Dakor- The place where Shri Krishna settled for devotee.

dakor

Dakor

Dakor- Where Ranchodrai chose to live

I feel many a times that God is always misjudged. Show him love and he will cross yugas to be with you. Shower him with devotion and he will show you his real side. He is no one else but Shri Krishna. It is kalyug and it is said that Gods doesn’t show up easily as kalyug is the period where kali has taken over. People in this yuga are more towards material pleasure, they commit crime more and they are less into spirituality. They are simple mortals who are far away from the real meaning of life and do not beyond in realms beyond. God doesn’t exist for them. This is the reason why Gods don’t show up but, this is not correct. Gods still show up. Things that have changed is the devotion and love of people towards their devta. Show him your devotion and you will find him standing right in front of you. Dakor is one such place. Yes, Dakor is one such example where Krishna chose to move with his devotee. If you have visited Dakor, amazing, if not make sure to consider it in your Wishlist soon.

Dakor is a place positioned in Gujarat which is one of the famous pilgrimage for its temple of Ranchodrai. Earlier Dakor was not as famous as it is today for its temple of Ranchodrai. It was well known for Danknath which is Shiva temple but with time beyond followers changed and now Vaishnavaites flood this place. Ranchodrai is another name of Shri Krishna. This is the temple that was built in 1772 AD and it is swamped with devotees round the year. Now, how did this pilgrimage come into existence. There is one interesting story associated with it.

History of Dakor dates back to the times of Mahabharat when the area surrounding the Dakor was dense with forest and it was favorable place for Rishis to settle around and establish their hermitage. This jungle was popularly known as HIDIMBA jungle. One such Rishi named Danki established his hermitage in this place. He penanced to appease Shiva. Shivji was pleased and asked Danki for a boon. Danki was so into bhakti of Shivji that he asked Shivji to stay there with him. Please with him Shivji established in Dankpur by the name of Danknath Mahadev, which was on the name of Rishi Danki. Dankpur of those times is present day Dakor.

Present day Dakor owes to Bodana because he was the reason that Dwarkadhish moved to Dakor. Later comes the kaliyug where a devotee visits Dwarka wholeheardly on regular basis no matter what the situation was. As per the story, a devotee named Bodana used to visit Dwarka every six month with a small pot of Tulsi. He had great devotion for Dwarkadhish. No matter what but he never missed a time where he was no there in Dwarka. Say it a pure devotion or love for Dwarkadhish. This went on for years together. Once, there time arrived where it turned out difficult for him to visit Dwarka because of his physical health. He was getting old. Lastly when he visited Dwarka he pleaded and requested Dwarkadhish that due to his physical health it was getting worse for him to visit Dwarka as per his vow. It is also said that Bodana was the reincarnation of Vijayanand- the cowherd who lived in Gokul. Now Vijayanand story is related to Bodanand of Kaliyug and he was born in Rajput family of Dakor. Bodana visited Dwarka Tulsi plant every six month. He did this continuously for 72 years. Lastly, it is said that as guided by Shri Krishna Bodana visited Dwarika with a cart. When asked by the Brahmins of Dwarika, Bodana replied that he had brought the cart because he was going to take Shri Krishna with him. The sanctum was locked, however, when they woke up in the morning the sanctum was empty. Bodana had already taken Dwarkadhish with him.

Picture of Shri Krishna driving the cart

However, it is said that Bodana was tired and couldn’t drive cart further. Wherein the cart was later pulled by Krishna and Bodana was asked to rest in it. They also waited and rested near Bileshwar Mahadev on Dakor Nadiad road holding the branch of a Neem tree. Since then, only branch of the Neem tree is sweet and rest branches are bitter.

Bodana took over the cart and reached Dakor. The gugli Brahmins were angry and came to Dwarka. Bodana went to pacify them with a pot of curd but they were angry and threw spear which dropped him dead and hurt the idol which was hidden in the Gomti tank. The Earth of the Gomti river is still red today where the idol was kept whereas rest area is brown mud. Guglis were still not appeased when Bodana died. They went on hunger strike. Shri Krishna asked Gangabai who was widow to Bodana to give gold equivalent of his weight and ask them to leave for Dwarka. However, she was poor and could not afford. To everyones surprise the idol was as light as nose ring and it was all she could afford. Also, Shri Krishna affirmed Gugli Brahmins that they would find similar idol in Sevaradhan Vaav after six months. Gugli Brahmins were impatient and they searched for idol earlier. The idol they found was similar idol but since they took it out earlier it is smaller in size.

Today too, if you get to visit Dakor, don’t forget to visit that Neem tree with a sweet branch, that Gomti tank and the balance which weighed the idol of Shri Krishna.

For more such amazing posts, subscribe to this blog.