Dwarkadheesh Temple, Dwarka

Dwarka is one of the four Char Dham of Adi Shankaracharya and the legendary kingdom-city of Lord Krishna, who is said to have ruled here after fleeing Mathura. The Dwarkadheesh Temple ('Temple of the King of Dwarka') is the principal shrine — a 5-storey, 38-metre temple built in the 16th century on a 2,500-year-old foundation. The presiding deity is Krishna in his Trivikrama form. The temple's signature feature is the 25-metre-tall multicoloured flag (dhwaja) atop the shikhara — changed five times daily and visible for kilometres. The flag carries a 12-star, sun-and-moon emblem and is changed by a hereditary family of priests using a temple-controlled rope system. Below the temple, the Gomti river joins the Arabian Sea — pilgrims traditionally bathe at the Gomti Ghat before visiting the temple. The Bet Dwarka island shrine 30 km away (Krishna's residential palace site, accessible by ferry), the Nageshwar Jyotirlinga 16 km away, and the underwater archaeology of the submerged old Dwarka are all part of the broader Dwarka pilgrimage circuit.