Book Reviewed: The lost city of Dvaraka, by S.R. Rao

Rediscovering the holy city of Dvaraka (four stars)

This book documents the underwater archaeology of the holy city of Dvaraka lost to the rising waters of the Arabian Sea. The city is known to have gone through three cycles of burials under sea since 17th century BCE. Artifacts have been discovered in underwater archaeological expeditions with the supervision of the author of this book. This work is partly academic: An overview of the artifacts from seven expeditions is given at the end of the book for the benefit of the reader. The buildings uncovered in the seabed on either side of submerged palaeo-channel of Gomati River near the gulf of Kuchchh off the coast of Gujarat are discussed and their attributes evaluated.

From 1985 to 1989, a search for the submerged structures and other relics of ancient Dvaraka resulted in the discovery of some structural remains forming a part of fortified port town with warehouse and other structures. The copper and bronze artifacts shed light on the metallurgy of that period. The onshore excavation yielded evidences for prehistoric settlements of 16th century BCE destroyed by the sea. The internal evidence from Mahabharata, Harivamsa, Bhagavata Purana and Vishnu Purana has been used evaluate the underwater artifacts.

The number of antiquities recovered from the sea in these expeditions is not large but the few that have been found provide information to reconstruct the history of Dvaraka. The inscriptions and the ceramic evidence suggest the signs (inscriptions) belong to about 15 to 14 century BCE. The author concludes that inscriptions indicate the worship of sea god Varuna. Two interesting sculptures found under water perhaps belonged to a temple, and one of the statue found is assigned to Rig-Vedic god Vishnu in Trivikrama form. But the date of the sculpture is not determined.

In conclusion the evidence suggests that the site was inhabited from 18th century BCE and it is a contemporary site with neighboring Late Harappan towns such as Nageshwar, Prabhas and Rangpur.

According to Mahabharata, Krishna knew that Dvaraka would be submerged in the sea and left with his family members. Dvaraka was lost to sea after Krishna left his mortal existence. According to Skanda Purana, Vajranabha, the great grandson of Krishna rebuilt the temple at Dvaraka.

The period of Mahabharata is certainly after the period of Rig-Veda and the Harappan Civilization since Rig-Veda does not mention Mahabharata or Krishna. It is suggested that the Mahabharata may belong to 17th century BCE, a post-Harappan Era.

One of the short-coming of this work is the limited number carbon-dating and the archeological and inscriptional artifacts discovered in this study are insufficient to make tall claims. The available technology must be used to learn more about the holy city of Dvaraka.