103.157.195.110 at 02:32, 20 January 2023

2023-01-20T02:32:22Z

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{{short description|Place where Krishna is said to have left the earth for the heavenly abode}}
{{Infobox Hindu temple
| name = Bhalka Tirtha
| image = BHALKA-06.jpg
| alt =
| caption =
| map_type = India Gujarat#India
| map_caption = Location within Gujarat
(around 3)
| coordinates = {{coord|20|53|16.9|N|70|24|5.0|E|type:landmark_region:IN|display=inline,title}}
| native_name = भालका तीर्थ
| country = {{flag|India}}
| state = [[Gujarat]]
| district = [[Gir Somnath]]
| locale = [[Veraval]]
| elevation_m =
| deity = [[Krishna]] his [[Death]]
| temple_quantity =
| monument_quantity=
| inscriptions =
| temple_board = Shree Somnath Trust
| website = [http://www.somnath.org somnath.org]
}}

'''Bhalka Tirtha''' (Bhalka Pilgrimage) ({{lang-hi|भालका तीर्थ}}), located in the [[Veraval]] in [[Saurashtra (region)|Saurashtra]] on the western coast of [[Gujarat]], [[India]], is the place where [[Krishna]] left this holy body as the story goes , it is said he was killed by an arrow shot by a hunter named Jara, an act referred to in the [[Puranas]] as ''Shri Krishna Nijdham Prasthan Leela ({{lang-sa|श्री कृष्ण निजधाम प्रस्थान लीला}})''.<ref name="bhalka-somnath">{{cite web | url=http://www.somnath.org/Bhalkha_Tirth.aspx | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090729092550/http://www.somnath.org/Bhalkha_Tirth.aspx | url-status=dead | archive-date=29 July 2009 | title=Bhalka Tirth | publisher=Somnath Trust | accessdate=12 April 2015 }}</ref><ref name="gujtour">{{cite web | url=http://www.gujarattourism.com/destination/details/10/269 | title=Gujarat Tourism | publisher=Gujarat Tourism | accessdate=12 April 2015 | archive-date=27 March 2015 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150327055546/http://www.gujarattourism.com/destination/details/10/269 | url-status=dead }}</ref> Bhalka is part of the Lord [[Krishna]] circuit ([[Mathura]], [[Vrindavan]], [[Barsana]], [[Govardhan]], [[48 kos parikrama of Kurukshetra|Kurukshetra]] and [[Dwarka]]).

Bhalka is located just 4 km from [[Somnath temple|Somnath Temple]], a [[Jyotirlinga]], situated in [[Veraval]], [[Gujarat]], India.

The site also has ancient history as [[Prabhas Patan]] was occupied during the [[Indus Valley Civilisation]], 2000–1200 BCE.

==Background==
{{main|Mausala Parva}}
[[File:Death of Krishna - Illustrations from the Barddhaman edition of Mahabharata.jpg|thumb|right|220px|The hunter Jara about to shoot arrow towards Krishna]]
According to ''[[Mahabharata]]'', the [[Kurukshetra war]] resulted in the death of all the hundred sons of [[Gandhari (character)|Gandhari]]. On the night before [[Duryodhana]]'s death, [[Krishna]] visited Gandhari to offer his condolences. Gandhari felt that Krishna knowingly did not put an end to the war, and in a fit of rage and sorrow, Gandhari cursed that Krishna, along with everyone else from the [[Yadu]] dynasty, would perish after 36 years. Krishna himself knew and wanted this to happen as he felt that the Yadavas had become very haughty and arrogant ''({{lang|hi-Latn|adharmi}})'', so he ended Gandhari's speech by saying "''tathastu''" (so be it).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.happywink.org/janmashtami/lord-krishna-disappearance.html |title=Lord Krishna's Disappearance, Disappearance of Lord Krishna, Life Span of Lord Krishn, Disappearance of Sri Krishna |publisher=Happywink.org |accessdate=2011-10-23}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.urday.in/mkrishnaheaven.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090424155126/http://www.urday.in/mkrishnaheaven.htm |url-status=dead |archive-date=2009-04-24 |title=MAHABHARATA -Krishna's Return to Heaven |publisher=Urday.in |accessdate=2011-10-23 }}</ref>

