Vrindavan Temples

• Endless Miracles.
• Bankey Bihari Temple was established by Swami Haridas (Lalita Sakhi in Dvapara Yuga), a guru of he famous singer Tansen. Once at the request of his disciples Swami Haridasji sang verse in Nidhivan. On singing the verse, the Celestial couple Shyama-Shyam (Radha Krishna) appeared in front of him and his devotees. At the request of Shri Swamiji, the couple merged into one and the idol of Banke Bihari appeared there (the same idol is seen in the temple). The idol was established in Nidhivan.
• Saal mai sirf ak din Akshay treetya par he banke bihari ji ke charno ke darshan hote hai.
• Aur saal mai sirf ak baar hariyali teej ke din he banke Bihari ji ke darshan jhule par hote hai.
• Banke bihari ji ko itar bahut pasand hai.
• Aur unhe bansuri sirf ak he din di jati hai saal mai.
• Mandir mai koi bell nai hai.
• Basant panchami par Holi ka rang lagaya jata hai bhagwan ko.
• Saal mai sirf ak baar janmashtami ke din he bhagwan ki Mangal aarti (morning aarti) hoti hai.

According to popular legend, the deity Radhavallabh was never made by any sculptor. The deity was given to a devotee named Atmadev by Shiva himself because of his arduous devotion and prayers. The Hith Harivansh Mahaprabhu lived 31 years in place called Devavan. In the 32nd year of his age, he left for Vrindavan. On his way to Vrindavan, he was ordered by goddess Radha herself to marry the daughters of Atmadev and took the idol of Radha Vallabhji to Vrindavan with them. As ordered, Hith Harivansh Mahaprabhu married the daughters of Atmadev and Atmadev gifted the idol of Radhavallabh ji to his daughters and Harivansh Mahaprabhu on their marriage

• Seva Kunj is also known as “Nikunj” Van
• There is also a kund here known as Lalita Kund.

• It is believed that every night Lord Krishna and Radha Rani visit this place. So, this place is closed totally after evening. Although we can see many monkeys during daytime but by evening, they also leave this place.
• It is believed that Lord Krishna served the Radha Rani in this sacred place. Krishna helped her in getting ready for Raas Leela by combing hair and decorating her with ornaments.
• Seva Kunj Mandir is decorated every night and all necessary items are placed here for a night.

• The temple also houses the Giriraj Shila having the footprints of Krishna which was believed to be given to Sanatana Goswami by Krishna himself.
• Pilgrims also visit the temple to have a glimpse of the Goverdhan Sila that is placed in the temple and which was believed to be given by Lord krishna himself to Srila Jiva Goswami.
• According to popular belief, four parikramas (circumambulation) of the Radha Damodar Temple is equal to one circumambulation of Govardhana Hill.
• Founder of ISKCON, Srila Prabhpada also stayed in this temple for six years before heading to United States of America for preaching about Krishna.

• This Temple Was Built by Shah Kundan Lal and Shah Phundan Lal. They were residents of Lucknow (oudh). They made a registered waqf in favour of the deity i.e. Sri Thakur Radha Raman Ji Maharaj in the year 1866

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• Nidhivan is considered as one of the mysterious places of Vrindavan. It is a dense forest with the lush green trees.
• The interesting thing is that the barks of the trees are hollow and the land is absolutely dry, but the tree remains loaded with green leaves throughout the year.
• All the trees are in bending position towards the ground. The common belief is that these trees of Tulsi turn into gopis in the night for performing Raslila. Every Tulsi plant in the premises are found in pairs signifying the pair of Gopi and Krishna.

• Nidhivan Temple also has a Kunj in it, in which the divine Lord Krishna and Radha Rani rest after performing “Maha Raas”.
• Nidhivan is also considered as the place of appearance of Banke Bihari.
• It is said that Vrindavan saint Swami Haridas with his sheer devotion and dedication pleased the divine couple Radha Krishna and they appeared in front of him. Later, both Radha and Krishna combined into one single form called Banke Bihari to stay with Haridas Thakur.
• For few years, Banke Bihari was worshiped in Nidhivan and then they were enshrined in separate temple and the temple is named Banke Bihari Temple.

