imported>Certes: Disambiguating links to Alexander (link changed to Alexander the Great) using DisamAssist.

2020-10-25T00:09:49Z

Disambiguating links to Alexander (link changed to Alexander the Great) using DisamAssist.

New page

{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2019}}
{{Use Indian English|date=February 2019}}
{{Infobox settlement
| name = Narayan Sarovar
| other_name =
| nickname =
| settlement_type = Village
| image_skyline =Narayan Sarovar, awesome temple.JPG
| image_alt =
| image_caption =Narayan Sarovar
| pushpin_map = India Gujarat#India
| pushpin_label_position =
| pushpin_map_alt =
| pushpin_map_caption = Location in Gujarat, India
| coordinates = {{coord|23.675|N|68.538|E|display=inline,title}}
| subdivision_type = Country
| subdivision_name = {{flag|India}}
| subdivision_type1 = [[States and territories of India|State]]
| subdivision_name1 = [[Gujarat]]
| subdivision_type2 = [[List of districts of India|District]]
| subdivision_name2 = [[Kutch|Kutch district]]
| established_title = 
| established_date =
| founder =
| named_for =
| government_type =
| governing_body =
| unit_pref = Metric
| area_footnotes =
| area_rank =
| area_total_km2 = 0.759
| elevation_footnotes =
| elevation_m = 8.285
| population_total =
| population_as_of =
| population_rank =
| population_density_km2 = auto
| population_demonym =
| population_footnotes =
| demographics_type1 = Languages
| demographics1_title1 = Official
| demographics1_info1 = [[Gujarati language|Gujarati]], [[Hindi language|Hindi]]
| timezone1 = [[Indian Standard Time|IST]]
| utc_offset1 = +5:30
| postal_code_type = [[Postal Index Number|PIN]]
| postal_code = 370627
| area_code_type = Telephone code
| area_code = 2832
| registration_plate = GJ-12
| website = {{URL|gujaratindia.com}}
| footnotes =
}}

'''Narayan Sarovar''' or '''Narayansar''' is a village and place of pilgrimage for Hindus on the [[Kori Creek]]. It is located in [[Lakhpat]] [[taluka]] of [[Kutch district]], [[Gujarat]], India. The ancient [[Koteshwar, Kutch|Koteshwar]] temple lies only 4 km away.

==Temples==
The temples, the chief buildings in the place, are surrounded by a fortified wall, outside of which cluster the villagers' houses. It was formerly connected with the mainland by a yellow stone causeway, about 3000 feet long and fifteen wide, built in 1863 by a [[Bhatia (caste)|Bhatia]] of [[Bombay]], named Gokaldas Liladhar Padsha, at a cost of about £2500 (1,00,000 [[Kutch kori]]s).<ref name="gbp">{{cite book|title=Gazetteer of the Bombay Presidency: Cutch, Palanpur, and Mahi Kantha|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dLUBAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA210|year=1880|publisher=Printed at the Government Central Press|pages=245–248}}</ref> Now the new causeway is built.

It was in very ancient times famous for its great lake. This, agreeing with the account of the lake found by [[Alexander the Great|Alexander]], and perhaps lasting till the change of the course of the [[Indus]] river (about 1000), was in part renewed by the [[1819 Rann of Kutch earthquake|earthquake of 1819]]. Beside the lake, there was, from early times, a temple of Adinarayan in the village. For long under priests of the Kanphata sect, the temple was, about 1550 ([[Samvat]] 1607), wrested from them by a Sanyasi or Atit named Narangar from [[Junagadh]]. Narangar made long and broad embankments about the pool, an oblong sheet of water, 1056 feet by 990, divided by perforated stone walls into a number of bathing places, and furnished on all sides except the east with flights of stone steps, and surrounded by rest-houses.<ref name="gbp"/>

