Ranchhodrai Dakor Temple

Getting there

• By air

  The nearest airport is in Vadodara, 78 km away.

• By train

  Dakor Railway Station is the nearest convenient station. Nadiad and Anand are the nearest major stations.

• By road

  Dakor is 43 km from Anand and 35 km from Nadiad. Private and ST buses run from Ahmedabad, Vadodara and Anand.

Why devotees come here

Ranchhodrai Dakor Temple is a Vaishnava temple in Dakor, Thasra taluka of Kheda district, Gujarat. It is dedicated to Ranchhodraiji, a form of Krishna, and is believed to hold the original murti from the Dwarkadhish Temple in Dwarka.

According to tradition, the temple holds the original murti from the Dwarkadhish Temple in Dwarka. The legend is told in the Dakor Mahatmya, and it is told as legend, not as settled history. It says a Rajput named Bodano, also called Vijayasimha, used to visit Dwarkadhish at Dwarka but lived in Dakor, and that he brought the image from Dwarka to Dakor.

The current temple was built by Gopal Tambvekar, a Brahmin from Poona who was a devotee of Venkatesha. After the region came under the Gaekwads of Baroda, the rulers patronized the temple and its sevaks. The temple has four major shikharas capped in gold, and it is covered with 8 domes and 24 turrets. Its central dome rises to 27 m.

The temple also keeps festivals linked to the image. In Ratha Yatra, an idol rides on an elephant and the Gomati is circled. On Kuñja Ekadashi, a Krishna idol goes on horseback to Lakshmi's temple. Devadivali marks the day Ranchhodrai arrived in Dakor.

Tips for your visit

• Dunkanath Mahadev and Gomtighat are also in Dakor.
• Padukaji, Radhakunda and Shardamatha are other places in Dakor if you have time to spare.

Questions people ask