After 36 years passed, a fight broke out between the [[Yadava]]s, at a festival, who killed each other. His elder brother, [[Balarama]], [[Samadhi|left his body]] through [[Yoga]]. Krishna retired into the forest and started meditating under a tree. The Mahabharata also narrates the story of a hunter who becomes an instrument for Krishna's departure from the world. The hunter Jara, mistook Krishna's partly visible left foot for that of a deer, and shot an arrow, wounding him mortally. After Jara realised the mistake, while still bleeding, Krishna told Jara, "O Jara, you were [[Vali (Ramayana)|Vali]] in your previous birth, killed by myself as [[Rama]] in [[Treta Yuga]]. Here you had a chance to even it and since all acts in this world are done as desired by me, you need not worry for this". Then Krishna, with his physical body<ref name="bhagavatam.in">{{cite web |url=http://www.bhagavatam.in/story/the-ascension-of-lord-krishna.php |title=Srimad Bhagavatam :: Conto 11 - The Ascension of Lord Krishna |website=Bhagavatam.in |date= |accessdate=2016-11-24 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161106145312/http://www.bhagavatam.in/story/the-ascension-of-lord-krishna.php |archive-date=2016-11-06 |url-status=dead }}</ref> ascended back to his eternal abode, [[Goloka]] and this event marks departure of Krishna from the earth.<ref>{{Harvnb|Bryant|2007|pp=148}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/m16/m16004.htm|title=The Mahabharata (originally published between 1883 and 1896)|accessdate=2008-10-13|publisher= Sacred Texts|date= 2006|author = Kisari Mohan Ganguli|quotation=Book 16: Mausala Parva Sections 4-8}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author = Mani, Vettam|title = Puranic Encyclopaedia: A Comprehensive Dictionary With Special Reference to the Epic and Puranic Literature|url = https://archive.org/details/puranicencyclopa00maniuoft|publisher = Motilal Banarsidass|year = 1975|location = Delhi|isbn = 0-8426-0822-2|author-link =Vettam Mani|page=[https://archive.org/details/puranicencyclopa00maniuoft/page/429 429]}}</ref> The news was conveyed to [[Hastinapur]] and [[Dvārakā|Dwaraka]] by eyewitnesses to this event.<ref name="bhagavatam.in"/> The place of this incident is believed to be Bhalka, near [[Somnath temple]].<ref name="bhalka-somnath"/><ref name="gujtour"/>

According to [[Purana|Puranic sources]],{{efn|name=Krishna departs|The ''[[Bhagavata Purana]]'' (1.18.6),<ref>{{Cite book |chapter=Skanda I, Ch. 18: Curse of the Brahmana, Sloka 6 |title=Bhagavata Purana |url=https://archive.org/details/BhagavataPuranaMotilalEnglish/page/n141/mode/1up |volume=Part I |publisher=[[Motilal Banarsidass|Motilal Banarsidass Publishers Private Limited]] |year=1950 |page=137 |quote=On the very day, and at the very moment the Lord [Krishna] left the earth, on that very day this Kali, the source of irreligiousness, (in this world), entered here.}}</ref> ''[[Vishnu Purana]]'' (5.38.8),<ref>{{Cite book |author-last=Wilson |author-first=H. H. |author-link=Horace Hayman Wilson |year=1895 |chapter=Book V, Ch. 38: Arjuna burns the dead, etc., Sloka 8 |title=The Vishnu Purana |url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.47536/page/n73/mode/1up |publisher=S.P.C.K. Press |page=61 |quote=The Parijata tree proceeded to heaven, and on the same day that Hari [Krishna] departed from the earth the dark-bodied Kali age descended.}}</ref> and ''[[Brahma Purana]]'' (2.103.8)<ref>{{Cite book |chapter=Ch. 103, Episode of Krsna concluded, Sloka 8 |title=Brahma Purana |url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.98294/page/n285/mode/1up |volume=Part II |publisher=[[Motilal Banarsidass]] |year=1955 |page=515 |quote=It was on the day on which Krishna left the Earth and went to heaven that the Kali age, with time for its body set in.}}</ref> state that the day [[Krishna]] left the earth was the day that the ''[[Dvapara Yuga]]'' ended and the ''[[Kali Yuga]]'' began.}} Krishna's disappearance marks the end of [[Dvapara Yuga]] and the start of [[Kali Yuga]], which is dated to February 17/18, 3102 BCE.<ref>See: Matchett, Freda, ''"The Puranas"'', p 139 and Yano, Michio, ''"Calendar, astrology and astronomy"'</ref>

