Notes on Marine archaeology: Dwaraka
http://nio.org/projects/vora/project_vora_1.jsp Application of geological and geophysical methods in marine archaeology and underwater explorations
S. R. Rao, Undersea archaeology, in: Current trends in coastal marine sciences, eds., Ramachandran, S., Rajagopal, S., Ocean Data Centre, Anna University, Madras, 1990: 106-110
Abstract: Recent undersea archaeological studies carried out along the Indian Coasts are described. The major discovery elaborated is the submerged city of Dwaraka, a famous city of Mahabharata age. The author also expresses an opinion based on his discovery that the Mahabharata is not a myth. Other discoveries include some shipwrecks which are more than 300 years old.
S. R. Rao, The Lost City of Dvaraka National Institute of Oceanography (1999)
S. R. Rao, Marine Archaeology in India, Delhi, Publications Division (2001)
A. S. Gaur, Sundaresh and Sila Tripati, “An ancient harbour at Dwarka: Study based on the recent underwater explorations”, Current Science, Indian Academy of Sciences (May 10, 2004). http://www.ias.ac.in/currsci/may102004/1256.pdf
IGNCA-Southern Regional Centre, at Bangalore, organized a special lecture on `Marine Archaeology at Gujarat’ on July 11. Renowned Marine Archaeologist, Dr. S.R. Rao spoke about the importance of the underwater explorations at Dwaraka, its relation to the tracing of the origin of Indus Valley civilization, the technicalities of underwater explorations and the most pressing need to preserve what has already been discovered.
His scientific decipherment of the Indus script, the distinct excavations at Dwaraka, Rangapur, Lothal, Poompuhar and the establishment of the Indian nativity of the Vedic Aryans provide a rich resource. His association in various capacities in academic and research institutions include the Archaeological Survey of India, Indian National Science Academy, National Institute of Oceanography etc. He also has to his credit several books that include ` The Lost City of Dvaraka‘ and `Marine Archaeology in India‘ and many research papers. These studies and explorations have had an inspiring influence on the recent findings at the Gulf of Cambay.
Dr. Rao said the finding at Dwaraka was accidental. While repairing the famous temple of Dwarakadeesh at Dwaraka, they came across evidence of a township that had been submerged and destroyed by the sea. Although the date of the township was determined by scientific investigation of pottery to be 1500 B.C., it was difficult to determine whether the site was Dwaraka or not. This led to the important task of locating Dwaraka.
The other reason for Dwaraka gaining importance was the National Science Academy’s keenness in understanding the causes for Dwaraka submerging. Further, it was necessary from the point of oceanography, to establish the rate of rise in the sea level to study the safety of India seaports. There is evidence of a rise in sea level of 10 metres within 3,000 years and that the sea level is rising. In fact after the recent earthquake, the level of water at Bet Dwaraka has risen by one metre.
According to Dr. S.R. Rao, archaeology still has an important problem of tracing the origin and development of Indus Valley and especially with respect to the development of the Indus script that would have taken thousands of years to grow. He also expressed a keen desire to continue digging at Bet Dwaraka and other nearby sites for further evidence.
With Dwaraka awarded the Worldship Trust, Dr. S.R. Rao who is the Indian representative of ICUCH (The International Committee on Underwater Cultural Heritage) committee, emphasized on the urgency in preserving the underwater discoveries. He suggested the construction of a museum housing the antiquities (presently in Goa) and to develop the site as a self-supporting tourist destination. The project report, submitted to the Government, describes the method for constructing a boundary wall around the structure with a cost estimate of 90 million along with the drawings. It also explains ways to preserve the site in the sea by using acrylic tubes where people can go underwater and go around in a transparent tube. Lamenting that nothing has happened for two years he fears that the site will again get covered with sediment or further damaged. Prof. P.V. Krishna Bhatt, Trustee IGNCA and Hon. Coordinator-IGNCA-SRC, lauded the efforts of Dr. S.R. Rao and compared him and his achievements to that of the Matsya avatar akin to obtaining fresh knowledge from the depths of underwater.
