🛕 Bhalka

Bhalka Temple, also known as Bhalka Tirtha, is a Hindu temple located in Veraval, Gujarat on the western coast of India. It marks the location where Krishna concluded his earthly pastimes and completed his ascension to his spiritual abode. According to the Mahabharata and the Bhagavata Purana, a hunter named Jara mistook Krishna's partly visible foot for a deer from a distance and released an arrow, an event that served as the catalyst for Krishna's departure from the physical world. In the epic and Puranas, this event is commemorated as the Shri Krishna Nijdham Prasthan Leela. Both texts state that this was a voluntary spiritual exit; upon approaching, the hunter found Krishna already seated in his four-armed divine form before his ascension. Bhalka Tirtha is part of the Lord Krishna pilgrimage circuit, which includes Mathura, Vrindavan, Barsana, Govardhan, Kurukshetra, and Dwarka.