Sarayu might yield valuable information about the historicity of Rama, his age and contemporary urban status.(note: Lord Krishna was born at midnight on Friday July 27, 3112 BCE. This date and time has been calculated by astronomers on the basis of the planetary positions on that day recorded by Sage Vyasa. Mahabharata War took place on November 22, 3067 BCE. The Bhagavad Gita was compiled around 500 BCE. - source: The Hindu Mind - By Bansi Pandit).
Marine archaeology is a new subject and a little-explored one, mainly due to the lack of funds, scientific and other necessary equipment and even trained divers, besides a drth of qualified marine archaeologists.
A pioneer in this field is Dr S R Rao, formerly of the Archaeological of India (ASI) and now with the National Institute of Ocnography in Goa. With all the existing limitations, he has done considerable work in the Bet Dwaraka region, where he found an entire submerged city, with rubble and masonry structures, several shell and pottery items and sls. The Mahabharata and Harivamsha describe Krishna‚s capital Dwaraka and how it was submerged by the s in grt detail, a description that coincides in many ways with what the divers found. Unfortunately, the doubting Thomases of our historical world, a school of Indian historians who regard Indian literature as, myth do not want to acknowledge this interpretation, in case it gives credence to the story of Krishna, whose capital was submerged by the s. It is ridiculous not to correlate archaeology and literature. Mythology is, the science of primitive man, his manner of explaining the universe. Records of natural phenomena and historical events ˜ invasions, migrations, etc. ˜ are stored as myths. If literature and archaeology had not been correlated, we would never have known the history of ancient Greece. And how many people are aware of the fact that the only (ancient) temple for Matsya ˜ Vishnu's incarnation at the time of the grt flood ˜ is to be found at Shankhodhara in Bet Dwaraka.
(source: Marine archaeology and the study of the past - By Nanditha Krishn - newindpress.com).
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Articles
Further Excavations of the Submerged City of Dwaraka - S. R. RaoLed of Dwaraka - By T.R. Gopaalakrushnan
Underwater museum, in Dwaraka yet to surface
Dwaraka museum in Gujarat likely to throw light on Indus Valley civilisationDwaraka remains may soon be protected as underwater world cultural heritage site Dwarika - The Eternal City - By Brinda Ramesh
Photos of Marine Excavations at Dwaraka
The Flooding of Dwaraka and the descent of the Kali Yuga - By Graham HancockPreserve underwater cultural heritage of Dwarka, says expert
How marine archaeologists found Dwaraka – By V Gangadharan
Significant finds at Dwaraka
Wooden piece at Dwarka site to tell all... date, time
New finds take archaeologists closer to Krishna
'Lord Krishna existed. School texts are wrong'
How science discovered the historical Krishna
Further Excavations of the Submerged City of Dwaraka - By S.R. Rao- Recent Advances in Marine Archaeology
(Proceedings of Second Indian Conference of Marine Archaelogy of Indian Ocn countries.Jan1990)
Published for the Society for Marine Archaeology National Inst. of Ocnography India. 1991
Since 1983 the Marine Archaeology Unit of the National Institute of Ocnography is engaged in the offshore exploration and excavation of the ledary city of Dvaraka in the coastal waters of Dwaraka in Gujarat. Brief accounts of the findings of the underwater srch for the lost city have appred in Progress and Prospects of Marine Archaeology in India, 1987, Marine Archaeology of Indian Ocn Countries, 1988, 40 yrs of Resrch - A CSIR Overview, 1988 and Journal of Marine Archaeology, 1990. The present paper dls with the more significant results of further excavations in 1988 and 1989 and discusses archaeological and literary evidence for the identifiion of the port city of Dvaraka of the protohistoric period. It also draws attention to the scientific data available from the underwater excavations in the Arabian S and the Gulf of Kutch.
A brief account of the discovery of the submerged city of Dwaraka of Mahabarata fame and the salient ftures of the structures exposed as a result of underwater excavation con-ducted at Dwaraka and Bet Dwaraka by the Marine Archaeology Unit of the National Institute of Ocnography under the direction of the author from 1983 to 1987 appred in 1988 (Rao, S.R. 1988, 47-53). Offshore exploration of the le-dary city at Dwaraka was resumed in 1988 and continued through 1990, further sward of the Temple of Samudranardyana (S God) at Dwaraka with a view to trace the plan and extent of the port-city and the purpose of the massive stone walls built on the banks of ancient Gomati. It was also necessary to ascertain whether its architectural ftures were in conformation with the description of the city of Dwaraka given in the epic Mahabharata. A second object was to obtain more corroborative evidence for reclamation referred to in the epic. Thirdly, the nick point where the ancient Gomati river joined the s had to be determined. Lastly, the cause of submerce of the city was another problem that needed further investigation.
Onshore and offshore excavation in the island of Bet Dwaraka which, according to tradition, was the resort of Sri Krishna was resumed in November, 1987 and continued through 1988. The main objective was to trace the landward extension of the submerged protohistoric township nr Balapur Bay where, in the intertidal zone a submerged wall had been traced in the rlier expedition (Rao, S. R. 1988, 49).Marine Archaeological expedition at Bet DwarakaThe trenches dug by the Public Works Department in the 'Talao' ar nr Balapur village for building an rthen embankment were examined, but no remains of any protohis-toric settlement came to light confirming thereby that there was no landward extension of'the ancient town. Most part of the ancient township was swallowed by the s and the mud flats of Balapur extending over I km sward had buried the ancient relics. One Trench (A) to the south of the Old Cus-tom House, and the other itrench (Al) in the intertidal zone at the toot of the Custom House mound were sunk to estab-lish the sequential relationship between the two sectors of habitation. (Fig. 1) The short duration of 3 or 4 hours at low tide when land was exposed nr the shore, rendered excavation in ::Iavev deposit very difficult. Even so, a rubble foundation, 35 cm broad, and a few sherds of a large storage jar lying on the floor of the house were exposed in Trench (Al). Several worked columella of conch shell found lying in a line suggested that the house belonged to a shell-worker. Excava-tion had to be abandoned after digging to a depth of 20 cm because of high water table in lowest tide also. Trench Al was however extended on the west and the extension was marked XA1, but no structure came to light. Layer I of trench Al is surface humus, layer 2 consists of fine grained silty sand mixed with shingle and layer 2A, where shells and pottery are found, is darkish clay. No pottery was found in layers 2 and 2A of XA I.A trench '2 x 2 m was laid above the rain gully in the Custori-. House mound to ascertain the cultural sequence. In all, 10 layers were distinguished. Layers I to 4 upto lm depth yielded Muslim glazed ware and Ted ware of rly medieval period. In Layers 5 and 6 in 1-1.3m depth the Red Polished Ware assignable to the first five centuries of the Christian era was found. One sherd inscribed with the letter sya mning I of in Brahmi characters of the lst-2nd century A.D. was recovered Layers 8-10 yielded a few sherds of the Lustrous Red Ware and coarse red ware of the post-Harappan phase. Natural soil could not be rched. A large of shell bangles and a couple of worked columella were found in the medieval and rly historic deposits. A bd of li3h bone is the only find from the