• The temple dates 500 years back when it was established by Gopala Bhatta Swami. He came to Vrindavan at 30 years of age. Having felt detached from the Lord after Chaitanya Mahaprabhu's disappearance, he dreamt of the Lord instructing him to visit Nepal in order to achieve his darshana. Gopala Bhatta Swami headed to Nepal and bathed in the infamous Kali Gandaki River where he dipped his water pot in the river, only to find several Shaligrams enter his pot. He tried to drop them back in the river, but they kept re-entering the pot. He found a total of 12 Shaligram Shilas and took them with him.
• Legend has it that a wealthy man once came to Vrindavan and donated various clothing and jewellery for Gopala Bhatta's Shaligramas. Gopala Bhatta, on the other hand, couldn't employ them for his round-shaped Shaligramas. Thus, he asked the donor to donate them to someone else. However, the donor refused, and Gopala Bhatta kept them with his Shilas.
• On the Poornima day, he put them in a wicker basket after worshipping them and went to take some rest. The next morning, on uncovering them, he saw only 11 Shilas and a deity of Lord Krishna playing the flute. Basically, it was one of the Shilas that had self-manifested itself into a deity which came to be known as Radha Raman. This the story of the appearance of Radha Raman and the original Shila is placed in this temple.

• SOME 5,000 YEARS BACK WHEN HE WAS AROUND 13 YEARS OF AGE, he asked his Grand Mother (daughter-in-law of Lord Krishna) as to how Lord Shri Krishna looked like; Then He made an image as per the description given by her.
• She however, said that not all but the Feet of that image looked like those of Lord Shri Krishna.
• He made another image, yet she said that the Chest looked like that of Lord Shri Krishna.
• Thereafter, He made the Third Image and looking at the same she felt Blush and Nodded that yes that was what Lord Shri Krishna Looked Like!!!

• The First One came to be known with the Name Lord "Madan Mohanji". The Second One got recognition as Lord "GOPI NATHJI". AND the Third One is LORD "GOVIND DEVJI".
• Inspired by Mahaprabhuji, in the year 1502 Shri Madhu Pandit came to Vrindavan to dedicate himself to the Divine Cause. The DIVINITY in his dreams inspired him to reveal out from under the Yamuna earth, the Holy Divine Images of LORD GOPINATH AND RADHA RANII. In pursuit of the same, on Magh Shukla Purnima Samvat 1560 (year 1503) amidst ceremonial Naam Sankirtan, from under the sacred soil of river Yamuna At VANSHI VAT, Lord Gopinath with Radhey Rani Manifested.

• Lord Krishna killed the demon Keshi on this bank of Yamuna and later took bath in the river
• The unimaginable fight between Lord Krishna and Keshi, who was in the form of demon horse was witnessed by this ghat, hence named Keshi Ghat

• The temple also houses the Giriraj Shila having the footprints of Krishna which was believed to be given to Sanatana Goswami by Krishna himself.
• Pilgrims also visit the temple to have a glimpse of the Goverdhan Sila that is placed in the temple and which was believed to be given by Lord krishna himself to Srila Jiva Goswami.
• According to popular belief, four parikramas (circumambulation) of the Radha Damodar Temple is equal to one circumambulation of Govardhana Hill.
• Founder of ISKCON, Srila Prabhpada also stayed in this temple for six years before heading to United States of America for preaching about Krishna.

• Katyayani Shakti Peeth Mandir is among the 51 revered Shakti Peeths in Hindu religion.
• The temple is dedicated to Goddess Parvati, in her Katyayani form. As per the legends, her hair fell here when Lord Vishnu cut her dead body.
• Some people worship her as Goddess Uma here. Thus, the temple is also known as Uma Shakti Peeth or Uma Devi Mandir.
• In Katyayani Shakti Peeth Vrindavan, the sword of the Devi, called Uchawal Chandrahaas, is also worshipped.

