Dwarka, Somnath accommodation and travel

kgwagx

I am planning to visit Dwarka and Somnath in late Feb 2009. Would like to have some info on :

1) How good is Toran guest house at Dwarka and Somnath ? Else, what are the recommened hotels at these two places ?

2) What are the road conditions between Dwarka and Somnath ? Is it advisable to halt at Porbandar ? What whould be the total travel time betweeen Dwarka and Somnath ?

3) Do we get taxis to go from Dwarka to Somnath ? Else, can anyone furnish details on the bus routes ?

4) How good or bad are the passenger trains if one goes from Dwarka to Somnath via Rajkot by train.

Thanks in advance.

KG

keshavkarn

hi

planing to visit dwarka in the month of October 2009. any one could help

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ask your forgiveness for my mistakes, its all because of ignorance
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delhiwala

What do you exactly want to know Keshav ?

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Travel only with thy equals or thy betters; if there are none, travel alone. - The Dhammapada

keshavkarn

Dear Delhiwala,

nice to find you hear friend. you have been a lot of help in suggesting my chardham yatra.

hoping to find help on this as well.

We are planning to visit some places
1) Dawarka dham
2) Somnath
3) Nageshwar
4) Bal Hanuman
5) Bhawnath Shiv at Girnar

6)----which is the best swaminarayan temple in gujrat. as there are 3 i think.


So, for these places of visit. which station to come to. how many days will it take, what are the accomodation facility, the distance and many other information.

keshavkarn

any help from anyone

MURLI BULCHANDANI

Dear Mr. Keshav

I will provide you some details by tomorrow.

with best regards

Murli

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You do your Best.....God will do the Rest.....

sb_amd_us

Best swaminaraynan temple to visit is in Gandhinagar near Ahmedabad. This is what I would suggest:

Day 1: Ahmedabad...major railwaystation/Airport/plenty of buses..to get there. Visit Gandhi Ashram/Kankaria Lake and local site seeing. Night Halt Ahmedabad
Day2: Adalaj/Akshardham Swaminarayan Temple/Modhera Sun Temple and night train to Dwarka
Day3: Dwarkadhish Temple/Rukmani Temple/Nageshwar/Bet Dwarka..night halt in Dwarka
Day4: Bus/Private Car to Somnath. around 5 hrs drive. Bhalka Tirth/Triveni Sangam/Ban Ganga/Dehotsarg(will need max three hours to cover all this. Evening Aarti at Somnath Temple/Laser Show...recommend Hotel Shivam near Temple
Day5: Temple Darshan again/visit Museum..after lunch proceed to Junagadh by bus/car. About two hours drive
Day6: Visit of Fort/Narsinh Mehta Choro/Mohbat Makbara/Bhavnath Tirth...If you're planning to climb Mt. Girnar then visit all this on Day5 and keep Day6 free for climb...start very early in the morning...
You can then take the night train to Ahmedabad and then fly/train/bus to your destination.

I do not know where bala Hanuman is..so can not suggest what to do. One week should be sufficient for this journey.

WeaKnee

Keshav,
Dwarka has a Railway staion on route to Okha & Veraval Rly Stn is about 15 kms from Somnath. If you have connections to these 2 stations by good trains either of them are ideal to start your trip from. If you are not connected comfortably then choose between Rajkot and Ahmedabad. The circuit you have chosen is in Saurashtra (region of Guj) and Rajkot is in that region. If you again have connection issues then you can start from Ahmedabad.

From Ahmedabad you have trains & sleeper coaches to both Dwarka & Somnath which are roughly overnight. We did Dwarka from Ahmedabad 2 years ago by Payal Travels (don;t have number) - very comfortable sleeper bus. Leaves around 10 and reaches Dwarka around 6 in the morn. The trick is to reach Dwarka Temple around 6am for Mangala. We managed only by 6:30 and had to stand far behind. It goes on till 7:30.

If from Ahmedabad your route can be:
Ahmedabad-Dwarka/Bet Dwarka/Nageshwar-Porbunder-Somnath-Girnar/Junagadh-Rajkot-Ahmeabad. You can thrown in Gir National Park between Somnath & Girnar.

Dwarka-Nageshwar-Bet Dwarka is a 1 day trip by hiring a cab from Dwarka. We did it in an Indica non-ac cab for either 600 or 700. Nageshwar as you know is a Jyotirlinga. The cab will be parked at Okha jetty from where you will take a boat to Bet and come back by boat to your cab. Lots of birds as you sail. Tip at Dwarka: Beware of the pandits. They can quickly get into an impromptu pooja with you and ask for Dakshina.

Almost every other door is a hotel in Dwarka and you need not worry about bookings. We tayed at Toran - Guj state toursims guest house. It is old but comfortable. But the other hotels looked better.

We ourselves will be doing Somanth, Gir & Girnar this Diwali.