post-Harappan deposit. It was decided to postpone to a later date the excavation of the intertidal zone and- the mound further north of the rthen embank-ment of the Talao where Late Harappan pottery has been found.Massive stone protection wall-cum-pier in BDJ VIIIIn the course of exploration of the nr shore and intertidal zones south of Balapur Bay on 4th January, 1988 Mr Rajan, diver-archaeologist and Mr Sirsath, photographer discovered a massive rubble wall exposed in lowest low tide and the site has been designated as BDK Vill (Pi. 18-19). The wall remains submerged at high tide under a column of 2 in water above its top. Excavation was conducted on both the sides of the stern arm of this structure on the 9th and 10th January in order to expose to full extent the height of the structure and determine ' the nature and purpose of constructing such a large enclosure which is 558 m in its peripheral length. (Fig.2)Trenches msuring 1 x 1.2 m were laid on its southern and northern faces. In all, 9 courses of dressed and undressed stones, of which 4 courses are covered by silty clay deposit were traced The wall was constructed on the bed rock. The stone masonry is hvily incrusted with barnacles and other s organisms. It is very difficult to remove the incrustation with-out chiselling it. Originally the wall must have been atlst 2.5 to 3 m high. Presently it is only 1.5 m in height. The enclosure wall is an irregular on plan. An interesting fture of construction is the use of wedge-shaped blocks of stone for the shell, while the core is made up of rubble-filling. That the structure is man-made becomes apparent from the use of dressed stones closely laid and also from the box technique of construction. The thickness of the wall at the base is 2.5m while the extant tapering top is 1.5 to 2m thick. The pottery found in the trench is coarse grey ware but hvily rolled resulting in the disapprance of the slip and decoration if any. Only one sherd of the sturdy red ware of the post-Harap-pan phase was found in the extremely small trench. Provision-ally the structure is datable to 15th century B.C. on the basis of the sturdy red ware. Within the enclosure there must have been very important public buildings - may be warehouses and other structures relating to shipping, for, not far from here are two rock-cut stipways for launching boats. The massive protection wall could have also served as a pier.(Artwork courtesy of The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust International, Inc. www.krishna.com).DwarakaThe Resrch Vessel Vedhavati arrived on 31st December at Dwaraka duly equipped with diving gr, echosounder, hvy compressor, airlift etc. For the next three days Sri. Srinivasa Bandodkar, Chief-diver-photographer and other divers and diver trainees srched for and clred the sub-merged structures of the ancient city exposed in the rlier expeditions. They were found partly disturbed and partly covered by sediments and vegetation. Swells and currents had disturbed a few blocks of the top courses of walls. They were photographed and marked by fresh buoys. New ars beyond 500 m sward of the Samudrandrayana temple were explored and the thick growth of vegetation on ancient build-ings were removed. On 3rd January a small stone structure was found 200 m north of buoy 35, and the overburden of 2-3 m thickness was airlifted before exposing the topmost course of dressed stones. Lying nrby is a partly damaged bastion which is semi-circular in plan (PI. 20). The dressed stones used in its construction are I ' -2 m long 0.3 m thick. A lunate-shaped dressed block apprs to be the chandrtdild (moonstone of a temple).
Dwarakadish temple on the river Gomati, Dwaraka Watch Scientific verifiion of Vedic knowledge
The presence of several structural remains between buoys 51 and 55 and also between 51 and 53 necessitated gridding the entire ar for purposes of preparing the site plan of the township. Further west nr buoy 59 a stone pillar with a square base and cylindrical shaft was found in the sbed. It is indiive of the fact that a public building of religious or secular importance existed here. Two triangular anchors were found nr buoy 58 and a single-holed anchor was traced nr buoy 53.
Artist's view of ancient fortified Dwaraka in Kusasthali( source: The Lost City of Dvaraka - By S.R. Rao).***In the absence of Mini Ranger III needed for very accurate fixing of positions, the sextafit was used and checked with the distances between structures msured manually. For instance, buoy 53 is about 1200 m from Samudrandrdyana and the bastion of inner gateway (str. 1) at buoy 35 is 200 m s-ward of buoy 8 which itself is 200 m sward of Samud-randrdyana. The bastion of the outer gateway is nr buov 59. The position of buoys especially those marking bastions, gate-ways and protection walls had to be rechecked subsequently with the help of Mini Ranger III.Two coils of steel wire lost by a boat in comparatively recent times were found nr buoy 35. As they were hvily damaged their retrieval was not attempted. A large prismatic anchor 137 cm long was recovered from the station marked by buoy 46. Rajan took soundings at 50 m intervals along the banks of the Gomati channel and across it also for studying the gradient and width of the channel, but these had to be further checked with the echosounder rdings at closer intervals.Expedition 1989-90:The main purpose of the expedition was to determine the limits of the submerged city and the nick point where the Gomati joined the s 3500 yrs ago when Dwaraka was built. This could be achieved by echo-sounding, side scan sonar and shallow seismic profiling s Which could indie anamolies and provide the bathymetric data. Simultaneously through optical and manual s the anamolies could be examined to distinguish man-made constructions from natural formations. It was also felt necessary to fix precisely the position of structures alrdy discovered and determine the course of the ancient channel of Gomati river. The profiles would help to establish the shifting of the flow channel if any. The ar covered in the course of the is 5 x 6 km upto 25 m depth so as to include a 'spit' referred to by Pathak (Pathak et al 1988, 58-62).The MFV S Master and Sharda Devi were engaged for exploration and . A dingy with outboard engine ferried between the main boats and shore. At three loions namely A4, A5 and A3 along the right bank of submerged channel of Gomati anchors were found.Southward of A5 a stone pillar and bastion were -loed at the station P which is gridded. At 60' southwest of Dwdrkddhish-Samudran5r5yana transit line a bastion in situ (S4), a fallen bastion (S3) (PI. 24), a disturbed wall (PI. 25) and a large stone slab (S4) were found. Further south of S4 is another bastion (S2). These structures are in 7 m depth. Towards the west several anchors were discovered at stations A2, A8 and All, in 8m depth. Hvy growth of vegetation on the bastions and walls had to be clred care-fully before photographing and plotting them. A very interesting fture of the masonry is the L-shaped joints in setting hvy dressed blocks of stone for constructing bastions in high energy zone (PI. 28). Even so a couple of bastions have collapsed, but others in deeper waters namely low energy zone are in situ. Three groups of structures at S2 were grid-ded. A spherical anchor with 2 holes is recorded at A12, about 70' NW of the grid. The following is the resume of anchors and structural remains found in the course of the present expedition:
Al fragmentary anchorA2, A3, A8, A9, A10, All, A13 prismatic anchors
'A7 and A12 triangular anchors St, S3 wall
