Place · Krishna temple · India
Ranchhodrai, Kheda
Also known as Dakor, Kheda, Ranchhodrai, Ranchhodrai (Krishna), Ranchhodrai — Dakor
The Ranchhodrai Krishna temple at Dakor in Kheda district, Gujarat, 85 kilometres from Ahmedabad — one of the major Krishna pilgrimage sites of Gujarat, holding Krishna in his 'Ranchhodrai' form (literally 'the one who ran from battle'). The temple's foundation legend holds that Krishna left Dwarka at the call of his devotee Bodana (a 15-century devotee) and came to Dakor permanently. The temple's foundation is 1772 under the Peshwa patronage of Gopalrao Jagannath Tambaekar. The deity is a black-marble Krishna in dancing pose, flanked by his two consorts. The annual Dakor Nu Mela festival each February-March draws over 500,000 Gujarati Vaishnava pilgrims. The temple is managed by the Shri Ranchhodrai Mandir Trust. The adjacent Gomti Talav (bathing tank, built 1856) is used for ritual bathing before darshan.
- Function
- Sacred site & pilgrimage
- Confidence
- Established / referenced
- Location
- 22.756, 73.152
Connections (1)
- Image migrationDvārakā / Dvārāvatī
Dākor's Ranchhodrāi is said to have been brought from Dvārakā by the devotee Bodānā, and the Dvārakā priests compensated with the image's weight in gold, which his wife met with her nose-ring. Gujarat therefore has two Dvārakās: the coastal city and its inland substitute. Dākor's full-moon pilgrimage now draws larger crowds than Dvārakā's, so the substitute has outgrown the original it was taken from.
On these journeys
Sources
Wikipedia, “Dwarkadhish Temple”. Archaeological Survey of India and State Archaeology monument records, and the standard regional literature.
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