http://ignca.gov.in/nl002205.htm
Ramayana is not a myth: S.R. Rao
Special Correspondent
| His excavations near Dwaraka found parts of the town where Lord Krishna lived |
‘Discovery of the submerged Kusasthali Dwaraka is a historical truth’
‘Tradition depicts Hampi in Karnataka as Kishkindha, a place visited by Rama’
Bangalore: President of the Society for Marine Archaeology in India S.R. Rao said that Ramayana cannot be dismissed as a myth, just as it was done earlier in the case of Mahabharata.
In a press release, the former scientist emeritus said that the discovery of the submerged Kusasthali Dwaraka is a historical truth now and the experts had dubbed Mahabharata as a myth.
Neolithic culture
In the case of Ramayana, he said strong tradition depicts Hampi in Karnataka as Kishkindha, which was visited by Rama. The culture of Kishkindha at that time was of Neolithic levels, it said.
Prof. Rao, who undertook deep-sea excavations near Dwaraka, discovered the submerged parts of the town where Krishna lived when he was director of National Institute of Oceanography.
He said that the culture (seen in Kishkindha) has several Neolithic sites spread over Patapadu and Pusalpadu in Bellary district. Another important site is Bandi Pushala Chenu in Bellary-Kurnool area where excavations of the Harappan steatite wheel-like beads are found.
These beads occur in all Harappan sites as early as 3000 BC.
Weapons
Bithur near Kanpur, a traditional Ramayana site, had yielded weapons of the culture, archeologically designated as ochre-coloured pottery, ranging from 1500 to 2000 BC or even 3000 BC near Ghaneswar in Rajasthan.
Excavations at the Neolithic culture site at Mahagara in the Belan valley of Uttar Pradesh yielded rice dated around 4000 BC.
Further north-west in Pakistan, the cotton growing Neolithic culture is 7,000 years old (5000 BC). When Rama came to Kishkindha, the Vanaras were the same Neolithic people, whose help he took, said Prof. Rao.
The archaeological dating of Neolotihic culture ranged from 4000 BC in Uttar Pradesh to 7600 BC in pre-Harappan sites of Pakistan. On this basis, Ramayana should be dated at least to 3000 BC, if not earlier.
Core of truth
The Mahabharata, he said, mentioned Ramayana, while the Ramayana did not mention Mahabharata. There is no negative evidence to say that Ramayana was a myth.
Ramayana is built on a core of truth depicting the life of a particular people and period, Prof. Rao added.
http://www.hindu.com/2007/09/17/stories/2007091760000400.htm
http://www.vina.cc/stories/GENERAL/2005/4/dwaraka.tsunami.html
Discovery of Dwaraka by Dr. SR Rao
(On the occasion of Dr RAO being Honoured with 10th Dr Wakankar award)
Dr Radhasyam Brahmachari*(12 Octobere 2007)
INTRODUCTION:
In the extreme western boundary of the map of divided India Saurastra is a part of the state of Gujarat, that looks just like a mango, and at the tip of that mango, one finds a place called Dwaraka, lying by the side of River Gomati. Today, it is small city in Okha taluk of the district of Jamnagar with population of about 20,000 but very big for the Hindus as a place pilgrimage. (It may be mentioned here that the name Okha is a corrupt of Sanskrit Usha. Originally the name was Usha Mandal, From Usha Mandal to Okha Mandal and ultimately to Okha.) There are so many temples in Dwaraka today and to name a few, Dwarakadhish Temple, Devakiji Temple, Pradyumnaji Temple, Purushottamji Temple and so on. However, Dwaraka is reckoned at per with other traditional centres of pilgrimage like Haridwar, Mathura, Benares, Puri, Kanchi, Prayag and so on. Hindus believe that this is the city which was founded by no other than Lord Krishna, one of most famous historical personalities of this country and believed to be an Incarnation of Lord Vishnu.