S2 bastion (fallen), S9 bastion in situOthers S4 to S8 and S10 to 13 are dislodged architectural members, mainly large dressed blocks. Two iron anchors were found -nr A13. One of them is 1.5m long and has 5 arms.Geophysical - a summazy of the results of Geophysical carried out by Vora's tm has been received. The salient points of observation and recommendations of the tm are mentioned briefly below (Fig. 5).High resolution Marine Geological and Geophysical Sur-veys carried out off Dwaraka for marine archaeological pur-pose was aimed at finding direct or indirect evidences of the existence of relics of sunken ships and submerged ports beyond the ar alrdy ed by MAU. Another objec-tive was to suggest places for diving based on the data collected.The s were carried out in December 1989 in 2 to 22 m water depth over an ar of 5 x 2 km by echosounding, side scan sonar and shallow seismic profiling (Fig. 5); scale adopted was 1:5000.The ar was divided into two parts, north and south for convenience. In the northern part from Rupen port to Dwaraka Light House, 45 lines perpen-dicular to the shore were ed while south of Dwaraka Light House 22 lines parallel to shore were ed. The results of the indied extension of Gomati for about 1.5 km in NE-SW direction and its channel is about 400 m wide. Apart from this channel, other submerged drainage systems were also noticed. Other Geomorphic ftures present in the ar include scarps, terraces and pinnacles. Sonographs collected from the ar show large tonal variations through-out the ar which includes furrows of various sizes and directions, and. at times ripples, boulders etc. The channels of Gomati as revled by echograms are highly significant. The present channel along the Gomati Ghat was not the original course of the river 4000 yrs ago. It was to the south of temple of Samudranardyana and the channel was wider. The river seems to have joined the s through more than one channel and the structures so far traced lie along the central channel. Nrshore, the submerged Gomati bed shows a deep wide symmetrical V-shaped channel, either side of which is at the same elevation. A small channel formation is seen to the south. Bending of contours in the ar in more than 13 m water depth towards shore in southwest direction indies a deposital phase, while in lesser contours there is a strong erosional activity. The result is that many structures built of smaller fractional blocks are destroyed in shallower waters, while those built of hvier blocks to serve as piers, wharf, protection walls and jetty are only partly destroyed and buried under I to 2 m thick sediment especially beyond 12 m water depth.Though there are some anomalies present on the s floor nothing more could be said about them until divers verified whether they were natural phenomena or man-made objects. Shallow seismic profiles showed no penetration in the ar. However five loions were given to the diving tm of MAU for direct inspection. At one such point a large iron anchor was found by diver archaeologists. Accurate position fixing of the five points with mini ranger had to be postponed to the next sson as the s became rough, but the position of some of the marker buoys, where structures were discovered by MAU was fixed with sextant. The map obtained from Dwaraka Municipality did not show accurately the present shore line and it is to be ed and redrawn for position fixing. On the left bank of Gomati the divers uncovered three arms of a large rectangular structure (Str. 5-6) and a corner bastion (Str 7) at buoys 68-69 and 70. Opposite the inner gate way on the right bank, the width of one of the submerged channels of. Gomati is 170 m. Further westward of structure 7, four 3-holed anchors were exposed.On January 14, 1989 the wave cut bench and iron rings fixed in it were exposed a few metres sward of SN at lowest low tide. A mooring pillar and a. fragmentary deity in black stone were recoverd from the rocky bed nr the Light house.On January 21, two rock cut channels mnt for sluicing small boats were exposed to view between SN and Light House. The Iron rings and rock-cut channels belong to period 11, while the protection walls, and enclosures on either bank at buoy 35 and extending 500 m scawdfd belong to period 1. The farthest point of structural activity so far traced is about 1.2 km sward of SN, but a plan of the city can be made out upto 800 m. A pier - like structure on the left bank where a plat-form which could be used for loading and unloading exists might have been the jetty for smaller boats. The terraced top of an escarpment nrly 1.5 km sward of SN was the main anchorage for the ocn going vessels. That there existed a port-installation here is indied by the collapsed building blocks lying stered at the foot of the scarp but further examination of this scarp and another rock standing high further northwest will have to be made by divers for preparing the ancient limit of the port-town.
DiscussionDwaraka was a city-state extending upto Bet Dwaraka (Sankhodhara) in the north and Okhamadhi in the south. stward it extended upto Pindara. The 30 to 40 meter-high hill on the stern flank of Sankhodhara may be the Raivataka referred to in the Mahabharata 2 . The eral layout of the city of Dwaraka described in ancient texts agrees with that of the submerged city discovered by MAU. Four enclosures are laid bare; ch one had one or two gateways (Fig. 6). The port Aramda (Arambhara) on way to Bet Dwaraka was the first gateway in the outer fortifiions. The bastions flanking gateways of submerged Dwaraka resemble those of Kusinagara and Sravasti carved on the Gateways of Sanchi Stupa. The prasada referred to in the epic must be the high fort walls of Dwaraka, a part of which is extant. The epic says that flags were flying in the city of Dwaraka. This can be corroborated by the stone bases of flag posts found in the s bed excavation. Umashankar Joshi is of the view that antardvipa in the region of Kugasthali referred to in the Mahabharata must be Bet Dwaraka (Sankhodhara). The Bhagavata Purana says that before lving his mortal frame Sri Krsna put the ladies and children in boats and sent them to Sankhodhara. Hirananda Sastry also identified the antardvipa of Mahabharata with Bet Dwaraka.The buildings built of smaller fraction stone blocks are razed to the ground lving only small portions of the thick fort walls, bastions and protection walls (built with massive stones) which are too hvy to be moved by tides and cur-rents. From the structural remains in Dwaraka and Bet Dwaraka waters, it is possible to visualise that the city-ports were large and well planned.Every significant antiquity that corroborates a statement of the Harivamsa is the sl bring the motif of a 3-hded animal representing the bull, unicorn and goat. The HarivamSa says that every citizen of Dwaraka had to carry a mudra as a mark of identifiions The sl (mudra) found in the excavation belongs to 15th-16th century B.C.Top of PageLed of Dwaraka - By T. R. Gopaalakrushnan
Krishna- the protector of Mathura, the lord of Dwaraka and the reciter of the Bhagwad Gita on the battlefield of Kurukshetra-is one of the most enduring leds of India. Are Krishna and Dwar-aka actual historical entities? For a majority of Indians, the answer is an unequivocal yes. Some archaeologists and historians too are now willing to accept that the common man's faith does have a basis in fact.
The strongest archaeological support comes from the structures discovered under the s-bed off the coast of Dwaraka in Gujarat by the pioneering tm led by Dr S.R. Rao, one of India's most respected archaelogists. An emeritus scientist at the marine archaeology unit of the National Institute of Ocnography, Rao has excavated a large of Harappan sites including the port city of Lothal in Gujarat. In his book The Lost City of Dwaraka (Aditya Prakashan, Rs 1500), published in 1999 he writes about his unders finds: "The discovery is an important landmark in the history of India. It has set to rest the doubts expressed by historians about the historicity of Mahabharata and the very existence of Dwaraka city. It has grtly narrowed the gap in Indian history by establishing the continuity of the Indian civilisation from the Vedic Age to the present day."
