Dvārakā

Dvārakā, also known as Dvāravatī (Sanskrit द्वारका "the gated [city]", possibly meaning having many gates, or alternatively having one or several very grand gates), is a sacred historic city in the sacred literature of Hinduism, Jainism, and Buddhism. It is also alternatively spelled as Dvarika. The name Dvaraka is said to have been given to the place by Krishna, a major deity in Hinduism. Dvaraka is one of the Sapta Puri (seven sacred cities) of Hinduism. In the Mahabharata, it was a city located in what is now Dwarka, formerly called Kushasthali, the fort of which had to be repaired by the Yadavas. In this epic, the city is described as a capital of the Anarta Kingdom. According to the Harivamsa the city was located in the region of the Sindhu Kingdom. In the Hindu epics and the Puranas, Dvaraka is called Dvaravati and is one of seven Tirtha (pilgrimage) sites for spiritual liberation. The other six are Mathura, Ayodhya, Kashi, Kanchipuram, Avantika (Ujjain) and Puri. In Harivamsa, Dvaraka is described as largely built on "submerged land", "released by the ocean" (2.55.118 and 2.58.34). The city was the former "sporting ground of the King Raivataka" called "Dvāravāti", which "was squared like a chess board" (2.56.29). Nearby was the mountain range Raivataka (2.56.27), "the living place of the gods" (2.55.111). The city was measured by Brahmins; the foundations of the houses were laid and at least some of the houses were built by the Yadavas (2.58.9 - 15). It was built by Vishwakarman in one day (2.58.40) "mentally" (2.58.41 and 44). It had surrounding walls (2.58.48 and 53) with four main gates (2.58.16). Its houses were arranged in lines (2.58.41) and the city had "high buildings" (2.58.50 and 54) (2.58.53), which "almost touched the sky" (2.58.50), and had "doors that had the colour of white clouds" (2.58.48). The fort walls of the city were "shining with the colour of the Sun and pots of gold" and "sounds emanating from grand houses sparkling with golden colour" (2.58.53).