The Bhagavata Purana,Skanda Purana, Harivansa, Mahabharata and other scriptures say that Shri Krishna, after killing Kansa, the tyrannical king of Mathura, as well as His maternal uncle, made Ugrasen the new king and He and Lord Balaram continued to reside at Mathura. But the incident made Jarasandha, another tyrannical emperor ruling from Magadh (modern state of Bihar) and the father-in-law of Kansa, extremely angry and to teach Krishna a lesson he invaded Mathura several times. But every time Lord Krishna, with His small army of Yadavas, succeeded to defeat him only by dint of His extreme political acumen, military skill and bravery.
At such juncture of time an elderly Yadava, called Vikhudra, suggested Shri Krishna to migrate, with His followers, to the remote place of Kushasthali in Saurastra, build a fortified city there and live with peace. Lord Krishna with His tired army accepted the advice and migrated in large number to Kushasthali, the place now known as Bet Dwaraka, nearly 30 miles away from Dwaraka. It is important to note here that, Vikhudra described Kushasthali as a place nearly inaccessible and hence militarily ideal. It might be difficult for the reader to comprehend, how a place on the sea without having any large mountain could be militarily inaccessible? The local map of the place would reveal that the place, though plane in nature, is divided into seven islands (saptadvipa) separated from each other with creeks and this peculiar feature made the place difficult to access. However, the Yadavs built a city at Kushasthali which ultimately became a port town, and gradual migration made the city overpopulated. So to cope with the situation Lord Krishna, with other Yadavas, decided to build a planned city at Dwaraka, big enough to provide home to the entire Yadava clan.
Onshore land was found to be inadequate for such a big city and Harivansa narrates that Lord Krishna decided to reclaim offshore land. So a walled city, 8 yojanas long and 6 yojanas wide, was built with extraordinary engineering skill, having wide roads, residential buildings, invincible fortress, community halls and other basic urban amenities. The other name of the city of Dwaraka was Baridurga, or a city protected by water trench. The Sabha Parva of Mahabharata, contains a nice description of the city of Dwaraka as Dwaraka Mahatmya, where Gangaputra Bhisma, after offering agrapuja to Lord Krishna on the occasion of Rajasuya Yajna for Emperor Yudhtsthira presented a vivid description of Dwaraka before the dignitaries who were present at the ceremony. He also described Dwaraka, on the mouth of River Gomati, as a port city. Harivansa, in particular, describes that the port city of Dwaraka had six wharfs made of stone and there were six warehouses adjacent to the wharfs.
But the existing city of Dwaraka, as mentioned above, is not a match for the city described in the scriptures. It is neither a city nor a port. it is a small town, a place of pilgrimage for the Hindus. So the historians of this country, who belong to either Marx or Macaulay school, refuse to accept that this is the place which has been described as Dwaraka of Krishna in Mahabharata. They even refuse to accept Shri Krishna a historical personality and say that, a man called Krishna never lived in flesh and blood on earth. The epic Mahabharata is simply a poet’s fancy and and Krishna, the hero of the epic, is entirely mythical.
In January 2001, Indian History Congress was holding its Annual Conference at the Alipur Campus of the University of Calcutta and at the concluding session of the said Conference the Nobel Laureate economist Dr. Amartya Sen, while addressing the delegates, said that Ramayana and Mahabharata do not have any historical value. These two epics are simply mythology and nothing but poets’ fancy. He also said that neither Rama nor Krishna was a historical personality and both of them were simply mythical.