Guj is full of Swaminarayan temples. There must be 300 of them and not 3 It depends on what you want to see. Gandhinagar Akshardham is large and is their show piece in Guj. This belongs to BAPS (check BAPS.org) branch. HQ is in Shahibaug, Ahmedabad. Shri Pramukhswamy is currently here. he may/may not be here when you visit. Bochasan & Atladra are 1st & 2nd temples built by Shri Shastriji Maharaj - the man who formed BAPS. Kalupur, Ahmedabad has an old temple supposeldy built by Lord Swaminarayan Himself when he was alive. Legend has it that the Brits gave the land to him. Ask me if you need mroe details. Take care

keshavkarn

Dear SB and Weaknee,

Thanks for the explanation, was just interested to know where does jamnagar falls, as one of my friend is insisting to stay with them.

Secondly, about the Bhawnath Tirth, as mentioned its on the mountian. how many kilometer high is it. and is there any conveyance for old members, who are having problems with climbing mountains.

MURLI BULCHANDANI

Dear Mr. Keshav

Jamnagar (famous for India's largest crude oil Refinery of Reliance & Essar) falls in between Rajkot and Dwarka. It is just 90 kms from Rajkot (towards west) and from Jamnagar to Dwarka is 145 kms. Dwarka to Okha (for Bet Dwarka) is 30 kms. Train from Jagannath Puri to Okha (and all other trains) stops at these stations.

Bhawnath Mahadev means Junagadh which is 102 kms from Rajkot (towards south) It is on the route from Ahmedabad - Rajkot - Junagadh - Sasan Gir - Veraval (Somnath) Don't worry, for Bhawnath Mahadev you don't have to climb mountain, it is on the ground only near Girnar mountain. Temple of Goddess Ambaji is on the top of the mountain (9,999 steps) and further Temple of God Dattatreya (another 2,500 steps) However for old age people there are Palkies / Dolies available there.

Please ask if you have any further queries.

with best regards

Murli

keshavkarn

Many thanks Dear Murli,

Is there any tour or travel operators who are operating covering all these spots in the organised way. So that we dont have to do the accomodation hunting and various things.

keshavkarn

from my place there is only one direct train and that to ahmedabad and hence has to plan from there. Wanted to know more about the temples where we can have morning and evening darshan.

is morning and everning darshan possible for Dwarka and Somnath.

Dost

Keshavkarn
You recently gave a womderful description of your chardham yatra. I found it very helpful when I did the same yatra from 1/8/09 to 13/8/09.
I am now planning my next yatra to Somnath too but this won't be until Dec 09 or Auguat 2010.

If it is not too much trouble and if you do the Somnath/Dwarka yatra, would it be possible to write your experiences on this thread? I am sure like me there would be many others who would welcome your information and advise.

keshavkarn

Dear Dost,

many thanks for appreciating, and i am really glad to know that someone really benefited from that.

I am planning to start this after diwali dates are not confirmed. But there may be slight chance that it may not happen as well.

so, as i have got help from other veteran members of IM on chardham, similarly i am trying to get the same help on gurjrat trip which is totally spiritual trip.

whenever i go, before you or after you, i will definately post my experience.

Parallely i am also writing my other jyotirlinga trips in one of the jyoitirlinga threads

MURLI BULCHANDANI

Dear Mr. Keshav

From Dhanbad to Ahmedabad you will get 2942 Asansol Ahmedabad superfast express, second train 3392 Dhanbad Ahmedabad express, third 9149 Parasnath express. I think these are weekly trains.

From Ahmedabad to Dwarka 9005 Saurashtra Mail Express (daily)
From Ahmedabad to Veraval (Somnath) 9221 Somnath express (daily) 1464 & 1466 Jabalpur – Somnath express (daily) 1088 Pune – Veraval Exp (weekly)
From Ahmedabad to Porbandar 9215 Saurashtra Express (daily)
From Ahmedabad to Rajkot 9059 Jamnagar Intercity, 9017 Saurashtra Janta express (daily)
Approx Journey time from Ahmedabad to Rajkot is 5 hours, Dwarka 10 hours, Junagadh 7 hours and somnath 10 hours.

I will provide you Nos. of tour operators in a day or two, but I will suggest you do it on your own. 2 days at each locations will be sufficient. Accommodation will not be a problem at these places. However there will be crowd during Diwali vacations from 15 to 31 October 2009.

When you are in Somnath also visit to DIU (90 kms) union territory, it is an island n having very nice beaches with very good climate in October. Also visit Chorwad (24 kms from Veraval) famous for Dhirubhai Ambani’s birth place and beach resort.

Rajkot is very good city and industrial capital of Gujarat. Very beautiful swaminarayan temple at Kalawad road. Mahatma Gandhi school, Watson museaum. Nearby Virpur famous for Jalaram bapa temple. Porbandar – birth place of Mahatma Gandhi. Junagadh – Girnar mountain and Sasan Gir – Reserved forest for Asiatic lions, are the few places worth visiting.

Normally Darshan at all the temples are possible from early morning to noon and thereafter evening to night. However people insist to have the Darshan of morning and evening aarti which is performed normally at 06:00 in the morning and 19:00 evening.

Please ask if you have any more queries.

With best regards

Murli