• According to the popular legend, the image of Govind Devji is also called "Bajrakrit" because it was created by Bajranabh – The great grand son of Krishna. Around 5,000 years ago when Bajranabh was around 13 years old, he asked his Grand mother (daughter-in-law of Krishna) as to how Krishna looked like. Then based on her description, he made three images. In first image, the feet show the resemblance with the Krishna's feet. In second image, chest area looked like Krishna's. In third image, the face showed complete resemblance with Krishna's face when he was incarnated on Earth.
• The first one image is known as Lord "Madan Mohan ji". The second image is called as "Gopinath ji" and the third image is popular with the name of "Govind Devji". With the passing of ages, these pious divine images were also lost.

• Sri Rangji Mandir is dedicated to Lord Sri Goda-Rangamannar. Goda or Andal as she is popularly known in South India was a famous 8th century Vaishnava saint who had composed "Tiruppuvai" which centers around her love for her beloved Lord Krishna and his leela bhoomi Vrindavan.
• Andal had expressed three wishes in "NachiyarTirumozhi"(143 verses composed by her in praise of Lord Krishna). Her first wish was to spend her life at the feet of Lord Krishna in Vrindavan. Her second wish that Lord Krishna accept her as his bride came true when she married Lord Krishna and the third wish that Lord Ranganatha (Lord Krishna) be offered "Ksheeranna"(dessert made of rice and milk) in a hundred pots was fulfilled by the eleventh century vaishnava saint Sri Ramanujacharya. Her first wish which had not been fulfilled by any of the previous Vaishnava acharyas was fulfilled by Sri Rangadeshik Swamiji by constructing this temple where Sri Goda-Rangamannar reside as divya dampathi (divine couple).
• Here there are 7 doors and one door is way to VAIKUNTHA.
• Sone ke khambe wala mandir having 284 pillers.

• Tatiya Sthan is the place of pure natural beauty. At Tatiya Sthan, one actually goes back many centuries ago, living in close association with nature. It is a place of purity, divinity and spirituality.
• Tatiya Sthan is linked to the Swami Haridas Sampradaya. There are eight acharyas of the Haridas Sampradaya.
• The seventh aacharya, Swami Lalit Kishori Dev ji resided on this earth between 1758 and 1823, in order to go and meditate somewhere under a secluded tree. They fenced the whole area using bamboo sticks. Bamboo sticks are called “Tatiya” in the local dialect. This is how the place was named Tatiya Sthan.
• Tatiya Sthan is filled with various kind of trees, especially those which were close to Lord Krishna’s heart, like, neem, peepal and kadamb. The place is to perform sadhna bhakti, and no one is allowed to talk here unnecessary.

• One day about 500 years ago, Lord Shri Krishna appeared before Shri Haridasji Maharaj, a Vaishnav Mahatma of Vrindavan, and told him that in the month of Ashadh the existing images of Jagannath, Balram and Subhadra Devi would be replaced by new ones. Lord ordered him to bring the old vigrahas to Vrindavan.
• The custom in Jagannath Puri is that every thirty-six years or so, the old wooden murtis are replaced by new ones during the anavasar period between Snana Yatra and Ratha Yatra.
• Mahatma Haridas ji went to Puri on foot with his disciples. They reached Puri four days before Rath Yatra. Haridas requested Puri temple priest to hand over the old vigrahas as had been requested by Lord Krishna himself. The priest asked him to see the King of Puri, Maharaja Pratap Rudra, to get authorization. The king also refused as he could not break the tradition of immersing the old vigrahas in ocean. Mahatma Haridas ji thought that if he was unable to carry out the orders of his Lord it was better to die. He went to the seashore and entered a deep meditation.
• At midnight Lord Jagannath ji ordered the King in a dream to hand over the old vigrahas to Mahatma Haridas ji as Lord Krishna wanted to live both in Puri and Vrindavan.
• The King gave the old vigrahas to Mahatma Haridas ji. Then he and his disciples brought them in a cart to Vrindavan. He had a temple constructed on the banks of sacred river Yamuna, in the place where Lord Krishna gave his vision to Haridas ji, which is now called Jagannath Ghat. The deities were placed in the temple and have been worshipped there ever since.