Gandhiji wrote two commentaries on Shrimadbhagavadgita, Anasaktiyoga and Gitabodha, and in the introduction of the former work, he wrote, “Generally Mahabharata is taken to be a historical work. But in my opinion, it is not so. I cannot say that Ramayana and Mahabharata are historical works. They are simply religious works. Who are still inclined to treat them as historical works, I should tell them that they are nothing but the history of the Self (Atma). They do not contain what happened thousands of years ago. On the contrary, they are the reflections of what is happening today in every soul”. About Lord Krishna, he wrote, “Krishna of Gita is the embodiment of pure and divine knowledge, but without having any physical existence. By this the Avatar Krishna is not denied at all, but only said that He is mythical”. One should notice that the above statement is self contradictory. According to Hindu theology the word Avatar means incarnation of God Almighty in human flesh and blood and hence an Avatar can never be mythical.
However, nearly a hundred crore Hindus of this country believe that present Dwaraka is the city built by Lord Krishna and it was the capital of kingdom of the Yadavas, the clan to which Lord Krishna belonged. The Hindu scriptures like the Mahabharata, Harivansha, Skanda Purana etc mention that the major portion original city of was submerged by the sea. Beside that, many Hindu spiritual leaders like Shri Chaitanya, Meera Bai, Madhvacharya, Tulsidas etc had accepted the present Dwaraka as the remaining part of great city of Dwaraka built by Lord Krishna in Dwapara yuga.
HOW ARCHAEOLOGICAL EXCAVATION BEGAN:
Whoever had an opportunity to visit today’s Dwaraka, must have observed massive stone walls in the sea, that become visible during the low tide and get submerged during high tide. In Bet Dwaraka, the 3 km long beach is strewn with hundreds of tones of debris that indicate that once upon a time the place was densely populated and there residential buildings and other structures were destroyed by a natural calamity, most probably, a massive earth quack. These feature of the sea coast at Bet Dwaraka inspired a team of the Deccan College of Pune to begin archaeological excavation at Bet Dwaraka in 1963.
At that time, marine archaeology was unknown in India and hence the team from the Deccan College had to restrict its activities only in onshore excavations. In fact, the aim of the team was to determine the extent of human habitation in the sea. The team worked for two years and prepared a report in 1966. Meanwhile the world renowned archaeologist Dr S R Rao, the then head of the Marine Archaeology Section of the National Institute Oceanography (NIO), Goa, became interested about Dwaraka and decided to undertake an archaeological expedition at Dwaraka. It may be mentioned here that Dr S R Rao became famous by discovering a large number of Harappan sites and the port city of Lothal in Gujarat.
But difficulties were immense. There were neither trained man-power nor equipments and infrastructure necessary to begin the expedition. In carrying out a scientific marine archaeological expedition, trained manpower of various disciplines are needed, such as (1) archaeologists, (2) historians, (3) oceanographers, (4) geologists, (5) divers, (6) under-water photographers and (7) electronic engineers and technicians. At the same time, it requires various kinds of instruments and devices such as (a) under-water camera, (b) oxygen cylinders and air compressors to supply breathing air, (c) diving gears, (d) under-water video camera, (e) buoyancy compensators, (f) magnetometers and (g) theodolite and sextant position fixing.
To mention a few successful marine archaeological expeditions in the 20th century are ( i ) the discovery of the Titanic, ( ii ) the discovery of the city of Port Royal, off the coast of Jamaica, that sank due to an earth quack and ( iii ) the discovery of the bronze-age ship called Mary Rose, off the coast of the cape of Gelidonya, Turkey. One can easily guess that money is the most primary requirement to organize such an expedition. But help came from unexpected sources.
