Sacred Places of
Interest
Introduction
Krishna Balarama Mandir and ISKCON
Kaliya Ghata
Radha Madan Mohan Banke
Bihari Radha Vallabha
Seva Kunja
Imli Tala Radha
Damodara, Jiva and Rupa Goswami's Samadhi's and Bhajan Kutira
Radha Syamasundara Radha
Raman Radha Gokulanada
Kesi Ghata
Radha Gopinatha Gopisvara
Mahadeva Vamsi Vata
Radha Govinda
Nandagram Varsana
Parikrama Map
This Deity was established by Srila
Rupa Gosvami
who was ordered by Lord Chaitanya to excavate all the lost holy places of
Vrndavana. Five thousand years earlier, Lord Krishna's grandson, Vajranaba,
installed a number of important Deities in Vrndavana, Govindaji was one of these
Deities. Rupa Gosvami searched all over Vrndavana to locate the Yogapith, the
resting place of the original Deity of Govindaji, but after months of searching,
the Deity could not be found. Rupa Gosvami, feeling disappointed, came and sat
by the bank of the Yamuna and shedding tears, began calling the name of Lord
Chaitanya - “Ha Chaitanya, Ha Chaitanya” (Oh Chaitanya). Suddenly, Lord
Krishna in the guise of a beautiful brijvasi
boy appeared and informed Rupa Gosvami that a cow came every day to a nearby
hillock, and emptied its milk into a hole on the hilltop. He asked Rupa to
accompany him to the place and see what might be in the hole. Rupa Gosvami
followed the boy and upon reaching the spot, the boy disappeared. Looking within
the milk drenched hole, Rupa Gosvami immediately fell unconscious in a wave of
ecstatic emotions. When he recovered, he summoned the local people who excavated
the hole and found the beautiful Deity of Lord Govinda. The loud cries of “He
Govinda, He Krishna” suddenly reverberated throughout the sky.
The construction of the temple of
Radha Govinda began under the guidance of Raghunath Bhatta Gosvami and his
disciples headed by Raja Man Singh of Jaipur some time after 1570. It was the
most impressive edifice that Hindu art had ever produced in the whole of
Northern India. It towered into the sky seven stories high and was built on top
of the hill where the Deity was first discovered, making it the tallest building
in this part of India. The temple was completed in 1590.
Less than one hundred years later,
Emperor Aurangzeb, the Muslim zealot, was standing on the ramparts of his fort
at Agra, and noticed a bright light burning in the far distance. Upon being
informed that this was a large ghee lamp kept atop the Radha Govinda temple in
Vrndavana, he became furious that a Hindu shrine was taller than any Muslim
building and immediately ordered its destruction. By the time the soldiers
arrived, Lord Govindadeva and all the important Deities of Vrndavana had been
moved to safer places. The soldiers of Aurangzeb dismantled the top floors of
the Govindaji temple and desecrated the sanctum sanctorum as well as mutilated
all the stone carvings within the temple.
Timings:
Darsana 8 am -12:30 pm and 4 pm-9 pm
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