There are seven stone temples in a paved courtyard of 164 feet by 62{{1/2}}. The temples are approached from the lake by flights of stone steps and surrounded by a strong wall. Vagheli Mahakunvar; the wife of Rao [[Deshalji I]], Rao of [[Cutch State]]; displeased with the priests of [[Dwarka]], after taking counsel with her Brahmans, determined to raise Narayansar to be a place of rival sanctity.<ref name="gbp"/><ref name=w/>

Accordingly, in 1734, she first built the temples of Lakshminarayan and Trikamray in the same style as the Dwarka temples, assigning them the revenues of certain villages and the proceeds of certain taxes, and then those of Adinarayan, Govardhannath, Dwarkanath, and Lakshmiji.<ref name="gbp"/>

The temple of Trikamray, in style and shape resembling that at [[Koteshwar, Kutch|Koteshwar]], 72 feet long 68{{1/2}} broad and 61 high, stands on a 5 feet 9 inches high platform, and has three side porches with a large one in the centre, all capped with domes resting on twelve feet high pillars. The central porch is 21 feet square, and each of the side porches 9 feet 9 inches. The 1819 earthquake threw down the central dome, but it has since been rebuilt. The space between the central dome and the shrine is paved with white and black marble. In the east screen wall of the shrine is a marble plate with an inscription. The doors are plated with silver. In the shrine, on a silver throne, stands a black marble image of Trikamray. Under the idol throne is a black marble figure of Vishnu's eagle, [[Garuda]], with clasped hands kneeling on one leg. Over the image of Trikamray are forty gold and silver parasols, the offerings of devotees.<ref name="gbp"/>

The other five temples built by Vagheli Mahakunvar form, along with the more lately built temple of Kalyanray, a row of six domes supported by fourteen pillars, and forty-eight pilasters, with carving on the bases, shafts, and capitals. The brackets are scrolled volutes and the side pillars of one dome serve to support the lintel of the next, and the corresponding pillars of the next act similarly for the third dome. The temples at the two ends have screen walls under their domes with doors, but the rest have a common verandah with entrances in the fronts the space on the two sides of each entrance being closed with a screen of wooden lattice. Each of the temples has an inscription. Lakshmiji's temple is without any special feature. Dwarkanath's or Ranchhodji's temple has a small shrine opposite to it with a large image of [[Garuda]], holding a weapon whose point impales a cobra. The third shrine, to Govardhannath, is simple. The fourth, to Adinarayan, has a black stone pavement in the gallery. Opposite it is a small lately built shrine of Gopalji. The last, to Lakshminarayan, has silver-plated doors and an idol throne and canopy of silver. In a line with these five temples is the temple of Kalyanray built in 1828 (Samvat 1885) by Rao [[Deshalji II]]. The stone and wood frames of the entrance are richly carved, and the doors are plated with silver in which flowers, fruit, leaves, and creepers are carved with much skill. The canopy of the god stands on a pedestal, and is supported on four silver pillars with fine spiral flutes and richly carved friezes, bases, and shafts. The statue is of polished black marble.<ref name="gbp"/><ref name=rpj>[[KGK Community|Shree Kutch Gurjar Kshatriya Samaj]] : A brief History & Glory of our fore-fathers : Page :27 by Raja Pawan Jethwa. (2007) Calcutta.</ref>

Besides these built temples, the soft sandstone near the fort has at various times been hollowed into shrines and caves. They are known as the Ramgupha, Lakshmangupha, and Sheshgupha caves. From the brittleness of the rock they are of no great size.<ref name="gbp"/>