HELP CAME FROM UNEXPECTED SOURCES:
In 1980, Professor B R Rao, the then Vice Chairman of the University Grants Commission (UGC) and the Treasurer of the Indian National Science Academy (INSA), once visited the site of the excavation at Dwaraka, near the Dwarakadhish Temple and became very interested about the project. He asked Dr S R Rao to prepare a Project Proposal and submit the same to the INSA. Dr Ramalinga Swami, the then President of INSA referred the proposal to a committee headed by Professor A P Mitra, the then Secretary of INSA. The committee, in due course, approved the project proposal and granted Rs 80,000 to initiate the project and carry out it for the first two years. Dr S Z Qasim, the then Director of NIO, Goa, also came forward and agreed to provide infrastructural facilities. The NIO had its own ships, but they were found to be too big as well as expensive for the job. In fact, sea at Dwaraka is very shallow and hence and hence 2 fishing trawlers were recommended. Dr Varadacharan and Dr B N Desai, who became Directors of NIO after Dr Qasim, continued to support the project.
Shri P Gudidar, a staff of NIO, was an archaeologist. But after getting associated with the project, he learned under-water exploration, diving and photography. Later on, 4 other archaeologists joined the team and Shri Gudidar provided the leadership to the team. Initially, two divers were hired from a diver company, but they did not know photography. So, up to 1982 – 1983, under-water photography was done by hired amateur photographers but the quality was not good. Then another efficient man, Shri Srinivas Bandodkar, joined the team, who knew diving, photography, air-lifting, manning a ship and many other operations. Finally, an efficient team came into operation consisting of the following people- (1) P. Gudidar, K rajan, and other three as archaeologists, (2) E V gangadharan, the geo-chemist, (3) Smt Sila Tripathy and A S Gaur, the geologists, (4) Srinivas Bandodkar, K Sundares, U S Shirsat, Shaikh Ali, Y D Sharma and Smt Manavi Thakar as divers. Artists, electronic engineers and photographers.
It has been mentioned that at the preliminary stage, position fixing was done by simple instruments like sextants and theodolites. Later on, accurate electronic position fixing system, called the Global Position Fixing System (GPFS), that works the guidance of satellites, was incorporated. The Marine Archaeology Centre (MAC) provided a good quality, OSPREY make, under-water video camera. The NIO supplied an inflatable rubber boat and two under water scooters. Good quality diving gears, SCUBA and SDDE, were also incorporated that allowed divers to continue a dive for 30 to 50 minutes.
The team, equipped with man-power and equipments, undertook their first expedition off Bet Dwaraka, in April 1983. The main purpose of this first expedition was to trace the continuity of the human habitation towards the sea by tracing the continuity of the rubbles. The excavation at Dwaraka began with the Second Marine Archaeological Expedition in December, 1984. In this second expedition, 14 cruises were made, 3 at Dwaraka and 11 at Bet Dwaraka with the help of 2 fishing trawlers, Raghuvira and Fateh Sayai. It has been mentioned above that the sea at Dwaraka was very shallow and there was no landing place at Dwaraka. The team had, therefore, to reside the nearest place Rupen, having landing jetty and the boats had to be stationed at Okha, a busy fishing port. The boats therefore had to commute daily between Okha and Dwaraka. The Boats used to leave Okha jetty in the previous night, arrive at Rupen in the next morning. Work used to begin in the morning and continue up to 4 pm each day.
The second expedition at Dwaraka began at 4 Locations. The Location-1 was fixed in front of the Samudra Narayan Temple and perpendicular to the coast line and the Location-2 was also in the direction perpendicular to the coast line and in front of the Dwarakadhish Temple. The two other Locations were in front of the other two temples. In Location-1, no structure was found within 100 metres from the shore and submerged structures were found at 200 metres. Similarly, no structure was found within 100 metres from the coast line in Location-2 and submerged structures were found at 200 metres in the west of the Samudra Narayan Temple. Many artifacts were collected at shallow water of Dwaraka, off the coast during low tide. Two rock-cut ramp like spillway, for launching boats, extending into the sea, were traced. Two other similar trenches, extending up to 500 metres into the sea were also discovered.
