Dwarka to Somnath via Porbandar — Temple Stops & 7 pm Aarti (2026)

Dwarka to Somnath is about 235 km by road along NH 51 through Porbandar, roughly 4 to 4.5 hours of driving and closer to 6 with the temple stops. Leave Dwarka after the 6:30 am Mangla Aarti and you reach Somnath by 4 pm, in time for the 7 pm Sandhya Aarti and the Jay Somnath show.

🛣️ The road, leg by leg

You leave Dwarka south-east on NH 51, the coastal highway that runs the whole way to Somnath. The road hugs the Arabian Sea through Porbandar and Madhavpur, then turns inland a little through Mangrol and Chorwad before Veraval. Somnath is in Prabhas Patan, about 6 km past Veraval station.

Map apps show a little under 4 hours of pure driving. Two temple stops, lunch and the crawl through Veraval add the rest. The older route via Jamnagar and Rajkot is nearly 200 km longer; nobody takes it unless they are going home in between.

🌅 The morning in Dwarka before you leave

Dwarkadhish opens at 6:30 am with the Mangla Aarti and shuts at 1 pm for the afternoon. Take Mangla, watch a dhwaja go up on the shikhar, and be on the road by 8 am. The full aarti schedule explains the eight darshans of the day.

Nageshwar Jyotirlinga and Bet Dwarka lie north of the town, in the opposite direction from Somnath. Together they take 3 to 4 hours with the Sudarshan Setu drive. Do them the day before, as our Nageshwar and Bet Dwarka guide suggests, so that the Somnath day starts clean.

🙏 Harsiddhi Mata at Gandhvi — the Shakti stop

About 75 km out of Dwarka and 30 km before Porbandar, a signboard points to Harsiddhi Mata, the kuldevi of many Saurashtra families. The present temple stands at the foot of Koyla hill near the old port of Miyani, and the original shrine is on the hilltop, a climb of roughly 200 to 300 steps.

The temple is credited to the 13th-century merchant Jagdu Shah.

Plan 30 to 45 minutes at the foot-hill temple, or an hour if the family climbs. Morning is the right time; the afternoon sun on the hill is hard on elders. There is tea and a small market at the gate.

🛕 Porbandar and Madhavpur on the way

Porbandar comes at about 104 km, two hours from Dwarka. The stop here is Sudama Mandir, the only temple in India to Krishna's friend Sudama, a white marble shrine near the town centre. Fifteen to twenty minutes is enough, and the town has the best lunch options on the route.

Fifty-five km further is Madhavpur Ghed, where tradition places Krishna's marriage to Rukmini. The Madhavrai temple stands by the sea, and the village fills for its mela at Ram Navami. The rest of the year it is a quiet 20-minute stop. From here Somnath is about 73 km and an hour and a half.

🪔 The evening at Somnath

Arrive by 5 pm. Phones, cameras and bags go into the free cloakroom before security, and the Trust bans shorts and short skirts inside. Walk in through the metal detectors, take darshan of the Jyotirlinga, and find a place on the sea-facing side before the aarti crowd builds.

The sea wind at the evening aarti turns cold from December, so carry a shawl. Sleep near the temple and take the quieter 7 am aarti before Bhalka Tirth, about 4 km away, and Triveni Sangam the next morning.

🧭 Which should you choose?

• With elders: a private car, Harsiddhi from the foot-hill temple only, lunch at Porbandar, Somnath by 4 pm. No climbs, no bus changes.

• On a tight schedule: skip the stops and drive straight; 4.5 hours puts you in Somnath for the noon aarti if you leave at 8 am.

• On a budget: GSRTC buses leave Dwarka from about 5 am, run every few hours, take 5.5 to 6 hours and cost roughly ₹190 to ₹250. They reach Somnath town, a short auto ride from the temple.

• Overnight by train: the 19252 Okha–Somnath Express leaves Dwarka at 8:46 pm and reaches Veraval at 5:15 am, via Rajkot. You are 6 km from the temple for the 7 am aarti, but you lose the coastal road and both stops.

• Avoid: leaving Dwarka after lunch. You miss the Sandhya Aarti and drive the coastal stretch in the dark.

📅 In the next two months

Diwali is Sunday 8 November and the Gujarati New Year follows on the 9th, when Dwarkadhish's Annakut draws the year's biggest crowd; our Diwali at Dwarka plan has the hours.

At the other end, Somnath's Kartik Purnima fair runs 21 to 24 November, with the midnight mahapooja on the full-moon night of Tuesday 24 November. Both weeks need rooms booked now.

🏨 Where to stay

Sleep in Somnath within walking distance of the temple, in Prabhas Patan, so the show, the 7 am aarti and the cloakroom are all a five-minute walk. Veraval town is cheaper but 6 km away, and the autos stop early. The next morning it is about 190 km back to Rajkot on the road through Junagadh.

Leave Dwarka with the Mangla bells and reach Somnath with the sea wind. Jai Dwarkadhish, Jai Somnath.