No one has so influenced the course of India's religion, philosophy, art and literature as Lord Krishna. The Bhagavad Gita, a world beloved, timeless classic was trsured by American writers from Emerson to T S Eliot.(Artwork courtesy of The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust International, Inc. www.krishna.com).Listen to The Bhagavad Gita podcast
A more recent historical record, dated 574 AD, occurs in what are called the Palitana plates of Samanta Simhaditya. This inscription refers to Dwaraka as the capital of the western coast of Saurashtra and states that Krishna lived here. No one has so influenced the course of India's religion, philosophy, art and literature as Krishna. Traditional belief is that Krishna lived in Dwaraka at the end of the Dwapara Yuga. Dwaraka, in fact, is considered one of the seven holiest and most ancient Indian cities. The others are Ayodhya, Mathura, Haridwar, Varanasi, Kanchi and Ujjain, which together are known as Mokshada-that which lds to salvation.
According to Hindu historical tradition, Kali Yuga began with the dth of Krishna more than 5,000 yrs ago. The Puranas are emphatic on the cultural degradation that set in after the Mahabharata war, which is seen as one of the most important turning points in ancient Indian history. Krishna, according to traditional belief, participated in that transition.
"Krishna very much existed in flesh, blood and bones," said Madhav Acharya, archaeologist at the Haryana archaeological department. "It is difficult, if not impossible, for a thing like the Mahabharata to be believed till today in the same spirit and faith unless there is some truth to the story. And that truth is the power struggle, and the main characters. One of them was Krishna. The power struggle is not a myth. If the hrt of the story is to be believed as a historical event, then Krishna too should be seen as a historical character."
For more of this article, plse go to the link given below.
(source: Led of Dwaraka - By T.R. Gopaalakrushnan - the-week.com - cover story June 1 2003).
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Underwater museum, in Dwaraka yet to surface
India Abroad News Service Bangalore - Nrly two decades after marine archeologists found the lost city of Dwaraka off the coast of Gujarat the state government continues to drag its feet on a proposal to establish the world's first underwater museum to view the remains of the city submerged in the Arabian S.
The proposal for the museum, submitted by the Marine Archeology Center of the National Institute of Ocnography (NIO) in Goa, involves laying a submarine acrylic tube through which visitors can view through glass the ruins of the city said to have been be ruled by Sri Krishna, 3,500 yrs ago.An alternative suggestion is to have acrylic wells, to be accessed through boats, from which the remains can be viewed. Another proposal that remains on paper is for setting up a marine archeology museum of Dwaraka antiquities found in the s.Discovered in 1981, the well-fortified township of Dwaraka extended more than half a mile from the shore and was built in six sectors along the banks of a river before it became submerged. The findings are of immense cultural and religious importance to India.
"The srch for the lost city has been going on since 1930," S.R. Rao, former adviser to the NIO who is still actively involved in the excavations, told India Abroad. "It is only after marine archaeologists started exploring the sbed nr modem Dwaraka from 1981 that the structural remains of the city were found."Rao said that if a fraction of the funds spent on land archeology were made available for under-water archaeology, more light could be thrown on Dwaraka, which had much archeological signifi-cance because it was built during the second urbanization that occurred in India after the Indus Valley civilization in northwestern India. Dwaraka's existence disproves the belief held by Western archeologists that there was no urbanization in the Indian subcontinent from the period between 1700 B.C. (Indus Valley) and 550 B.C. (advent of Buddhism). As no information was available about that period, they had labeled it the Dark Period.Among the objects unrthed that proved Dwaraka's connection with the Mahabharata epic was a s engraved with the of a three-hded animal. The epic mentions such a sl given to the citizens of Dwaraka as a proof of identity when the city was thrtened by King Jarasandha of the powerful Magadh kingdom (now Bihar). The foundation of boulders on which the city's walls were erected proves that the land was reclaimed from the s about 3,600 yrs ago. The epic has references to such reclamation activity at Dwaraka. Seven islands mentioned in it were also discovered submerged in the Arabian S.Pottery, which has been established by thermoluminiscence tests to be 3,528 yrs old and carrying inscriptions in late Indus Valley civilization script; iron stakes and triangular three-holed anchors discovered here find mention in the Mahabharata.
"The findings in Dwaraka and archeological evidence found compatible with the Mahabharata tradition remove the lingering doubt about the historicity of the Mahabharata," said Rao. 'We would say Krishna definitely existed." What is needed, he added, is the political will to reconstruct the cultural history of the Vedic and epic periods of northern India.The maritime museums at sites of ' wrecks and submerged ports are absolutely essential, and portable antiquities should be conserved properly, lie emphasized. If the proposal to have a maritime museum is accepted by the Gujarat government, it would be the first of its kind in India, he pointed out. Recounting the start of exploration for Dwaraka, Rao said, "We carried out the original with just four scuba divers, while the operation called for the services of around 200 divers and other staff." But for the work to progress now, more equipment is needed, besides funds and time, he warned, adding:
"We need two barges, one mounted with a crate, and equipment such as an airlift. We need 30 or 40 divers and engineers. The work should go on for at lst six months and cannot be halt-ed midway."According to Rao, the project would need at lst Rs. 20 million ($476,000).Funds would have to be provided by the Gujarat government and its tourism department Other possible sources are the federal Department of Ocn Development (DOD), which organizes big projects such as expeditions to Antartica, the Department of Science and Technology (DST) and the Council for Scientific and Industrial Resrch (CSIR), which have not contribute much, Rao said.
"The findings in Dwaraka and archeological evidence found compatible with the Mahabharata tradition remove the lingering doubt about the historicity of the Mahabharata. We would say that Krishna definitely existed" - S.R. Rao. Top of PageDwaraka museum in Gujarat likely to throw light on Indus Valley civilization
The proposed underwater museum at Dwaraka, the first of its kind in the world, and a marine archaeology museum will throw more light on the Indus Valley civilisation and enable resrchers to peep into the history of the lost city of the Mahabharata era.The Marine Archaeology Centre and the National Institute of Ocnography have jointly submitted a proposal with technical details for the preservation of the site to the Gujarat government. The Gujarat Government Tourism Corporation has held meetings with a foreign expert for promoting Dwaraka as a tourist destination, according to S R Rao, the president of the Society for Marine Archaeology.
The project envisages an estimated investment of over Rs 20 million. Unfortunately no follow-up action is forthcoming. The entire nation and even foreign countries are anxiously waiting for the preservation of the submerged city, which is not only of historical importance, but also of emotional interest since its founder was Lord Krishna, Rao said.
As per the proposal, marine acrylic tubes would be laid through which visitors could pass and view the remains of the historic city from . Acrylic walls could also be made which could be accessed by boats. Dwaraka, the submerged city in the Arabian S, off the Gujarat coast, is well connected with the other parts of the country. While most of Dwaraka is submerged in the Arabian S, tourist are attracted to the places which are not submerged -- Nageshwar Mahadev, Rukmani mandir, Shardapath and Dwarakashish temple. The mainland city was well-planned and boasted a good harbour. The full plan of the submerged city on the mainland has been ascertained and plotted on the basis of the individual structures discovered in six fortified sectors extending up to one km from the shore.
Dwaraka has been mentioned as golden city in the Shrimad Bhagwat Gita, Skand Purana, Vishnu Purana and also in Harivansh and Mahabharata. It is rated as the seven most ancient cities in the country. UNI
(source: Rediff on the Net).