The sea bed at Dwaraka was clayey and hence at low water during low tide, visibility was unsuitable for under-water photography. Diving and under-water excavations were undertaken only during high tide at 200 metres from the coast, while the depth of the sea was about 5 metres. The type of sediment and worked conch-shells proved ancient human habitation. Diving was continued up to 300 metres inside the sea, where remains of ancient buildings and blocks of stone, covered with clayey sediment, were found. Diving up to 400 and 500 metres seaward, depth of water was about 8 to 9 metres, and samples of building blocks were found. During high tide, the visibility improved and under-water photography and video filming was done. Diving was done up to 600 metres from the shore where a submerged stone wall was discovered. The peripheral of the wall was covered with sandy clay. Beginning from 1983, 12 marine archaeological expeditions were carried out at Dwaraka within 1992 and the table-1 below gives an account of these expeditions:
Table-1
Expedition
Date
First Marine Archaeological Expedition
April, 1983
Second Marine Archaeological Expedition
December, 1984
Third Marine Archaeological Expedition
November & December, 1985
Fourth Marine Archaeological Expedition
April, 1986
Fifth Marine Archaeological Expedition
November & December, 1986
Sixth Marine Archaeological Expedition
November, 1987 to January, 1988
Seventh Marine Archaeological Expedition
December, 1988 to January, 1989
Eighth Marine Archaeological Expedition
April, 1989
Ninth Marine Archaeological Expedition
December, 1989 to January, 1990
Twelfth Marine Archaeological Expedition
January, 1992
ANTIQUITY OF THE CITY OF DWARAKA:
Dr S R Rao has tried to estimate the antiquity of the city Dwaraka discovered under the sea by conducting thermo-luminescence of the artifacts recovered from the sea. The results of these tests led Dr Rao to conclude that the city of Dwaraka was founded from 1700 to 1500 BC. It should be mentioned here that the team of Dr Rao failed to salvage any organic specimen suitable for conducting carbon-14 test. Recently they could find a piece wood and scientists would now be able to determine the antiquity more correctly. However, the dates determined by Dr S R rao do not support the antiquity of Dwaraka as mentioned in our scriptures. The Mahabharata and Puranas mention that Bhagawan Vishnu appeared on earth as Lord Krishna just in the juncture of the Dwapara yuga and the Kali yuga of the present 28th Mahayuga of the Vaivaswat Manvantara. So the matter deserves a bit elaboration.
According to Hindu system of time reckoning, 432,000 years make 1 Kali yuga, 864,000 years a Dwapara yuga, 1,296,000 years a Treta yuga and 1,728,000 years make 1 Satya or Krita yuga and these four yugas or 4,320,000 years make 1 Mahayuga. One thousand Mahayugas or 4,320,000,000 (or 4.32 billion) years make 1 kalpa. According to another measure, 71 Mahayugas and 1 Satya yuga or 308,448,000 years make 1 Manvantara. At present, we are now passing through the Shvetavaraha kalpa, which began nearly 1.97 billion years ago. After the beginning of the Shvetavaraha kalpa, 6 Manvantaras have gone and the 7th Vaivasvat Manvantara is in currency and 27 Mahayugas of the Vaisvasvat Manvantara, the 28th Mahayuga ia in currency. Out of this 28th Mahayuga, Satya yuga, Treta yuga, Dwapara yuga and 5108 years of the Kali yuga have gone and 5109th of the Kaliyuga is in currency. So, it appears that according to our scriptures, Lord Krishna lived nearly 5000 years ago. Our scholars and Western scholars agree that the present Kali yuga began on midnight of 17th and 18th February, in 3102 BC. On that day, the 1st day of the bright half in the month of Chaitra, a conjunction of the planets occurred and the planets came nearly within 66 degrees.
In Mahabharata, descriptions of the positions of the planets are mentioned in 150 places. Today, the scientists have developed various soft-wares, such (1) Planetarium, (2) Lodestar and (3) Panchang Soft-wares, with help of which one can determine the antiquity of a celestial event, more or less accurately. So it is possible to determine the antiquity of the events narrated in the Mahabharata using the planetary descriptions provided in the Mahabharata as inputs.
