EMERGING DESTINATION – DWARKA

Largely known as a pilgrimage destination, Devbhumi Dwarka District offers multiple attractions for tourists like architectural heritage monuments, beaches, marine life, birdwatching sites, scuba diving sites and water sports. In recent years hotels have mushroomed in and around the temple town to make the most of the religious tourist traffic but the virgin beaches of the district are ideal destinations for investment in resorts, ecotourism camps and beachside restaurants.

In 2008 when I visited Dwarka there were few hotels that offered air-conditioned rooms and restaurants. We found an acceptable hotel called Dwarka Residency where I met Nirmal Samani, who was upbeat about the potential of Dwarka as a tourist destination. He explained, ‘there is a growing traffic of Vaishnav families from the northern states that is willing to spend on good hotels when on a pilgrimage or to combine religious tour with family travel. One of the attractions of my hotel is the multi-cuisine restaurant, when they get bored of eating thalis and local food they know they will get North Indian dishes, Indianised Chinese and western snacks at my hotel. In future, I see recreational tourism growing in Dwarka which has fine beaches like Okhamadhi, Shivrajpur and Positara-Mulvel.

Today, Nirmal proudly points to Mango Hotels – Select Dwarka, a resort-like hotel with 32 villa-style rooms set around a swimming pool, evidence that his predictions of better times for Dwarka were coming true. The resort has a spa and wide-ranging other facilities. The Kalpavriksha Restaurant has multiple cuisines on its menu. On recommendation from the team here we tried Mughlai food like the Dal Moradabadi (a piquant Moong Dal with ka seasonings and garnishing), a vegetarian version of the Haleem and rich desserts. They were excellent.
Over dinner at the Goverdhan Greens Resort, Shital Bhatia tells us he is a local of Devbhumi Dwarka District and enthusiastic about promoting it as a tourist destination. As we tuck into Kathiawadi food by the poolside at his property, he insists we should try the Osan, a moong kadhi , with khichdi. “Osan is popular in Sindh, Kutch and parts of Saurashtra. What we serve is the Dwarka style with distinctive spices’’, he explains. Apart from the culinary and cultural connect of the resort to Dwarka, Shital also takes pride in the lush greenness of his property which was one of the first resort-style hotels to open near Dwarka. ‘’Dwarka is one of the seven holiest cities for Hindus. It is one of the four Dhams together with Badhrinath, Puri and Rameshwaram that all Vaishnav devotees visit. This was part of Krishna’s coastal kingdom so there are numerous places of Krishna worship in this and neighbouring districts. Nageshwar is visited by Shaivites because it is considered by many to be one of the 12 Jyotirlingams’’, he states, adding, ‘because of this religious importance we do not lack for tourist flow at any time of the year. While hill stations and beach resorts are visited when the season is climatically suitable, and wildlife parks are often closed in certain months, religious tourists travel throughout the year. Promoting the varied attractions of Dwarka is a way to extend the stay of those tourists already proposing to visit Dwarka on pilgrimage, engaging family members and friends accompanying the devotee, and getting an increased flow of foreign and recreational tourists’’.

With a view to promoting Dwarka, Bhatia says a few hoteliers and other stakeholders of tourism in the district have established the Devbhoomi Dwarika Foundation. “As a group we have launched two tourist circuits – Divya Dwarika covering the Hindu holy places and Unseen Dwarka with natural and cultural attractions’’, Shital explains, elaborating, “with the growing number of hotels and tourist facilities in Dwarka, it is also poised for growth as an events destinations. Already, my resort is often booked for ritualistic events like family pujas by Vaishnavite families. With so many hotels and resorts in a 10km radius Dwarka is also ideal for conferences, corporate events and destination weddings that can include seaside parties, boat parties, pujas and guest engagement in sightseeing. We propose to promote Dwarka for destination weddings in the future’’.

The Fern Sattva Hotel and Resort, a few minutes away, can be an ideal venue for such events with its lawns and banquet halls. The Victorian-inspired façade of the Fern Sattva has gabled roofs and classical columns. From the impressive portico we walked into the chandelier-lit lobby. My suite had a living room, a bedroom with a king-size bed, furnishings in pastels and tropical colours, television and DVD, a dining table and a balcony with sitting arrangements overlooking the swimming pool. In the morning, we descended using the elevator to the Tandul Bhog Restaurant to tuck into a sumptuous buffet breakfast. Kishan Kotecha, whose family owns this resort says the restaurant gets its name from the beaten rice, called tandul, that Sudama brought for Lord Krishna. Tandul Kheer is therefore one of the signature dishes of the hotel. “My family loves nature and therefore ecotourism activities are an integral part of our resorts at Gir, Polo Forest, Dwarka and the upcoming one at Little Rann. Dwarka area is excellent for marine life and birdwatching. We have laid much emphasis on our dive centre, from swimming pool to the Arabian Sea’’.