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Dwarka remains may soon be protected as underwater world cultural heritage site - By Rajesh Kumar
New Delhi, July 13: Old shipwrecks -- like that of the Titanic -- which have been lying buried under the s with their precious trsure along with the submerged city of Dwaraka off the Gujarat coast, for centuries, could soon vie for the status of an underwater world cultural heritage site.
Over 200 experts from 84 countries, who gathered under the aegis of
UNESCO in Paris recently to examine a draft convention on the issue,
unanimously agreed that underwater cultural heritage was in urt need
of protection from destruction and pillaging.
The submerged city of Dwarka is believed to be an important site having both historical and cultural value for India. Led has it that the remains -- the wall of a city is clrly visible while the rest is yet to be discovered -- are in fact, that of the ancient city of Dwarka mentioned in stories of Lord Krishna.
The Gujarat government and the Archaeological of India (ASI) are currently toying with the id of crting a museum and an underwater viewing gallery once the structures have been protected. After that, Dwarka could also stake the claim for the coveted underwater world heritage status, UNESCO's South-st Asia here said.
Experts agreed that salvaging operations did tend to be a free for all. Robert Grenier, director of the International Committee on Underwater Cultural Heritage of the International Council On Monuments and Sites, said that while salvage action gave people freedom to look for things, it disregarded the aspect of preserving cultural heritage.
Several British and French ships laden with precious trsure that had sunk on their way across the Atlantic ocn during their voyages in the 18th century have been plundered by the s pirates for valuables. In fact, some of the ships that were believed to be of immense historical and cultural value for future erations have been completely stripped off all their components by pirates for their antique value. ``With rapid advancement in technology, deep-s diving and gaining access to hvy articles buried with the shipwrecks has become sy and affordable for pirates. In the absence of any effective protection, these properties of immense historical and cultural value are being looted and vandalised,'' an expert from Canada said.
The wrecks at Louisberg Park in Nova Scotia off the Canadian coast are held up as a fine example of how the under water cultural trsures can also be protected with help of legislation and political will, much like other structures of the same importance. The French Ministry of culture too has come out with a comprehensive background material on the underwater cultural heritage that needs protection. The document also cites relevant laws under which they can be protected and how.
Representatives of the United Nations Division of Ocn Affairs and Law of the S, the International Maritime Organisation, the International Sbed Authority and the World Underwater Federation, along with UNESCO, participated in the meeting.
(source: http://www.indian-express.com/ie/daily/20000714/ina14051.html
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Dwarika - The Eternal City - By Brinda Ramesh
Dwarka has always been the most important pir centre on the western coast of India. Situated in Saurashtra, at a point where the Gomti river meets and Arabian s, it has acquired multifarious names down the ages: Dwarka- the gateway to eternal happiness; Dwaravati, Swarnapuri - the city of gold, and Swarnadwarika, the golden gateway. The last three names derive from the fact that Dwarka, being the western gateway of India through which trade entered the country, was always prosperous and wlthy.
Ancient economics apart, Dwarka was and still remains a place of tremendous religious importance to Hindus. Led associates it with Lord Krishna, who spent his rly childhood and youth in Mathura, but then he slew the mighty Kamsa. For this, he and his tribe of followers, the Yadavas, were attacked reptedly by Kamsa’s father-in-law Jarasandh. Tired of these repted wars, Krishna migrated with his entire clan of Yadavas to Dwarka which was a much safer place.
In Dwarka, Krishna is supposed to have built a mighty kingdom on a site selected for him by Vishnu’s lrned ‘vahan’, Garud. The city he built is supposed to have extended over 104 kms. It was well fortified and surrounded by a moat, spanned by bridges, which were removed in the event of attack by an enemy. According to led, the gods assisted Krishna in the construction of this magnificent city.
Archaeological excavations have unrthed artifacts that prove that modern Dwarka is the sixth settlement of the name on this site. The rlier cities have been, at various times, swallowed by the s. The waves of the s still lap the shores of this famous town, lending scenic buty to this important pir destination.
The Dwarkadhish temple, dedied to Lord Krishna, is the focal point of all pirs. Parts of it date from the 12th-13th century and others from the 16th, but the Jag Mandir, its sanctum sanctorum, is supposed to be 2,500 yrs old. The hall in front is richly carved and supported by 60 massive pillars, ch one hewn out of a single stone slab. Many of the sculptures date from the Maurya, Gupta and Chalukya periods. Some of the subjects are of Jaina and Buddhist origin. The temple is 157 feet high.
Another important pir site in the ancient city of Dwarka is Gomti ghat. The myth attached to the original temple says that it was built overnight at the instructions of Vajranabh, the grt-grandson of Sri Krishna, by the divine craftsman Vishvakarma. Archaeologists are undecided about the date of construction of the temple that exists now, but it is erally believed that it was rebuilt in the 10th or 11th century A.D after the original temple was destroyed, probably during the Muslim invasions.
Most of the temples and pir spots around Dwarka are associated with Sri Krihsna and the Vaishnavite tradition. However, the temple of Somnath, which is not very far from this place, is dedied to Siva as Nagnath or Nageshwar Mahadev, and enshrines one of the twelve ‘Jyotirlingas’ which according to the Puranas manifested themselves as columns of light in different parts of the country. The magnificent temple that stands there now is a replica of the original temple.
The 13th century Arab source refers to the glories of the temple thus: "Somnath-a celebrated city of India situated on the shore of the s is washed by its waves. Among the wonders of that place was the temple in which was placed the idol called Somnat. This idol was in the middle of the temple, without anything to support it from below or to suspend it from above. It was held in the highest honour among the Hindus, and whoever beheld it floating in the air was struck with amazement..."
Dwarka also has the distinction of being one of the four sts or matts established by the Adi Shankaracharya in the 8th - 9th century A.D, The other three are Jyotirmath, Jagannath Puri and Sringeri. The matt in Dwarka, known as Sharda Peeth, carries out extensive resrch work in Sanskrit and is home to many renowned scholars.
This then is Dwarka, centre of religion, mythology, history and scholasticism, its shores everlastingly clnsed by the eternal ss.
(source: http://www.tourindia.com/htm/homepage.htm May 2001
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Dwarka site pre-dates civilization
An archaeological site, dating back to 7500 BC and older than hitherto oldest known human civilisations including those found in the Valley of Sumer, Harappa and Egypt, was discovered by a tm of Indian marine archaeologists in the Gulf of Cambay off Gujarat coast.
"For India, it was the first time that such an important discovery was reported from nr Dwaraka site, the off-shore region where underwater archeological exploration was in progress," Union Minister for Science and Technology Murli Manohar Joshi said at a crowded Press conference here on Wednesday.
Krishna dancing on the Kaliya nag (serpent) and asked it to lve the river forever.***
The antiquity of some of the artefacts, discovered by the National Institute of Ocn Technology (NIOT) which carried out a series of s in the ar, from the site such as the wood log reflects a very ancient culture in the present Gulf of Cambay, which may have got submerged subsequently, Dr Joshi said.