• This is the celebrated place where Lord Krishna in his form of Gopinath or Lord of Gopis performed the celebrated pastime of Maharaas Dance on auspicious day of Sharad Purnima (full moon night). Banshi means flute and Vat means Banyan Tree. Thus the Banyan tree under which Shri Krishna plays his flute is known as Banshi Vat. On hearing the divine flute, the gopis become emotionally helpless and ran towards Banshi Vat. Here Shri Krishn plays flute eternally. Shri Krishn has taken as many forms as there were gopis. It is 5500 years old leela place, Banshi Vat. Lord Shiva came to this place in the form of a gopi during Maharaas and hence Shri Krishn gave him the name “Gopishwar Mahadev”.
• The gopis had so intense love feeling for Shri Krishna that they left their children, husbands and homes for the desire of Shri Krishna. During the Raas leela, Sri Krishna disappeared from the sight of Gopis. Gopis started searching for Krishna and when their intense feeling of separation from Krishna was about to reach its extreme point of madness, Krishna appeared before them influenced by their pure love. Here is also a large Vat tree form where the deity Radha Gopinath appeared (Which is now in Jaipur). It is believed that even today Shri Krishn is playing his flute and many people claim that they can hear that as well.

• As per the popular belief, Lord Krishna and Sri Radha Rani along with the gopis were performing Raas Leela on the night of Sharad Purnima, when Lord Shiva expressed his wish to be a part of the same to experience the bliss of Raas Leela.
• Lord Shiva, being a male was not permitted to do so and was stopped by Vrinda Devi. Determined to participate, Lord Shiva started praying and meditating on Goddess Radha who gave him permission to join Raas Leela after getting induced into Sakhi Bhav.
• Lord Shiva took a dip in the holy Yamuna river and emerged as a beautiful damsel, after which he was allowed into the Raas mandal. Being an ardent devotee of Lord Shiva himself, Lord Krishna recognised the female guise of him and named her Gopeshwar.
• It is also believed that the lingam at the Gopeshwar temple was the one worshipped by the Brij Bhoomi gopis to attain Lord Krishna as their husband.

• While going on Parikrama Marg Vrindavan a small temple and a ghat but now the river Yamuna doesn't flow nearby this ghat. As said it's the original place where Shri Krishn defence the vinomous Kaliya Naag. There is also a very old tree where said to be the Amrit Kalash was hold for some time
• According to the legends, Garuda had abandoned the entry of the poisonous Kaliya Naag in the Pacific Ocean. Due to this, he settled in the pious Yamuna river, to find solace from the atrocities of Garuda. His poison was polluting the river which was harming the people of Vrindavan. Shri Krishna with an intention to save his loved one’s ordered Kaliya naag to leave the Yamuna. When the poisonous snake did not follow his orders, Lord Krishna fiercely fought with him. This fight ended with the Lord dancing on the serpent’s venomous head. With every step Lord Krishna danced on the serpents head, his pride and self-image were vanishing. At the end when the serpent became selfless, lord Krishna guided him towards the ocean assuring him that Garuda won’t trouble him due the feet of Lord embarked on his head. Kaliya Dah Vrindavan is that place where Krishna wheedled out all the anguish from Kaliya Naag.
• This sacred place situated in the bank of river kalindi(Yamuna) at prikarma Marg(5kosh). A very beautiful place indeed like the other places of Vraj. One can notice that old holy tree through which lord Krishna jumped to the river yamuna in order to kill kali nag and saved the vrajwasis(residents of vraj). Also the most attractive part here is that the kalash(pitcher) which is attached to that sacred tree. There has a different story of this kalash, that says during Samundra Manthan activity lord Vishnu's message carrier Gadura hided that amrit kalash atop the kadamb tree in kalidah vrindavan. That's why Vrindavan witness ardh-kumbh in every 12 years.

