Dakor Mandir Darshan | Gomti Ghat | Danknath Mahadev | Dakor Temple History | ડાકોર મંદિરનો ઇતિહાસ

Dakor is 36 km from Anand railway station. Nearest airport - Vadodara which is 47kms away. Regular private Bus service from Mumbai and major cities in Gujarat. Dakor is in the Kheda district in the state of Gujarat. It is prominent for its grand temple of Shree Ranchhodraiji. Recently, Dakor is included in one of the six major pilgrimage places (Mukhya Dharmik sthal) under "Yatradham Vikas Mandal" by the Government of Gujarat for development as a well-planned and well-organised pilgrimage place ( Dharmik sthal). Dakor, in its earlier phases as a pilgrimage center in Gujarat, was famous for the Danknath temple, a place of Shiva worship. In the later phases, it developed into the growing fame of Ranchhodraiji [form of Lord Shri Krishna] temple, built-in 1772 A.D. by Shri Gopal Jagannath Tambwekar.

Temple Timings

The temple normally opens at about 6:45 A.M. and closes at 12 Noon In the afternoon, it reopens at about 4:15 P.M. and closes at 7:30 P.M.

Danknath Mandir

In dwapar yug, the surrounding area of Dakor constituted the 'Hidamba' van (jungle). It was a very dense jungle. It was pleasant and rich with streams and lakes. It had become an attraction for the sages to establish their hermitage for penance. Likewise, Dank Rishi had his hermitage (ashram) in this area. During penance Lord Shiva was pleased with him and asked him to demand something. Thereupon, Dank Rishi requested Lord Shiva to remain permanently in his hermitage. Lord Shiva agreed to his request. He disappeared and left behind him His replica in the form of Ban (Ling), which is known as Danknath Mahadev. Thus in ancient times, Dakor was known as 'Dankor' after the name of Dankanth Mahadev.

Dakor Temple History

Prachin manyata ke anusaar , Bodana was going for regular darshan of Shri Krishna to Dwarka. With the age unable to travel. So Lord Krishna in his dream told him to come with the bull cart to Dwarka. Gugle brahman resists it because of fear of losing income if lord Krishna idle moves from Dwarka. They locked the Dwarka premises but lord Krishna in the night unlock all the barriers and moved with the bodana. He died in a fight with gugle brahman. They demanded gold equal to lord Krishna idle. Bodana’s wife has got only nath with her. Poor lady, the widow of Bodana, was a pauper and could not afford doing so. By a miracle, the idol became as light as a golden nose-ring (1, 1/4 val i.e.1/2 gram in weight) which was all that the widow of Bodana, Gangabai, had . The Guglis were disappointed but the Lord mercifully directed that they would find after six months an exact replica of the idol in Sevaradhan Vav (well with steps) at Dwarika. The impatient Guglis looked for the idol sometime earlier than they were told and as a result, found an idol which, though similar to the original one, was smaller, Pilgrims to Dakor still visit the places stated to have been associated with the legend viz. Where the branch of neem tree under which Lord rested while coming to Dankpur subsequently turned sweet; where the idol was hidden in the Gomti tank; whereon the balance was set up to weigh the original idol which Bodana had enshrined.

Laxmi Mata Temple

As at Badrinathji in the Himalayas and Tirupati Balaji in South India, at Dakor, the temple of Goddess Lakshmi, wife of the Lord, is situated outside the main temple. Lakshmiji's temple is situated in a residential part of town at a little distance from the main temple. It is believed that the Lord visits His wife every Friday