In 2003, a two-day seminar was held on 5th and 6th January, in Bangalore, on “The Date of Mahabharata War: Based on Astronomical Data Using Planetarium Software”, and a few of the eminent researchers who submitted research papers were (1) Dr. S. Balakrishna of NASA, USA; (2) Dr. B. N. Narahari Achar, Department of Physics, Memphis University, USA; (3) Dr. R. N. Iyengar, Department of Civil Engineering, IISc, Bangalore; (4) Dr. S. Kalyanaraman, Saraswati River Research Centre, Chennai and so on. These scientists agree that there does not exist any contradiction between any two descriptions of planetary configurations given in the Mahabharata.
Dr. S. Balakrishna has studied the eclipses, both solar and lunar, described in the Mahabharata and tried to find out the dates of those eclipses using the Lode Star Software. Generally 240 solar and 150 lunar eclipses occur in a century and during the period from 3300 B.C. to 700 B.C. nearly 6000 solar and 4000 lunar eclipses took place, though not all of them were visible from India, or to be more precise, from Kurukshetra. Out of them, 672 were eclipse pairs, or both solar and lunar eclipses within a lunar month. Dr. Balakrishna studied the eclipses those have been mentioned in the text of Mahabharata. In fact, there are mentions of solar eclipses at 8 places in Mahabharata, out of which three of them are very important. Firstly, the solar eclipse that is mentioned in the Sabha Parva. The second solar eclipse, which was mentioned in the Udyoga Parva, to which Karna tried to draw the attention of Lord Krishna when He was returning from Hastinapur. The third important solar eclipse has been mentioned in the Shalya Parva, occurred along with two lunar eclipses within a month. Many believe that there was a total solar eclipse occurred on the 13th day of the War, which has been allegorically mentioned as covering the sun by Lord Krishna with is HHis Sudarshan Chakra.
Researcher Dr. P. V. Holay examined 6 planetary configurations given in the Mahabharata and concluded that the War began on 13th November, 3143 B.C. But Dr. K. S. Raghavan and his coworker Dr. G. S. Sampath Iyengar, using the Planetarium software came to the conclusion that the Kurukshetra War began on 22nd day of November, 3067 B.C. (according to the present Gregorian calendar). Professor Dr. Narahari Achar of the University of Memphis, USA, also arrived at the same conclusion using the said Planetarium software. Dr. S. Kalyanaraman of the Saraswati River Research Centre, Chennai, found the estimates of Dr. K. S. Raghavan and Dr. Narahari Achar correct and the seminar officially declared the date of beginning of the Mahabharata War to be 22nd November, 3067 BC, according to the present Gregorian Callendar. On that basis, Dr S Kalyanraman calculated the dates of some other important events of Mahabharata. For example: Lord Krishna, on His final peace mission, set out for Hastinapur on 26th September, 3067 B.C. when the moon was at the asterism Revati. Lord Krishna reached Hastinapur on 28th September, 3067 B.C., when the moon was at the asterism Bharani. The full moon and lunar eclipse at Krittika occurred on 29th September, 3067 B.C. All the above mentioned facts naturally lead one to conclude that Lord Krishna lived more than 5000 years ago, and hence the antiquity of the city of Dwaraka is also more than 5000 years.
PROOF THAT THE SUBMERGED CITY WAS DWARAKA OF LORD KRISHNA:
Hindu texts like Mahabharata, Harivansha, Skandapurana etc mention that the Dwaraka of Lord Krishna was on the bank of the River Gomati and excavation confirm this point.
The Mahabharata describes Dwaraka as a fortified city with stone-citadel, surrounded by stone walls and water trenches (Baridurga). Excavation has confirmed all these aspects.
The Harivansha mentions that the city of Dwaraka was set up on land reclaimed from the sea and the port of Dwaraka had six wharfs made of stone. The remains of the said massive stone walls, stone wharfs and massive triangular stone anchors discovered confirm all these points.