• The history of this temple goes back to the times when Sanatan Goswami Ji used to worship Lord Krishna and feed the God with food without salt. So, when one of the great Merchants was sailing through Yamuna on ships full of salt, his ship couldn't move forward and he notices a small child (who was believed to be Lord Krishna, asked for some salt for him. Then after donating a lot of salt, he also made the temple for that child to stay. And hence, his ship sailed through the river with no more further obstacles.
• Maharaja Jai Singh brought Madana-Mohan to Jaipur from Vrindavan. His brother-in-law, Maharaja Gopal Singh, had a dream in which Madana-Mohan said `Take Me to Karoli.` He then told Maharaja Jai Singh about the dream and asked permission to bring Madana-Mohan to Karoli. Near by place Kali.

• In layman language, Imli Tala means, in the shade of the tamarind tree. Imli Tala Temple is one of the most renowned temples in Vrindavan, situated on the Parikrama Marg. Lord Chaitanya used to visit the Imli Tala at the bank of River Yamuna from Akura Ghat. A magnificent deity of Lord Chaitanya is placed under this tree now. It was a very unique relationship that Lord Chaitanya had with the sacred and holy place. As per the epics, it is said that this is the very same tree under which the Lord Govinda met to his beloved Radha. This was the favorite place for Radha Rani.
• Once during a dance called as rasa, Radha left abruptly and Krishna went immediately in her search. He looked for the beloved everywhere but could not find so he came and sat below the Imli tala tree. He started to turn golden as the skin of his beloved as he could not bear being away from Radha Rani. This was the moment when Radha came there and saw the miracle of Sri Krishna's holy body and took his darshan. Radha was astonished and question the Lord of this golden form. Krishna told her he was desperately searching for her and he felt sad due to separation and sat under the Imili tala chanting her graceful name. Due to this he started to have feelings like Radha and mood of Radha when separated. He also said that during the Kal Yuga he would take as per mood and Radha and distribute love and compassion of the Lord to all souls.

• This idol of Lord Jugalkishore was found by Hariram Vyas on Magh Shukla Ekadashi of V. No. 1620 at a place named Kishorevan in Vrindavan. Vyas ji established the idol at the same place.

• Even today Thakur ji is giving darshan in the old Jugalkishore temple of Panna.

• Sringar Vat was the favourite place of Lord Nityananda and this is where He stayed and performed His bhajana when He was visiting Vrindavan. It was here at Sringar Vat that lord Krishna used to decorate Srimati Radharani with precious jewels, flowers and ornaments (sringar ),before They went to the sacred garden of Nidhuvana to enjoy rase-lila. The original banyan tree (vat) under which the Divine Couple sat has now almost vanished,leaving only a large stump. A branch from the original tree was planted here and has now grown into the large tree. Behind this sacred Banyan tree is temple dedicated to Krishna's decorating Radharani,and behind this temple is the actual place where Radharani sat while she was decorated by Krishana. The cowherd boys also used to decorate Krishna and Balarama at this very same spot. On the left of this same courtyard is a temple dedicated to radha and krishna, Gaura-nitai and Lord jagannatha, Baladeva,and Subhadre.

• Cheer Ghat is one of the holy ghats (series of steps leading down to a water body) on the banks of the river Yamuna. This is the place where the famous pastime of Krishna stealing the clothes of the young Gopis (Cowherd Maidens) of Vrindavan took place. This place was earlier just on the banks of River Yamuna. But over the years, as Yamuna has changed its course, now Chir Ghat stands at some distance from the Yamuna. There is an ancient Kadamba tree at this place which is still existing since the time of Lord Krishna.

• Founder of ISKCON, Srila Prabhpada

• Prem Mandir is a Hindu temple in Vrindavan, Mathura, India. It is maintained by Jagadguru Kripalu Parishat, an international non-profit, educational, spiritual, charitable trust.
• It is dedicated to Radha Krishna and Sita Ram. Radha Krishna are on the first level and Sita Ram are on the second level.

