Modern Dwarka is one of the seven sacred towns (Sapta Puri) of Hinduism. Dwarkadhish Temple is dedicated to Lord Krishna, and established as a monastic center.

Search for its submerged part began in the 1930s, and the first archaeological excavation took place in 1963. Between 1983 and 1990 archaeologists discovered a fortified foundation on which the ancient city walls must have been built along the river banks. Stone blocks used for the construction, pillars and irrigation systems were found but a debate is still ongoing regarding the dating of the vestiges, either from 3,000 to 1,500 years BC or from the Middle Ages. See more.

Dwarka literally means gateway. Dwarka has been referred to throughout its history as “Mokshapuri”, “Dwarkamati”, and “Dwarkavati”. It is mentioned in the ancient epic period of the Mahabharata. According to legend, Krishna settled here after he defeated and killed his uncle Kamsa at Mathura.

Archaeological findings suggest the original temple Dwarkadhish Temple dedicated to Krishna was built in 200 BCE, and rebuilt and enlarged in the 15th–16th century.

An epigraphic reference ascribed to Garulaka Simhaditya, the son of Varahdas, the king of Dwarka, is inscribed on a copper plate dated to 574 CE, found in Palitana. The Greek writer of the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea referred to a place called Baraca, which has been interpreted as present-day Dwarka. A reference made in Ptolemy’s Geography identified Barake as an island in the Gulf of Kanthils, which has also been inferred to mean Dwarka.

It is suggested that Krishna stayed in Nandagram till he was 10 years old, then went to Mathura and lived there from 10 to 28 years and four months, and finally moved to Dwarka and lived there for 96 years and eight months, until he was 125 years old.

The Hindu writings say that when Krishna left the Earth to join the spiritual world, the age of Kali began and Dwarka and its inhabitants were submerged by the sea. The tales of the submersion can also evoke a tsunami like the one that struck South East Asia in 2004.