In the Sabha Parva of the Mahabharata, Gangaputra Bhishma described Dwaraka as a high level civilized city. Extremely high degree engineering in the stone walls, residential buildings, wide roads, under ground drainage system, planned gardens etc discovered substantiates the said narrations of the Mahabharata.
The Mahabharata says that the Yadavas (the clan to which Lord Krishna belonged) migrated to Kushasthali (aka Shankhoddhar) and founded a fortified walled city there. Present excavations at Bet Dwaraka and the discovery of massive stone walls confirm all these aspects.
The Skanda Purana mentions that at Dwaraka, more particularly on the bank of River Gomati, Lord Vishnu appeared as Lord Trivikrama. The main idol of the Dwarakadhish Temple of today’s Dwaraka is the Lord Trivikrama, an Incarnation (Avatara) of Lord Vishnu.
The Harivansha mentions that every citizen of Dwaraka had to use a gate-pass (mudra) while entering the city. Such gate-passes or mudras have been discovered.
CONCLUSION:
Discovery of Dwaraka of Lord Krishna under the sea is an extremely important event in Indian history. It has been mentioned above that eminent Indiands like the Nobel Laureate Amartya sen and Sri Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi and Indian historians, mosly belonging to school of Marx and Macauley, belive that both Ramayama and Mahabharata are not historical works, but simply epics or poets fancy. Therefore they conclude that, neither Rama nor Krishna was historical personality. But the were entirely mythical. They were heroes of the epics Ramayana and Mahabharata, and hence they were mythical.
So, the discovery of Dwaraka by S R Rao under the Arabian Sea has naturally raised the question-If Dwaraka was a reality, could Krishna remain mythical? If Ramsetu, the bridge now known as Adam’s Bridge and connects India and Sri Lanka, is a reality, how Lord Rama remains mythical? In this context, one should recall the National Aeronautic and Space Administration (NASA) of USA took photographs from nearly 400 miles above sea level with the help of the Gemini-11 and Gemini-12 satellites and examining those photographs, the scientists of NASA came to the conclusion that the said Ramsetu is man made and it is 1.75 million years old. The question therefore naturally arises – If Lord Rama lived 1.75 million years ago, how could the so called Aryans came from some illusive place to India nearly between 1500 to 1200 BC, invaded India, destroyed the Dravir civilization at Harappa and Mahenjodaro and thus occupied the northern India? So, it becomes evident that time has come to throw away the so called “Aryan Invasion” ( modified “Aryan Migration”) theory into garbage.
It would nice to observe the recent developments in this connection. On 17th March this year, a news appeared in the Kolkata edition of Times of India, a renowned daily, that said, “Dwaraka Getting Damaged: The excavated city of Dwaraka, the abode of Lord Krishna, discovered by the archaeologist S R Rao under the Arabian sea in the coast of Gujarat, is again getting buried under the sand due to neglect by the authorities”. The news further said, “This city of Dwaraka is close to the present Dwaraka temple in Saurastra. It was discovered by Rao and his team during an excavation in 1994”. This single news item is more than sufficient to expose the attitude of the present ruling community towards the ancient Indian history and its culture and heritage.
The Muslims in this country are trying to convert India into a colony Saudi Arabia. They are to terminate the legacy Ram and Krishna and replace the same with the legacy of Muhammad and Allah. The Communists, the most trusted friend of the Muslims are, on the other hand, trying to replace Ram and Krishna with Marx, Engels, Lenin and Stalin. And the Italian Lady, who is running the present UPA government by proxy, is on her mission to convert all the Hindu temples into churches, where the Hindu idols would be replaced by the idols of Jesus Christ and Virgin Mary. So there is none to keep the legacy of Ram and Krishna alive. Cry, cry my beloved motherland.
Hinducivilization 