01Krishna’s home
The temple at Bet is built like a house, its shrines arranged round courtyards, with separate rooms for the queens of Krishna. The tradition here says Krishna lived on this island while the court sat at Dwarka on the mainland, and that his old friend Sudama found him here. So pilgrims bring rice as their offering, as Sudama did. The other name of the island, Shankhoddhar, recalls the conches found on its shores and the katha of Vishnu slaying the demon Shankhasura. Vallabhacharya stayed and gave discourses here, and his sampradaya serves several shrines on the island.
02Under the sea
Divers of the National Institute of Oceanography have worked off Bet Dwarka since the 1980s and found stone structures, anchors and pottery; on the island itself excavation found a settlement going back to the late Harappan period. Umashankar Joshi identified Bet with the Antardvipa of the Sabha Parva, the island the Yadavas reached by boat. Until 2024 the only way across was the ferry from Okha; in February 2024 the Sudarshan Setu, a cable-stayed bridge of about 2.3 km, was opened.
The life of this place
- from the 1980sMarine archaeologists begin surveys off Bet Dwarka.
- February 2024The Sudarshan Setu links the island to Okha.
Bet Dwarka is about 30 km north of Dwarka via Okha; the temple closes in the afternoon, so go in the morning.