While Baradia nine km before Dwarka has become a resort destination, there are many good hotels closer to the temple town. Roma Kristo is a smart hotel near the gate of the old town of Dwarka which is themed on Rama and Krishna with pictures and paintings showing scenes from their lives. We enjoyed a flavourful Kathiawadi lunch at their restaurant. Cygnett Inn is a relaxing hotel with a tea and coffee lounge, great to relax over high tea. With a growing number of tourists from different parts of India visiting Dwarka, the range of cuisines at hotels have also increased. At the VITS Devbhumi Hotel in Dwarka we are treated to excellent South Indian snacks at Kamats. The house special here is Vitthal Vada named for Vitthal Kamat, the hotelier who founded the VITS brand.
The closest deluxe hotel to the Arabian Sea and the Dwarkadish temple whose shikaras still dominate Dwarka’s townscape, Lords Eco-Inn has some excellent North Indian food. The Dal Makhani here is among the best in Saurashtra. We ascended to the rooftop to enjoy the views and the sea breeze. From here, it is a short walk to the Dwarkadish temple which is the main reason for most tourists to visit Dwarka.

Mansukhbhai Parmar of Dwarika Hotel , one of the best in the Dwarka town, says that many religious places are also part of the Unseen Dwarka circuit. “I hail from Tupani, village near Dwarka where the Charanganga temple is located. This is a Rann-like area with saline land and arid landscapes yet there is one freshwater spring. This spring is said to be created by Lord Krishna using his foot to get potable water for his wife Rukmani when they were escorting a sage to Dwarka. The sage was enraged at being disturbed and cursed them that their temples would be more than three km apart – which is true today’, he says, “Bet Dwarka island is part of the pilgrim route, but apart from the temples it also has dargahs and the Sikh Gurdvara of Bhai Mokkham Singh, one of Guru Govind Singh’s Panch Pyare or five followers’’.

We set off to visit Bet Dwarka taking the boat organized by Rahemat Cruise Seva from the historical Okha Jetty. Gulls wheeled and cavorted around the jetty, picking up tidbits from the passengers of the ferries and fishing boats at the jetty. The boat journey was serene and we enjoyed views of shore birds at the sandbars and the Arabian Sea – the open sea on one side, the Gulf of Kutch to our east. The boat owner Shabbir Bhatti had arranged for us thepla with bungla batata as also tava-fried pomfret and prawn in local style. The main aim of the trip to was to spot dolphins – we saw a pair of humpbacked dolphins surfacing for air before diving back into the sea. “Bottle-nosed dolphins, spinner dolphins and porpoise are also sometimes seen during these sea tours’’, says Mustak Mepani of Hotel President, Jamnagar, “ The Gulf of Kutch from Okha to Jamnagar is a paradise for naturalists who love marine life and birding.

From stunningly beautiful coral reefs to marine creatures to great flocks of birds, there is much to explore here with much scope for ecotourism investment. I propose to invest in small self-sustaining eco-friendly beach tourism facilities. Many beautiful beaches, Okhamadhi is wonderful for walking on soft sands, gazing at the sunset, while Shivrajpur Beach is simply serene – the water is calm and superb for swimming in the shallows, the beach is white-sanded and this is the first diving destination in Gujarat’’.
Currently, camps at Shivrajpur are operated by dive centres like Green Soldiers Scuba Network, Divine Scuba and Golden Dwarka. Internationally-certified diver Nirav Parikh, an ace scuba diver and filmmaker, was one of the pioneers of scuba diving in Dwarka. Says Nirav, “at Shivrajpur a person from Gujarat or the hinterland of North India can learn or experience scuba diving at a fraction of the amount he or she would spend to visit the well-known diving destinations of the Indian Ocean or Andaman Sea. While the water is not as clear as the recreational diving hotspots because it is rich in plankton, the marine life is very rich’’. Nirav recommends a minimum of three days for scuba diving, starting with a lesson in a pool and then progressively going out deeper at sea. He takes us out in a rubber dinghy to a sandbar where he drops anchor. With him as the dive master guiding us down towards the coral reefs we experience the marine world 25 to 30 feet under the sea. Jet-skiing and ATV rides are also on offer at Shivrajpur.

Says Nirav, “I am keen to promote scuba diving and ecotourism along the Dwarka coast. These tourism activities can generate much employment for the vulnerable communities living along the coast, and for these activities”.
Handicrafts and cottage industries too offer alternative livelihoods for the pastoral and coastal communities of Okhamandal region north of Dwarka. Okhai is an NGO that is one of the CSR arms of Tata Chemicals. The salt works started along the Okha to Dwarka coastal area by the Maharaja of Baroda was taken over by Tata to build the chemical complex for soda ask and other basic chemicals. The historical Tata Chemicals complex at Mithapur is the base for Okhai that has helped build self-help groups of Bhopa Rabari women who do beautiful embroidery, patchwork and appliqué. Okhai has also organized self-help groups of women of other communities in Okhamandal. They have also developed coconut fibre products as a cottage industry in the region. The range at their Okhai store encompasses clothing, accessories and home décor. The team from Tata Chemicals Society of Rural Development says they recognize the importance of promoting tourism for socio-economic development of the local communities.
Concludes Mustak, “this is a good time to invest in hospitality at Dwarka. I see much potential in starting restaurants along the seacoast too’’.
Photography credits: Antara Boruah, Henil Patel and Pankaj Upadhyay