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In this chapter the idea is pursued that Junagadh is the site of the original Dwaraka or Dwaravati of the Mahabharat, and therefore also of its precursor city Kushasthali. Of the city of Dwaraka and its inhabitants we know that (Singh 1994): ‘This magnificent city, called Mahanagari, was one of the seven important cities of ancient India. It was a well planned and fortified city. The domes and minarets of the palatial buildings and temples, fortwalls, gates, gardens, spacious roads, streets, market-complex, assembly hall of the Yadavas, etc. adorned the city. The architectural design of the city was very attractive. The shifting of the Yadava capital from Mathura in the north to Dvaraka in the west at the behest of Krsna constituted a watershed in the politico-cultural history of the Yadavas. The Yadavas inhabiting the new city comprise Andhakas, Vrsnis, Bhojas, Satvatas, Madhus, Arbudas, Mathurakas, Surasenas, Visarjanas, Kukuras, Kuntis, Akrura, Dasarha, etc’. Jain (1969, page 48) was of the opinion that: ‘Baravai (Dvaravati or Dwaraka, modern Junagarh) was the capital of Saurashtra; it was also known as Kusasthali.’ The Mahabharat and the Puranas often refer to Kushasthali or Dwaraka as the capital of Anarta or Anartadesha, which in these cases must be seen as equivalent to Kathiawar or Saurashtra. For instance, according to Chaudhuri (1955, page 153): ‘The Anarta country obtained its name from an eponymous ancestor Anarta, its chief city being Kusasthali or Dwaraka’, and Devi (1939, page 2) tells us that: ‘Saryati and his son Anarta became rulers of Anartha (Kathiwar) with Kushasthali (Dvaravati = Jungarh)’ as its capital.
The location of ancient Dwaraka, Lord Krishna’s capital city in the Saurashtra Peninsula, has never been proved beyond doubt. The ancient texts which mention the city are divided on the subject. According to the Adi Parva (1.212.6–7) and the Sabha Parva (2.41.50,67) of the Mahabharat, as also the Vayu Puran and Vishnu Puran, it was located in the vicinity of Mount Raivataka, while the Musala Parva of the Mahabharat, the Harivamsa and the Bhagavat Puran, mention it as being near the sea. Sankalia (1964) noted that references to Dvaraka in the Mahabharata were of two types: ‘Those in the Adi and Sabha Parvas referred to a Dvaraka near the hill Raivataka, and no reference at all was made to the city being near the sea, or its later drowning by the natural calamity. It was in the Musala Parva for the first time that Dvaraka’s foundation in or near the sea and the later tragedy was first alluded to. The same view seems to have been held by the Puranas: the Vayu and the Visnu agreeing with the Adi and Sabha, and the Bhagavata, Harivamsa, and others following the Musala. ’ He also noted that some ‘scholars, therefore, thought that the Adi referred to an earlier and truer tradition existing prior to the 2nd century B.C., whereas the Musala and other Puranas had in view a much later tradition.’
A Buddhist text, the Ghata Jataka (pre 2nd century BC), interestingly combines both, stating that the ‘city had on one side the sea and on the other the mountain’ (Cowell 1901, Singh 1994, Tripathi 1996). Krishna, with his Yadav clan, coming to settle in Saurashtra may have chosen a number of locations on the peninsula to fortify and occupy. One ideal site would have been the already sacred Mount Girnar as it was the highest mountain on the peninsula and capable of providing very secure fortification. Athavale (1954) proposed that there was a series of five geographically separate Dwarakas, and presented a sequence of events which occurred in each.
Not only the texts, but traditions also are not unanimous about the location of Dwaraka. There are many places in Gujarat which are believed to be the ancient capital of Lord Krishna. Mul Dwarka, an island about 34 km east of Prabhas Patan and about 5 km south-west of Kodinar; the present Dwaraka, in Jamnagar District; some places on the coast between Porbandar and Miyani; Madhavpur, about 22 km north-west of Mangrol; and Junagadh, at the foot of Girnar Hill are some of the places which are identified with Krishna’s Dwaraka (Tripathi 1996). Rao (1999) was of the opinion that the original Dwaraka and its precursor city Kushasthali, as well as an adjacent small hillock he called Raivataka, was located at Bet Dwaraka (or Bet Shankhoddhar), an island in the Gulf of Kutch, about 25 km north of the present site of Dwaraka. Although many scholars have accepted the identification of ancient Dwaraka or Dvaravati with modern Dwaraka, Tripathi (1996) proposed that there is no evidence to justify it. He suggested that the most acceptable sites are Junagadh, Mul Dwarka, or Harshad/Miyani at the mouth of Meda Creek, 32 km north-west of Porbandar. Of these sites, Tripathi (2005) found Girnar/Junagadh as the only acceptable location for ancient Dwaraka. He found that satellite remote sensing photography showed evidence of a dried up water body, several square kilometres in area, as a prominent feature near Mount Girnar. He proposed that such a large water body could have been called ‘sagara’ in ancient times by the composers of the verses of the later parts of the Mahabharat and Purans, and therefore Junagadh may well fit the requirements of not only being near the Raivataka Mountain (Girnar) but also near a large water body or ‘sagara’. Tripathi (2001) pointed out that man-made lakes and reservoirs have been and still are quite commonly called