Kankroli in Rajasthan, near Nathdwar is counted as one of the Pancha Dwarkas or the Nava Dwarka pilgrimage circuit. There is not only one Dwarka but many Dwarkas. After having darshan of all these Dwarkas, one’s darshan of Dwarka is considered as complete. The Nava Dwarkas are – Gomti Dwarka, Bet Dwarka, Mula Dwarka, Dakor, Kankroli, Rukmini Van, Sudamapuri, Nathdwar and Bhalka Tirtha.
Kankroli is part of the Mewad constituency of Rajasthan Kingdom under the Rajasamand District. It is the prime seat of the third peetha of Vallabha Sampradaya or Pushti Marg Sampradaya, in other words the followers of Sri Vallabhacharya. It is one of the Pancha Dwarkas or the Nava Dwarkas. Lord Krishna is worshiped in this small town as Lord Dwarkadhish.
How Lord Dwarkadhish came to Kankroli
Originally the vigraha of Lord Dwakradhish was worshiped in Gokul. How the vigraha arrived here is one history but how the vigraha came to Gokul is an interesting series of events which is recorded in the Arbudachala Khanda of Skanda Purana.
At the beginning of the creation, Lord Brahma performed tapasya to realize the Supreme Lord Vishnu. Pleased by his austerities, Lord Vishnu gave him darshan. Lord Brahma manifested the vigraha of Lord Narayana, the form which he had seen. This vigraha was worshiped by Lord Brahma.
Lord Brahma handed over the same vigraha to his son Kardama Muni which was also worshiped by his wife Devahuti and his son Kapila Muni. After the liberation of His mother, Kapila Muni kept this vigraha in the Bindu Sarovara.
In the disciple chain of Kapila Muni, there was a devotee named Vishnu Sharma who was the son of Deva Sharma. He revealed the presence of the Lord within the Bindu Sarovara. He took the vigraha out and began worshiping it.
The vigraha was then served by a brahmana lady named Parvati Devi. At the same time Maharaja Ambarisha had darshan of this vigraha in his meditation at the Arbudachala Kshetra. He desired to acquire it for worship. He requested Parvati Devi to come to Arbudachala along with the vigraha. The latter accepted the request and the Lord moved to Mount Abu.
Later the vigraha moved to the ashrama of Vasishtha Muni where He was served by the tulasi leaves. He then moved to the house of Dasharatha Maharaja. Once Mother Kaushalya saw Sri Ramachandra and Lord Dwarkadhish eating the food in the same plate. She was surprised and Lord Dwarkadhish assured that He was born as a son to her.
Through the waves of Mother Yamuna, Sri Dwarkadhish moved to the ashrama of Veda Vyasa. When Veda Vyasa got to know of this in his samadhi, he went inside his hut to have darshan. He became ecstatic by having darshan of Lord Dwarkadhish with His fourth queen Kalindi. He began to worship Lord Dwarkadhish in his ashrama.
Just before the Kurukshetra War, the Pandavas had visited Veda Vyasa for the blessings, who in turn handed over the vigraha of Lord Dwarkadhish to the Pandavas. Until Janamajeya, Lord was worshipped in the house of the Pandavas but when the former conducted a snake sacrifice, Lord Dwarkadhish ordered Soura Sharma brahmana to take Him back to Arbudachala.
From Arbudachala, Lord went to the house of a tailor named Narayana in Kannauj of Uttar Pradesh where He was worshiped next to the tulasi plant. In Kannauj when Damodardas got to know about the Lord, He brought Him to his house for the worship. After the death of Damodardas, his wife sent the Lord to Adail near Gokul to Sri Madacharya for the worship.
The worship of the vigraha of Sri Dwarkadhish then shifted to Gokul. Sri Vallabhacharya worshiped this vigraha with great devotion. His third son took great care of serving the Lord. When Sri Vallabhacharya was dividing His divine properties amongst his sons, Sri Balakrishna, the third son of Vallabhacharya desired to take the service of Sri Dwarkadhish ji.
During the attack by the Mughals, Lord Dwarkadhish moved to safety in Ahmedabad in the care of Goswami Sri Giridharji and later due to the request of Sri Ranjit Singh ji, the Maharana of Udaipur, the vigraha moved to Asotiya village which got flooded due to heavy rains and the Rajasamand lake getting overflooded.
Then the Maharana of Udaipur, Maharaja Kumar Amar Singh ji allocated the hilly land for the temple construction and shifted the vigraha to its current place which is also known as Kankroli.
Dwarkadhish Temple in Kankroli in Rajasthan
The Dwarkadhish Temple in Kankroli is constructed in the Haweli type of Architecture. Sprawling over a few acres of land, this beautiful temple is situated on the banks of Rajasamand lake and surrounded by lush green mountains. The temple walls are embellished with the gracious traditional Rajasthani Art depicting patterns like creepers, flowers, elephants, devatas and many more.
When reaching the temple, one gets awestruck by gazing at its huge entrance gate, painted with a big elephant with mahout seated on top. The temple has a courtyard for devotees to wait while the darshan is in process. There serenity of this sacred town fused with the devotion to Lord Dwarkadhish converts this place into Vaikuntha itself.
Darshan Timings of Kankroli Temple
Gosain Sri Balakrishnaji served Lord Dwarkadhish in the mood of Mother Yashoda just like how she took care of Lord Krishna. Therefore, every service in the temple of Lord Dwarkadhish is rendered in that mood. This implies that the darshan in the temple is not open all the time unlike other temples.
Darshan timings keeps changing every day based on the weather during that time. In the winters the temple is closed in the evening by sunset time only. During the summers, the temple timing is extended a bit.
The darshans are available for 15 to 60 minutes at a stretch. The general timings are mentioned below but better check the timings before you visit the temple.
5:00 am – Mangala Arati
7:00 am – Shringara Darshan
11:30 am – Rajbhog Darshan
04:00 pm – Utthapan Darshan
How to reach Kankroli?
The best way to reach Kankroli and enjoy the darshan of Lord Dwarkadhish is to travel with Tirtha Yatra on its world famed ‘Pancha Dwarka Yatra’. Trust me, you shall never regret your decision.
If you still wish to travel on your own, you may adapt the following route to reach the Kankroli Temple.
By Air – the nearest Airport is Udaipur, its Maharana Pratap International Airport. The flight connectivity is decent. You can find hopping flights to reach it. The next big airport is Ahmedabad.
By Rail – Udaipur is well connected by Railways with the major cities in Bharat. You may reach Udaipur from Ahmedabad Railway Station or Jaipur Railway Station too.
By Roadways – Kankroli is well connected by a National Highway from Udaipur or Nathdwar. Devotees can easily drive upto Kankroli to have darshan of Lord Dwarkadhish.
Since Kankroli is a small town, there are not so many decent stay options available as of now.
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