Carbondating on the log, carried out by the Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeobotany (BSIP) and the National Geophysical Resrch Institute (NGRI), suggested that it could belong to 7,500 BC and these settlements were probably the oldest neolithic sites discovered in the country, he said.
He said a multi-disciplinary tm comprising of NIOT, National Institute of Ocnography, Archeological of India, Physical Resrch Laboratory, Ahmedabad, BSIP, NGRI and specialists from universities were constituted to conduct further studies. The tm would be provided with most modern equipment and infrastructure to carry out the studies, he said.
"Further investigation of this ar was important as it might throw some light on the development of human civilisation, besides having a bring on the Indian history," said Dr Joshi.
The recovery of remnants of wood logs by the NIOT was an indiion of existence of a very ancient culture in the ar which got subsequently submerged. The s had also revled significant seismic activities and more studies were needed, Dr Joshi said.
Following the last yr's discovery of indiions of possible settlements, the NIOT scientists undertook a confirmatory in November using advanced marine underwater technologies with side scan sonar and sub-bottom profiler.
The materials collected at the site included artefacts, possible construction elements with holes and studs, pot shreds, bds, bones with significant signs of human activity in the ar.
A detailed examination had revled riverine conglomerates at a water depth of 30 to 40 m between 20 km west of Hazira nr Surat.
Prof S N Rajguru, former Hd of Department of Archaeology, Deccan College, Pune, who was also present, said the discovery could have been a coastline settlement when the s level was low. (source: http://www.dailypioneer.com/secon2.asp?=\story6&d=FRONT_PAGE).Top of PageThe Flooding of Dwaraka and the descent of the Kali Yuga - By Graham Hancock
“On the same day that Krishna departed from the rth the powerful dark-bodied Kali Age descended. The ocns rose and submerged the whole of Dwaraka. “
The Vishnu Purana reports: “On the same day that Krishna departed from the rth the powerful dark-embodied Kali Age descended. The ocn rose and submerged the whole of Dwaraka.
Preserve underwater cultural heritage of Dwarka, says expert
He pointed to the neglect of the excavated Harappan site of Kalibangan. The Lothal site was, however, preserved and a museum built for it, he added.
Most of the important underwater sites of Dwarka excavated by the NIO's Marine Archaeology Centre (MAC) with funds from the Council for Scientific and Industrial Resrch (CSIR), Department of Science and Technology and Archaeological of India (ASI) should have been preserved by a competent acy, he said.
With neither the CSIR nor the ASI having expertise to undertake conservation of a submerged city, the octoarian archaeologist said he had prepared a project report in consultation with a of organisations and individuals including the Indian Navy, resrch foundations and underwater construction engineers.
On the controversy regarding date of submerged site of Dwarka nr the Gomti river mouth in Arabian S, Dr Rao said the archaeologists could not arrive at the date in isolation, but relied on relative chronology such as pottery and the s-level rise.
''We are of the view that Dwarka was submerged by tsunami-like high energy waves, pulling down hvy blocks of stone used in the construction of the structures. This must have also resulted in changing the course of the paleo channel of Gomti, as recorded by NIO maritime archaeologist K H Vora during recent studies,'' he said.
The reference to such a astrophe was made in the Mahabharata and other epics which said Dwarka, built on mainland by Lord Krishna, was contemporary to Bet Dwarka (Kusasthali) that could be dated to 17th century BC, and this was later confirmed by scientists, he said.
Dr Rao said the three-holed triangular stone anchors found in large s in Dwarka waters suggested a continuity in evolution of the anchors in Lothal and Mohenjo-Daro, which had a single hole.
The Dwarka anchors of late Harappan phase are a couple of centuries older than the identical anchors of late Bronze Age used in Cyprus and Syria, he added.
(source: Preserve underwater cultural heritage of Dwarka, says expert and Hinduism Today).
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How marine archaeologists found Dwaraka – By V Gangadharan
The submerce into the s of the city of Dwaraka, vividly picturised in the grt epic of Mahabaratha, is indeed true! A chance discovery made by a tm of scientists, in the Gulf of Cambay region, establishes that the Mahabaratha story is not a myth. The rich city with fertile landscape and grt rivers had indeed submerged into the ss several thousand yrs ago.
But before we get to the present, a bit of history is quite in order.
There is a vivid description in the Mausalaparvan of the Mahabaratha about the submerce of Dwaraka. The people of Dwaraka including Arjuna seemed to have witnessed strange things before its submerce in the s. 'The event was preceded by the unabated rumbling noise of the rth throughout the day and night, birds scrmed continuously, and hvy winds swept the land. The s, which has been bting against the shores, suddenly broke the boundary that was imposed on it by nature. Huge tide with grt height surrounded Dwaraka. The s rushed into the city submerging butiful buildings. The s covered up everything and in a matter of few moments, there was no trace of the butiful city.' It was something of an ancient tsunami.
And now the scientists at NIOT (National Institute of Ocn Technology, of the Department of Ocn Development) have established this. While working for British gas in the Gulf of Cambay region, a few yrs ago, the scientists of the NIOT, were stunned to see s of objects and things, completely alien to the marine domain. Immediately a tm swung into action and samples were collected and sent for analysis and dating (it is usually done to scientifically establish the antiquity of the excavated objects).
Samples collected include artefacts, wood pieces, pottery materials, hrth pieces, animal bones. They ere sent to Manipur University, Oxford University, London, Institute of rth Sciences, Hanover, Germany for analysis and dating. The results were astonishing. It was found beyond doubt that the samples belonged to a period varying from 7800 to 3000 yrs (BP) Before Present !
The even more flooring discovery happened soon. NIOT, which carried outside scan and sub-bottom s in the yr 2002-03, established beyond doubt the presence of two large palaeochannels (river channels which existed once and later submerged under the s) in the Gulf of Cambay. Alluvium samples were collected from different loions in the ars of the palaeochannels by the gravity core and grab method.
Badrinarayanan, Marine Archaeologist and formerly coordinator for the project, says 'the most astonishing thing was that all of the crew-members, including the ship master who was a holic, had drms full of strange visions, on the night of discovery. We felt we had stumbled upon something grt and unusual.'
The study of the samples under microscope revled the occurrence of fragile and highly sensitive Ostracods (tiny marine and fresh water crustacns with a shrimp-like body enclosed in a bivalve shell) overlain by regular marine fauna.
These results strongly indied that the freshwater deposition which took place in this ar was very much a part of the onshore land region and later submerged to the depths varying from 20 to 40 meters. The alluvium (fresh water sand) samples sent to the rth Science Department, Manipur University for OSL (optically stimulated luminescence) dating gave the OSL determinant of 3000 yrs (BP) Before Present !
Prof. Gartia (The Journal of Indian Ocn Archaeology, No.2 of 2005, Pg.144) after conducting extensive investigations concluded that Gujarat region had experienced at lst three large killer rthquakes about 1500, 3000 and 5000 yrs BP respectively. Geomorphological evidences also show beyond doubt that the North-Western part of the Indian landmass was seismically active during the last 10,000 yrs. These killer quakes are likely to have caused the shifting of the rivers and s level fluctuation including the sinking of the ledary city of Dwaraka, capital of the Lord-King Krishna. The discovery about the availability of fresh water from the now submerged major rivers along with other marine-archaeological evidences, corroborates the Mahabaratha reference that Dwaraka, the ancient city of Sri Krishna, lies under the grt ocn !
