Dwarkadhish Kankroli

Dwarkadhish Temple, Kankroli
Dvārakādhīśa of Kāṁkarolī worshipped by Viṭṭhalanātha Mahārāja and an attendant, c. 1750
Religion
Affiliation	Hinduism
District	Rajsamand
Deity	Dwarkadhish (form of Krishna)
Festivals	Janmashtami, Holi, Diwali etc.
Location
Location	Kankroli
State	Rajasthan
Country	India
Architecture
Type	Rajputana
Creator	Maharana of Mewar, Goswami GirdharJi
Completed	1676
Website
http://www.shrinathjihelpline.com/dwarkadhish-temple-rajsamand-nathdwara.html

Dwarkadhish Ji is a Hindu Temple, situated on the southern bank of the Rajsamand lake in Kankroli. The temple commands a very fine view of the lake. This temple is temple is dedicated to Dwarkadhish Ji, one of the seven swaroops of Pushtimarg of Vallabhacharya.

In 1956, the Śrī Dvārakādhīśa kī prākaṭya vārtā was published by Vidyā Vibhāg in Kankaroli. This Braj Bhasha text was written by Brajabhūṣaṇa Gosvāmī. The introduction states that the original version of the text was composed in the 1700s. The text details the legends that the Dvārakādhīśa image was worshipped by a series of sages and Hindu mythological figures before being worshipped by the family of Vallabha.^[1][2]

According to the vārtā literature, Vallabha acquired Dvārakādhīśa/Dvārakānātha from Nārāyaṇadāsa Darjī of Kannauja. Vallabha then entrusted Dvārakādhīśa to his servant Dāmodaradāsa Kṣatriya, upon whose death the image was returned to Vallabha's house in Aṛaila. Later, Vallabha's son Viṭṭhalanātha took Dvārakādhīśa to Gokula. After Viṭṭhalanātha raised his family, he partitioned various Kr̥ṣṇa idols in his possession among his sons, of which his third son Bālakr̥ṣṇa was entrusted the worship of Dvārakādhīśa.^[3]

Viṭṭhalanātha's sixth son Yadunātha received the worship of the image Bālakr̥ṣṇa. However, Yadunātha was dissapointed at Bālakr̥ṣṇa's small size, thus his elder brother Bālakr̥ṣṇa suggested to Viṭṭhalanātha that the two deities should be worshipped jointly by the two brothers. Viṭṭhalanātha agreed on the condition that Yadunātha's descendants at anytime could worship Bālakr̥ṣṇa independently if they so desired.^[4][5][6]

Bālakr̥ṣṇa's son Dvārakeśa and Yadunātha's son Madhusūdana both initially lived and worshipped their deities together after their respective father's deaths. However, Madhusūdana soon desired to worship Bālakr̥ṣṇa independently to which Dvārakeśa disagreed. The matter was brought to their uncle, Gokulanātha, who reiterated Viṭṭhalanātha's order that the descendants of Yadunātha had the right to worship Bālakr̥ṣṇa independently if and when they desired. After a year of serving Bālakr̥ṣṇa by himself, Madhusūdana returned Bālakr̥ṣṇa back to Dvārakeśa. According to Shastri, Bālakr̥ṣṇa himself desired to be reunited with Dvārakādhīśa; according to Entwistle and Peabody, Madhusūdana desired to return the deity with Peabody stating Balakr̥ṣṇa was "spurned". Dvārakeśa accepted Bālakr̥ṣṇa on the condition that Madhusūdana would not ask for it back, to which Gokulanātha drafted a written contract which was signed by the parties. Madhusūdana was instead given the deity Kalyāṇarāya, who was not only larger that Bālakr̥ṣṇa, but considered by some to have been worshipped by Vallabha despite not being an original navnidhi.^[7][5][8][9]

Originally, Dwarkadhish Ji temple was in Gokul. During Mughal rule, temples were threatened with frequent invasions, vandalism and arson. Dwarkadhish ji, was also exposed to this danger. Apprehending danger to Dwarkadhish Ji, Goswami Girdharji took the deity with him to Ahmedabad. Due to apprehension there as well, he was invited to Mewar in 1671 AD.^[10][11]

Maharana Raj Singh granted village of Asotiya for Dwarkadhish Ji. Temple was constructed in Asotiya.^[12] After Rajsamand Lake was built, due to heavy rainfall, the Aasotia temple was flooded and the temple became islet. MaharajKumar AmarSingh allocated Darikhana and Haveli's high ground for construction of new temple of DwarkadhishJi.^[13]

Temple is built in haveli form and beauty of the temple tends to be enhanced because of the lush greenery of the surroundings. More and more additions were done to the temple complex over the time. The temple sits on the high bank of Rajsamand Lake. The shikhar is generally a noticeable characteristic decorated with various sculptures. The priest and attendants of the temples are Gosains, whose ancestors were Brijwasis. (inhabitants of Brij).^[12]

Darshan of the deity is available in following aartis:

• Morning Mangla
• Shringar
• Gwal
• Raj Bhog
• Utthapan
• Bhog
• Arti
• Sahyan.

People from every corner of the country come here for Darshan.

Festivals are held in the tradition of Pushtimarg.^[11]

• Janamashtami^[14]
• Nanda Mahotsava
• Deepawali
• Annkuta ^[15]
• Patotsava
• Phag in Phalgun month
• Holi
• Dolotsava
• Ramnavmi
• Akshai Tritiya
• Various Ratha Yatras^[16]

• Brajabhūṣaṇa (1956). Bālakr̥ṣṇalāla; Brajabhūṣaṇalāla (eds.). Śrīdvārakādhīśajī kī prākaṭya-vārtā (in Braj). Kāṁkarolī: Vidyā Vibhāga.

• http://www.shrinathjihelpline.com/dwarkadhish-temple-rajsamand-nathdwara.html