• The story behind this temple is such that if the mythology is to be believed then a poor Brahmin of Banke Bihari was a great devotee. Once he had borrowed some money from a moneylender and used to repay it little by little every month. When the last installment was due, Mahajan sent him a court notice that he has not yet repaid the loan, so he should return the entire amount with interest.
• In such a situation, the Brahmin was very upset. He went to the moneylender and gave a lot of clarification but the moneylender did not budge from his claim and the matter reached the court. Even in the court, the Brahmin told the judge that he had paid all the money and the moneylender was lying. The judge asked, is there any witness in front of whom you used to give money to the Mahajan. After stopping and thinking for a while, the Brahmin said, "Banke Bihari will testify about my share."
• When the court asked the address of the witness, the Brahmin said, “ Banke Bihari Vald Vasudev, Banke Bihari Mandir Vrindavan.” In such a situation, summons was issued to this address. The Brahmin placed the summons in front of the idol and said, "Banke Bihari, you have to come to the court to testify."
• After this it happened that on the day of testimony, an old man actually stood before the judge and told that I used to be with him while paying the money and also told when the money was returned. When the judge saw Seth's ledger, the testimony turned out to be true. The amount was entered and the name was forged. The judge declared the Brahmin innocent. Mahajan's mind was in turmoil and he asked the Brahmin who the old man was.
• The Brahmin told that he lives everywhere, comes on his own to help the poor. After this, the judge asked the Brahmin that who was this man who went away after testifying? The Brahmin said, "Oh Judge, this was my Thakur. The one who could not see the dilemma of the devotee and came to save the shame of trust.
• After hearing this, the judge lay down at the feet of the Brahmin and asked the address of Banke Bihari. In response to this question, the Brahmin said, “My Thakur is everywhere, he is everywhere.” After this, the judge left his household and all his work and business and went out to find Thakur and became a fakir. When he returned to Vrindavan after many years, people started to know him by the name of Pagal Baba.

• The theme of the construction of this temple is Radha Krishna, Radharani is in the form of Priya Ji and Bhagwan Shri Krishna takes that of Kant ju giving darshan to the devotees.

• Maa Vaishno Devi is believed to grant four boons to her devotees namely Dharma (Righteousness), Artha (Material Pursuits), Kaama (Contentment), and Moksha (Enlightenment). The Maa Vaishno Devi Dham, located in the holy city of Vrindavan.

• This location is also connected with Lord Rāma’s pastimes. When the serpents released by Meghanātha bound Śrī Rāmacandra in their coils, He became helpless. Hearing of this from Devaṛṣi Nārada, Garuḍa came to the rescue. As soon as the serpents saw Garuḍa, they released Śrī Rāmacandra and fled. This incident left Garuḍa doubtful as to whether Śrī Rāma was in fact Bhagavān, the Supreme Lord, but by associating with Mahātmā Kakabhuṣuṇḍī and by receiving darśana of Śrī Kṛṣṇa at the time of Kṛṣṇa’s pastimes, this delusion was removed. At that time, Śrī Kṛṣṇa climbed upon his back and assured him that He was indeed the Supreme Lord. Garuḍa-Govinda is the place where Garuḍa had darśana of Śrī Govinda, the maintainer of the cows and cowherd boys."

• Kaliya naag ko kalideh par krishna ne maar dena tha par phir uski wife aya gai aur Krishna se bola ise maaf kardo. Krishna ne use chor diya ye keh kar jab tak piche mudh kar nai dekhoge tab tak thik rahoge. Kaliya naag ne yaha aya kar piche dekha aur wo pathar ka ban gaya.

• Vrindavan Chandrodaya Mandir is a grand temple complex that offers spiritual vibes to all those who are blind followers of Lord Krishna, who is the presiding deity of this place.
• Vrindavan Chandrodaya Mandir, the world's tallest temple of Krishna is coming up in full glory.