(source: How marine archaeologists found Dwaraka – By V Gangadharan - newstodaynet.com).
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Significant finds at DwarakaIntroduction: Ancient structures, under water and on land, discovered
Ancient structural remains of some significance have been discovered at Dwaraka, under water and on land, by the Underwater Archaeology Wing (UAW) of the Archaeological of India (ASI). Alok Tripathi, Superintending Archaeologist, UAW, said the ancient underwater structures found in the
Thirty copper coins were also found in the excavation ar. The structures found on land belonged to the medieval period. "We have also found 30 copper coins. We are clning them. After we finish clning them, we can give their date," he said.
Dwaraka is a coastal town in
The first archaeological excavations at Dwaraka were done by the
The ASI conducted a second round of excavations in 1979 under S.R. Rao's direction. He found a distinct pottery known as lustrous red ware, which could be more than 3,000 yrs old. Based on the results of these excavations, the srch for the sunken city in the
The UAW began excavations at Dwaraka again from January 2007. Dr. Tripathi said: "To study the antiquity of the site in a holistic manner, excavations are being conducted simultaneously both on land [close to the Dwarakadhish temple] and unders so that finds from both the places can be co-related and analysed scientifically."
The objective of the excavation is to know the antiquity of the site, based on material evidence. In the offshore excavation, the ASI's trained underwater archaeologists and the divers of the Navy srched the sunken structural remains. The finds were studied and documented.
On land, the excavation is being done in the forecourt of the Dwarakadhish temple. Students from
(source: Significant finds at Dwaraka - By T.S. Subramanian - The Hindu February 23, 2007).
Top of PageWooden piece at Dwarka site to tell all... date, time
“It is significant as scientific dating of wood, which is carbon, is possible. This was not the case with evidences like stone, bds, glass and terracota found rlier,” said Alok Tripathi, Superintending Archeologist, Underwater Archeology Wing of Archaeological of India.
The dating of submerged ruins off the coast of
“Though excavation at Dwarka has been carried out a of times, this is for the first time a wooden block has been found, and this is going to help us almost pin-point a time frame and give some credible answers,” said Tripathi.
This piece was found during a nr-shore excavation carried out in the southwest region of
“The collected samples will be sent to different laboratories. We expect the results to come as soon as possible,” said Tripathi.
According to ancient literature the ancient Dwarka city had submerged in the s. The Underwater Archaeology Wing (UAW) of the Archaeological of India undertook systematic study of Dwarka about two yrs back. After a thorough analysis of rlier resrch and extensive fieldwork, UAW started archaeological excavation at Dwarka from January 1, 2007 to know the antiquity of the site based on scientific study of the material evidence.
(source: Wooden piece at Dwarka site to tell all... date, time
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New finds take archaeologists closer to Krishna
"These square coins, dating back to 180- BC, with Krishna on one side and Balram on the other, were unrthed recently in Al Khanoun in Afghanistan and are the rliest proof that Krishna was venerated as a god, and that the worship had sprd beyond the Mathura region," says T K V Rajan, archaeologist and founder-director, Indian Science Monitor, who is holding a five-day exhibition, In srch of Lord Krishna,' in the city from Saturday.
Having done extensive resrch in Brindavan, Rajan is convinced that a lot of the spiritual history of ancient India lies buried. "Close to 10,000 Greeks, who came in the wake of Alexander the Grt, were Krishna's devotees. There is an inscription by Heliodorus, the Greek ambassador at Takshila, which rds Deva, deva, Vasudeva. Krishna is my god and I have installed this Garuda Pillar at Bes Nagar (now in Bihar),'" says Rajan.
According to him the Archaeological of India (ASI) has unrthed many sites that throw fresh light on the era of Krishna. "ASI is expected to relse the full findings next yr. Many of the unrthed artifact have a close resemblance to materials of what is believed to be the Harappan civilisation. The findings may show that Krishna's life was the dividing line between India's spiritual history and the society's gradual shift towards a materialistic one," says Rajan.
Interestingly, a lot of what has been uncovered closely resemble the narration in the texts of Mahabharatha and the Bhagavatham," he adds. Both the spiritual works are revered by the Hindus as their holy books.
It has been over five yrs since the discoveries were made at Tholavira nr Dwaraka, close to Kutch. Much progress has been made due to the appliion of thermoluminous study (TL) in ascertaining the age of artifact. "It is possible to get the diffusion of atomic particles in the clay pottery unrthed and arrive at an accurate date," points out Rajan. Tholavira itself is believed to be the capital city as detailed in the opening chapters of Bhagavatham. Rajan points to an of a plough, made of wood, which is mentioned in the Bhagavatham. The findings could lay a trail to understanding Krishna's life (said to be 5,000 yrs ago) and times, as a historical fact, says Rajan. The exhibition will be open till December 31 at Sri Parvathy Gallery, Eldams Road.
(source: New finds take archaeologists closer to Krishna - By Bhama Devi Ravi - timesofindia).
Most certainly, says Dr Manish Pandit, a nuclr medicine physician who tches in the
"I used to think of
Which mnt, he says, that what is taught in schools about Indian history is not correct?
The Grt War between the Pandavas and the Kauravas took place in 3067 BC, the Pune-born Pandit, who did his MBBS from BJ Medical College there, says in his first documentary,
Pandit's calculations say
Pandit, as the sutradhar of the documentary Krishna: History or Myth?, uses four pillars -- archaeology, linguistics, what he calls the living tradition of India and astronomy to arrive at the circumstantial verdict that Krishna was indeed a living being, because Mahabharata and the battle of Kurukshetra indeed happened, and since Krishna was the pivot of the Armageddon, it is all true.
We are always taught that
I immediately tried to corroborate all his resrch using the regular Planetarium software and I came to the same conclusions. This mnt that what we are taught in schools about Indian history is not correct.
I decided that I could take this nonsense no more, and decided to make s to show edued Indians what their true heritage was. The pen is mightier than the sword is an old phrase but I thought of new one: is the new pen. I wanted to present a true id of Indian history unfettered by perception, which was truly scientific, not just somebody's hypothesis coloured by their perceptions and prejudices.
A documentary on Rama is forthcoming in the future. But the immediate rson I deferred that project is the immense cost it would entail. Whers resrch on
There are more than 140 astronomy references in the Mahabharata. Dr Achar used simulations of the night sky to arrive at November 22, 3067 BC, as the day the Mahabharata war began. He used the references common to Udyoga and Bhisma Parvan initially, and so Saturn at Rohini, Mars at Jyestha with initially only the two eclipses, Lunar at Kartika and Solar at Jyestha.
So now, we know about Balarama's pir tithis and nakshatras, and believe it or not, all that fits the 3067 BC date perfectly.