==Religious significance==
According to Hindu theology, there are five sacred lakes; collectively called ''Panch-Sarovar''; [[Mansarovar]], [[Siddhpur|Bindu Sarovar]], Narayan Sarovar, [[Pampa Sarovar]] and [[Pushkar Lake|Pushkar Sarovar]].<ref name=w>[https://books.google.com/books?id=nxtnsT8CdZ4C&pg=PA112&dq=narayan+sarovar&hl=en&ei=jZa1TbzPDsrKrAe0j-3IDQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=9&ved=0CFIQ6AEwCA#v=onepage&q=narayan%20sarovar&f=false] Encyclopaedia of tourism resources in India, Volume 2 By Manohar Sajnani</ref> As per legends, one of the holy rivers of India, [[Sarasvati River]] had an out let in to sea near present-day Narayan Sarovar and waters of lake were filled with holy waters of River Saraswati, that is why this place was and is still considered as one of the five holy lakes by Hindus.<ref name=rpj/><ref>[http://www.hindunet.org/hindu_history/sarasvati/sarasvati_river/history.html One outlet of the Saraswati into the sea was at Lokpat which was also a major seat of learning and a port. Further downstream was Narayan Sarovar which is mentioned in the Mahabharta as a holy place.]</ref><ref name=c>[https://web.archive.org/web/20110827100221/http://sktourism.info/gujarat/koteshwar%20%26%20narayan_sarovar.html ]</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=P7EHTBl_pyQC&q=koteshwar%2C+kutch&pg=PA326 |title=Gujarat–Daman–Diu: A Travel Guide |date=1998-01-01 |isbn=9788125013839 |accessdate=2015-07-27|author1=Ward }}</ref>

[[Vallabhacharya]] visited the place during his lifetime as such the site is sacred also for the follower of [[Pushtimarg]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nathdwara.in/narayansarovar_baithkji.php |title=Narayan Sarovar Baithakji |publisher=Nathdwara.in |accessdate=2015-07-27}}</ref>

==Fairs==

Two yearly fairs are held here, one in Chaitra (April -May) and the other from the 10th to the 15th of Kartik (November- December), when, from western India, thousands of pilgrims come to perform funeral ceremonies on the bank of the Narayan Sarovar.<ref name="gbp"/><ref name=c/>

Accommodation facilities are available for pilgrims.<ref name=c/>

In 1981, the area around the village is notified as a wildlife sanctuary, [[Narayan Sarovar Sanctuary]]. The red antelopes or [[chinkara]]s are found in the sanctuary.<ref name=c/><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.eicinformation.org/data/narayan.htm |title=NARAYAN SAROVAR SANCTUARY – KUTCH DIST. GUJARAT |access-date=25 April 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080221194737/http://www.eicinformation.org/data/narayan.htm |archive-date=21 February 2008 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

==Gallery==
<gallery mode="packed" heights="134">
File:Narayan Sarover Temple, Kachchh - panoramio.jpg|Main Temple at Narayan Sarover
File:Narayan sarovar2.jpg|Inside view of Main Temple at Narayan Sarovar
File:Narayan Sarovar temple 2014-01-27 13-21.jpg|Vishnu temple at Narayan Sarovar
File:Narayan sarovar3.jpg|Temple at Narayan sarovar
File:Narayan sarovar6.jpg|Guesthouse and Bhojanalay at Narayan Sarovar
File:Narayan sarovar1.jpg|Old Entry gate
File:Narayan Sarovar.jpg|Narayan Sarovar
File:Chinkara.jpg|Chinkara at Narayan Sarovar Sanctuary
</gallery>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

* This article incorporates [[Public Domain]] text from {{cite book|title=Gazetteer of the Bombay Presidency: Cutch, Palanpur, and Mahi Kantha |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dLUBAAAAYAAJ|year=1880|publisher=Printed at the Government Central Press|pages=245–248}}

{{Hydrography of Gujarat}}

[[Category:Vishnu temples]]
[[Category:Hindu pilgrimage sites in India]]
[[Category:Geography of Kutch district]]
[[Category:Sacred lakes of India]]
[[Category:Lakes of Gujarat]]
[[Category:Tourist attractions in Kutch district]]
[[Category:Villages in Kutch district]]

Narayan Sarovar - Revision history

imported>Certes: Disambiguating links to Alexander (link changed to Alexander the Great) using DisamAssist.