==Story==
As per the writing in [[Ramayana]], [[Rama]], i.e. [[Krishna]] in his earlier [[Rama]] Avatar ([[Avatar]]s) is supposed to have given a boon to a Vanar king [[Vali (Hindu mythology)]] whom Rama killed stealthily by shooting an arrow, while hiding behind a bush when Vali was engaged in a battle with his younger brother [[Sugriva]], thus fulfilling his promise of protecting Sugriva's life. The above action of the hunter in [[Krishna]] avatar ([[Avatar]]s) is supposed to be in compliance to the boon of [[Rama]] i.e. [[Krishna]] in his earlier Avatar. It is believed that Krishna left his footprints. It is a common site of pilgrimage for people who visit Somnath.{{citation needed|date=August 2017}}

==Location==
Bhalka Teerth is situated almost 4 kilometers away from the [[Somnath temple]]. Presently the government has planned to develop this temple also into a major tourist attraction.<ref name="bhalka-somnath"/>

Somnath/Veraval City/Bhalka is very well connected via road and rail network. Nearest railway station is Veraval<ref name="toi-1">{{cite web | url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/kolhapur/Addl-trains-chief-demand-at-rly-meet/articleshow/46053899.cms | title=Addl trains chief demand at rly meet | publisher=Times of India | date=Jan 29, 2015 | accessdate=7 April 2015}}</ref> and the nearest airports are [[Diu Airport|Diu]] & [[Rajkot Airport|Rajkot]]. Bus services are available from [[Ahmedabad]], [[Vadodara]], [[Rajkot]], [[Dwarka]] etc.

==Gallery==
<gallery>
BHALKA-04.jpg|Bhalka Teerth
BHALKA-07.jpg|Sign Board depicting the importance of the place
BHALKA-05.jpg|Sign Board depicting the importance of the place

</gallery>

==See also==
* [[Dwarka]]
* [[Mathura]]
* [[Vrindavan]]
* [[Barsana]]
* [[List of burial places of founders of religious traditions]]

==Notes==
{{Notelist|30em}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Sources==
* {{Citation|last=Bryant |first = Edwin F. |authorlink=Edwin Bryant (author) |year=2007 |title = Krishna: A Sourcebook |publisher = Oxford University Press |isbn = 978-0-19-514891-6|url = https://books.google.com/books?id=HVDqCkW1WpUC|volume=}}

{{Hindu temples in Gujarat}}
{{Krishna}}

[[Category:Krishna]]
[[Category:Hindu temples in Gujarat]]
[[Category:Samadhis]]
[[Category:Hindu holy cities]]
[[Category:Hindu pilgrimage sites]]
[[Category:Hindu pilgrimage sites in India]]
[[Category:Vaishnavism]]
[[Category:Religious tourism]]
[[Category:Religious tourism in India]]
[[Category:Krishna temples]]

Bhalka - Revision history

103.157.195.110 at 02:32, 20 January 2023