This would explain why so many other resrchers tried and failed to find the date of the Mahabharata war as it is based on such a unique set of astronomy that it occurred only once in the last 10,000 yrs. Not just that, but the fact that archaeology, oral and living traditions point to the same. And yes, we cannot separate the Mahabharata war from
The Hindu religious empire extended across the whole of the Asian sub-continent to South st Asia, from Afghanistan to Thailand (where Ramayana and Krishna are still shown through dances), Burma, Cambodia (Angkor Wat, Angkor Thom, Bayon, etc), Vietnam, Laos (little Kurukshetra and temples), Malaysia (which was Hindu until recent) up to Java (more temples), Bali (where Hinduism is still the religion) and Indonesia, where Bhima's grandson is said to have performed a thousand fire rituals at Yogyakarta.
(source:Lord Krishna existed. School texts are wrong - rediff.com).
Top of PageHow science discovered the historical KrishnaThe s, which had been bting against the shores, suddenly broke the boundary that was imposed on it by nature. The s rushed into the city. It coursed through the streets of the butiful city. The s covered up everything in the city. Arjuna saw the butiful buildings becoming submerged one by one. He took a last look at the mansion of Krishna. In a matter of a few moments it was all over. The s had now become as placid as a lake. There was no trace of the butiful city, which had been the favourite haunt of all the Pandavas. Dwarka was just a name; just a memory." – Mausala Parva, Mahabharata.
Does this account from the ancient Indian epic have a true historical core? Did Lord Krishna, indeed the favourite Indian deity, walk the streets of ancient Dwarka? Did Krishna, considered the Lord of the universe by a billion Hindus, rule the Yaduvanshi clan thousands of yrs ago?
Using archaeological, scriptural, literary and astronomical data, scholars and scientists are coming round to the view that Krishna was definitely a historical character.
Archaeological evidence
The Rosetta stone, or the , to the Krishna story is Dwarka. The strongest archaeological support comes from the structures discovered in the late 1980s under the sbed off the coast of modern Dwarka in Gujarat by a tm of archaeologists and divers led by Dr S.R. Rao, one of India's most respected archaeologists. An emeritus scientist at the marine archaeology unit of the National Institute of Ocnography, Goa, Rao has excavated a large of Harappan sites, including the port city of Lothal in Gujarat.
In his book The Lost City of Dwarka, published in 1999, he writes about his unders finds: “The discovery is an important landmark in the history of India. It has set to rest the doubts expressed by historians about the historicity of Mahabharata and the very existence of Dwarka city.”
Conducting 12 expeditions during 1983-1990, Rao identified two underwater settlements, one nr the present-day Dwarka and the other in the nrby island of Bet Dwarka. This tallies with the two Dwarkas mentioned in the epic. The underwater expeditions won Rao the first World Ship Trust Award for Individual Achievement.
Another important find by our divers was a sl that establishes the submerged township's connection with the Dwarka of the Mahabharata. The sl corroborates the reference made in the ancient text, the Harivamsa, that every citizen of Dwarka should carry such a sl for identifiion purposes. Krishna had ruled that none without the sl should enter it. A similar sl has been found onshore as well.
Literary evidence
The west coast of Gujarat was the traditional land of the Yadavs, or Yadus. According to the Bhagavad Puran, Krishna led the Yadavs thousands of kilometres west to establish Dwarka, so they could start a new life, safe from their many enemies in the Gangetic Valley.
The Mahabharata says, Dwarka was reclaimed from the s. Rao’s divers discovered that the submerged city's walls were erected on a foundation of boulders, suggesting that land indeed was reclaimed from the s.
One cannot separate Dwarka from Krishna. If the city existed, then it is true that Krishna ruled over it.
Astronomical evidence
Dr Narhari Achar, professor of physics at the University of Memphis, Tennessee, has dated the Mahabharata war using astronomy and regular planetarium software. According to his resrch conducted in 2004-05, the titanic clash between the Pandavas and the Kauravas took place in 3067 BC. Using the same software, Dr Achar places the yr of Krishna’s birth at 3112 BC.
Dr Manish Pandit, a nuclr medicine physician in the UK, after examining the astronomical, archaeological and linguistic evidence, agrees with Dr Achar’s conclusions. Dr Pandit, who is also a distinguished astrologer and has written several books on the subject, traced the route of Krishna’s journeys to shoot the documentary, “Krishna: History or Myth?”
Dr Pandit says there are more than 140 astronomy references in the Mahabharata. Simulations of the night sky have been combined with geographical descriptions to arrive at various dates. He says the chances of these references repting are next to nothing.
According to historian S.M. Ali, the author of Geography of Puranas, “The geographical matter contained in the Mahabharata is immense. It is perhaps the only grt work which dls with geographic details and not incidentally, as other works.”
Whose history?
Of course, none of the evidence is good enough for the ossified historians that lord over India’s academia, regurgitating the lies written by British colonial scholars, who were in rlity Christian missionaries.
For the missionaries, destroying the historicity of Krishna was important if they had any chance of establishing their religion in India. Also, many Europn scholars were shocked to lrn that Indian history pre-dated their world by thousands of yrs. By labelling as myth the Indian historical sources like the Vedas, Mahabharata, Upanishads, and especially the Puranas, which give exact chronologies of Indian kings including Krishna, the missionaries ensured that Indian history did not clash with their world view.
That tradition continues. Disregarding all new resrch, academics like Romilla Thapar, R.S. Sharma and Irfan Habib have consigned Krishna to mythology.
In his textbook for Class X, Sharma writes, “Although Lord Krishna plays an important role in the Mahabharata, the rliest inscriptions and sculpture pieces found in Mathura between 200 BC and 300 AD do not attest his presence.” What brilliant deduction. Going by Sharma’s logic, any fool can dig at a random site, and upon failing to discover an artefact, declare Krishna never existed. Sadly, millions of Indian school children are being taught such lies.
Thapar, in fact, says the Mahabharata is a glorified account of a skirmish between two “Aryan” tribes, with Krishna merely playing the role of an at provoeur.
And what do they do when confronted with the new evidence? They withdraw into their parallel dystopian world and argue it is not clinching evidence. But, of course, they will accept as truth the myths of other religions.
Dr Rao says further digging and diving, in tandem with India’s vast trsure trove of historical facts will further corroborate dates of our eventful and glorious past.
As the Upanishads say, pratnakirtim apavirnu – know thy past.
(source: How science discovered the historical Krishna - By Rakesh Krishnan Simha - indianweekender.co.nz).
Top of Page4. Photos from Marine Excavations at Dwaraka
Click on the thumbnails to zoom in.
( source: The Lost City of Dvaraka - By S.R. Rao).***
Relevant Linksand Books:
National Institute of Ocnography http://www.nio.org/
The Lost City of Dvaraka - By S.R. Rao(S.R. Rao served the Archaeological of India for over 32 yrs. He is the discoverer of a large of Harappan sites including the port city of Lothal in Gujarat)
Excavations At Dwaarka - By Zainuddin Dawood Ansari and Madhukar Shripad Mate.
(For more refer to chapter on Grter India: Suvarnabhumi and Sacred Angkor).
Watch Scientific verifiion of Vedic knowledge
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