An Oasis of spirituality - Abode of Sri Ranchodraiji at Dakor

Dakor is a small town situated in Kheda district of Gujarat state famous for it's prominent & grandeur temple of Shree Ranchodraiji. Dakor is approximately 84 kms from Ahmedabad, 66 kms from Vadodra and around 34 kms from Nadiad & 43 kms from Anand. It has road connectivity with every major town of Gujarat. Dakor is considered to be among the Panch Dwarkas (places associated with Lord Krishna) and this city is held in high regard by the devotees of Lord Krishna. Every year countless devotees visit the temple and take blessings from their favorite deity. 

Earlier this town was known as Danakpur or Danakpuri due to presence of Lord Shiva temple known as Dankanath Mahadev temple. This town used to crackle with large number of khakhra trees (Butea monosperma) and was therefore also called as "Khakhariu gaam". It is also said that Rishi Dank had his hermitage here on the banks of lake Gomti.

Present day temple of Ranchodji was built in 1772 by Gopalrai Jagannath Ambekar, a shroff of a Peshwa court in Poona. He had a dream to built a vast and magnificent temple. The main idol is in black touchstone, richly adorned with gold & jewels. The throne as well as doors and windows of inner sanctum of the temple are a masterpiece in woodcarving plated in silver and gold which was presented by Gaekwad's of Baroda. Divinity of Ranchodji is similar to divinity of Dwarkadish in Dwarka, both being made of blackstone. The main gate of the temple overlooks the banks of lake Gomti but has now become crowded though. The gates leads into a huge courtyard and as tradition would have it, drummers sit atop the upper floor of gate in the music room called "Takorkhana" where music is played on shehnai and drums daily every 3 hours. There are three main gates for devotees and the temple is built on a raised platform which is typical of medieval Gujarati temple architecture. 

In the temple courtyard, one can see two tall deep jyoti stambhs which houses a total of 1500 deeps which are lit during main Hindu festival. I am sure 1500 diyas lit at the same time would be sight to behold.

The temple darshans open at 6.45 am and closes by around 12 noon during which there are five darshans and aarti is performed. In evenings darshans resume at 4.15 pm and temple closes by 7.30 pm during which there are 3 darshans followed by aarti. This rituals of different darshans & aartis are similar to what is followed in all Krishna temples. But during Hindu festivals mainly like Krishna Janmotsav, Holi, Diwali week etc and also on full moon days Dakor town is transformed, with lakhs of devotees throng for darshan. The day of Sharad purnima which falls after end of Navratri festival is considered the most auspicious day as it is believed the day on which Lord Krishna came to Dakor as Ranchodrai with his great devotee known as Bodana.  

The History of Bodana
There is a famous legend associated with the religious city of Dakor. It is said that Vijayandand Bodana, a Rajput from Dakor and a relentless devotee of Lord Krishna, used to make a trip to Dwarka on foot every six months. He continued this ritual unfailingly until the age of 72, when Lord Krishna himself indicated to him in a dream that he would not need to make the journey for long. It is said that Krishna asked Bodana to bring a along a bullock cart on his last trip to Dwarka and it was then that the idol of Krishna removed itself from the Dwarka temple and accompanied Bodana to Dakor. 

Later, when the Guli Brahmans of Dwarka came to know about the missing idol, they accidentally killed Bodana. On the intervention of Lord Krishna, they agreed to accept gold equivalent to the weight of the idol of Krishna, which was to be paid by Bodana’s poor widow. However, when the idol was weighed, it miraculously became as light as to match the weight of the lady’s nose ring. Even though the Guli Brahmans were disappointed, Lord Krishna consoled them by assuring that they would find a similar idol in Dwarka after affixed period of time. To this day the idol of Lord Krishna remains in Dakor, which people visit in large numbers to seek his blessings. More on legend of Bodana is here. 

As at Badrinathji in North and Tirupati Balaji in South of India, also at Dakor, the temple of Goddess Lakshmi, wife of lord is situated outside the main temple complex. Lakshmiji temple is situated in residential part of town at a little distance. It is believed that the lord visits his wife every Friday. To depict this visit a courtly procession with palkhi of Lord Ranchodrai leaves main temple with its devotees every Friday down the by-lanes of Dakor town to unite the couple. This unique procession is taken out on all Friday's of the year and this ritual is as old as the existence of the temple.

Goddess Laxmiji

Shree Ranchodraiji

The idol of Ranchodraiji is so realistic that its hard to get your eyes off. You can feel the waves of devotion in your heart and the devotee is bound to be spell bound by the aura of the Lord.

The town of Dakor is also famous for its legendary and unique street food. Also called "GOTAS of Dakor" which are typically fried balls of dough mixed with array of spices. The streets of the town are lined with shops selling instant mixes of the dough for the balls (Gotas) and another famous Gujarati snack Khaman. One literally gets attracted to the unique deep frying smell of this snack in temple town.

The famous shop "Bapalal Maganlal Vallabhdas", situated close to the temple complex on Gomti ghat is run by 6th generation of that legendary person who invented the unique recipe for this snack and which today has become world famous. This family also runs shops selling only this snack - Dakor Gotas in various other towns of Gujarat like Rajkot and Ahmedabad.

There is always a huge crowd in and around this shop either buying or feasting on the freshly fried balls. The yummy fried balls are usually savoured with curd mixed with red chilli powder or green chillies.

Dakor being an ancient town, one can still find streets lined with old houses typically called Haveli's but sadly many of them are in dilapidated conditions. The doors, windows of these houses still stand out as compared to the new constructions which is sadly fused together with these old houses. 

The town economy is centred around the pilgrims visiting the famous temple but also there quite a few shops around the town selling brass artefacts which are used in temples and also at home. There is also a cottage industry where locals manufacture items which are typically used in pooja's and rituals at home.

On my visit, I came across one street vendor selling toys made out of wood which was rare sight as one typically will never find them in major cities and towns but here since lot of pilgrims visit from small towns and villages from length and breath of Gujarat. So there is still a market for this dying craft.

One unique temple located here on the ghats of river Gomti is dedicated for devotees who have typically taken a mannat (vow) at the main temple and on fulfilment of that vow they come here and do offerings of items to deity according some weight. The items offered today are typically things used in temple like ghee, jaggery, rice or at times coins etc. During my discussion with trustee here, he informed that in old times kings, royals or rich people would visit this place on fulfilment of their vow and offer gold & silver coins or ornaments equal to their own weight.

The other attractions of Dakor town are

• Galteshwar Shiva temple which is a Shiva temple of Solanki era around 16 kms from Dakor. Situated on the confluence of river Mahi and Galati. This temple is treasure house of Solanki era architecture. Even today the Shiva linga in the temple is constantly sprinkled with water from the spring of River Galati.

• Danknath Mahadev temple.
• Rabari Samaj temple.
• Temple dedicated to Bodana.
• Mahaprabhuji Bhaitak.

Travel guide to Dakor

By Road: It's 66 kms from Vadodra, 35 kms from Nadiad and 43 kms from Anand. Private and ST buses are available from all major cities in Gujarat.
By Rail: Nadiad and Anand are the nearest station while there is local slow train station at Umreth which is 7 kms away.
By Air: Nearest airport would be at Vadodra and Ahmedabad.