What are the Sapt-Devalaya (Seven Main Temples) of Vrindavan?
Vrindavan is located in Uttar Pradesh. It is located in Brij Bhoomi. This place is very important for Krishna devotees. Lord Krishna spent most of his childhood here.
According to belief, after Lord Krishna disappeared from the world, his grandson Vajranabha installed various deities in Vrindavan, around 5000 years ago. These deities were lost with time. Associates of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu were assigned the tasks of propagating Bhakti yoga, finding and installing deities, uncovering Lord Krishna’s pastimes, and writing Sastras.
One may have visited a lot of temples in Vrindavan like Banke Bihari, Prem Mandir etc. But do you know about the seven main temples or Sapt Devalaya of Vrindavan ?
Vrindavan has around 5,500 temples of which below are the seven main temples:
Sri Radha Madan Mohan Mandir
The temple is 60 feet high and situated near the river Yamuna. It is the first temple of Vrindavan. The temple was opened in 1580.
Story Behind
One day Srila Sanatana Goswami, an associate of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu was doing madhukari. At that time, Madan Mohan came to him running, asking to stay with him. Sri Sanatana Goswami refused his request. The same night, Sri Madan Mohan appeared in his dream in his true form. Srila Sanatana Goswami started to worship him. One day Sri Madan Mohan asked for some salt which Sri Sanatana could not fulfill.
Large boats carrying salt and other items got stuck in the Yamuna River near Goswami’s kutir. They belonged to a merchant from Punjab who was going to Agra for some business. The merchant asked Srila Sanatana Goswami for help. To which Srila Sanatana advised him to worship Sri Madan Mohan. The merchant earned a huge profit from the trade which he surrendered on return. He built a beautiful temple dedicated to Sri Madan Mohan on the hillock.
The temple was attacked by the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb in 1670. The deities were moved to Jaipur followed by Karauli for safety.
Sri Radha Govindadev Mandir
The temple is on the top of Gomatila (a hillock).
Story Behind
Srila Rupa Goswami an associate of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu was disappointed in not locating the deity of Sri Govindadev Ji. Lord Krishna disguised in the form of a beautiful boy came to him. The boy brought him to the top of hillock Gomatila. He asked Srila Rupa Goswami that every day a cow comes on the top and shreds her milk. This seemed to be a mystery for everyone. Srila Rupa Goswami recovered and worshipped the recovered deity.
Srila Raghunatha Bhatta Goswami requested Raja Man Singh, a minister at Emperor Akbar’s fort to build a temple for Sri Govind Dev ji after Srila Rupa Goswami left the mortal world.
The temple had 7 floors. Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb destroyed the top 4 floors of the temple when he attacked in 1670. Raja Jai Singh, grandson of Raja Man Singh, moved the deities to Jaipur for protection.
Sri Radha Gopinath Mandir
Here you find the darshan of Radha Gopinath ji with Ananga Manjari (younger sister of Radha Rani). Normally, Srimati Radha Rani stands to the right of Sri Krishna. In this temple, she stands on the left and Ananga Manjari stands on the right.
Story Behind
Sri Gopinath Ji appeared in Sri Paramananda Bhattacharya’s (disciple of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s associate Sri Gadadhara Pandita) dream telling him that the deities could be found under Vamsi Vata Tree which were recovered. Afterwards, Srila Madhupandita Goswami another disciple of Sri Gadadhara Pandita guided him to build the original temple.
Pastime
Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s associate, Nityananda Prabhu’s wife once visited Vrindavan. She took the darshan of Sri Gopinath Ji. After returning to her hometown, Bengal. She carved a taller deity of Radharani realizing that the existing deity was too small.
The pujaris placed the new deity to the right of Lord Krishna and moved the previous deity to the left. The devotees visiting the temple realized that the new deity looked like Jahnava Thakurani. They realized that this was Ananga Manjari of whom Jahnava Thakurani is an incarnation. Devotees accepted this by considering this as Radharani’s love for her sister.
The king of Bikaner completed the original temple in 1632. It was destroyed by the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb in 1670 and deities were moved to Jaipur.
Sri Radha Raman Mandir
Story Behind
Srila Gopala Bhatta Goswami, an associate of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu came to Vrindavan in 1532 and united with Srila Rupa and Srila Sanatana. They became good friends and did Bhakti together. Srila Gopala Bhatta Goswami felt the absence of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu constantly. Later, Srila Mahaprabhu came to his dream once asking him to bathe in Kali Gandaki in Nepal. On dipping his pot into the water, several Saligrama Shilas ( stone-like structures worshipped as Lord Vishnu) appeared in his pot. He dropped them back into the river, and the Shilas went back his the pot. Even after dropping them thrice, they were again in his pot.
He brought those 12 Shilas back to Vrindavan. He started worshipping them. On Narasimha Caturdasi, a businessman came to him. The businessman offered him nice ornaments and clothes for the deities. As the shilas could not be dressed he refused. To which the businessman insisted and left them. Srila Gopala prayed to the Lord asking him to allow him to serve him in the form of having arms, legs, and a beautiful face.
The next morning, after bathing, he uncovered his box to offer his prayers to the Shilas. To his surprise, a beautiful deity of Lord Krishna appeared playing flute. The devotees offered grand abhiseka to the deity and installed it for worship.
It is the only deity in Vrindavan that Aurangzeb did not attack. This deity has very intricate features along with fingernails and teeth. It is scientifically proven that the deity is self-manifested and not carved by someone.
Sri Radha Gokulanand Mandir
Story Behind
Lord Caitanya’s associate once visited Srila Lokanatha Goswami. At that time, Srila Lokanatha Goswami was living in Khandiravan (one of the important forests of Vrajabhumi). The Brahmana offered a bag as a donation. On opening the bag, Srila Lokanatha Goswami found the beautiful form of Sri Radha-Vinoda. He continued serving the deities with love after shifting to Vrindavan. They constructed a temple for the deities. The temple was reconstructed as Gokulanand Temple by Srila Vishvanatha Chakravarti Thakura.
Sri Radha Damodar Mandir
The temple has the deities of Radha Damodar, Radha Vrindavanchandra, Radha Madhav, Radha Chailchikan, and Govardhan Sila. Lord Sri Krishna gave the Sila himself. It fulfills people’s vow of doing parikrama of Govardhan Hill. There is a belief that performing four parikramas of this temple is equivalent to one parikrama of Govardhan.
Story Behind
Srila Jiva Goswami (disciple of Srila Rupa Goswami) felt the desire to worship a beautiful deity which he did not reveal to anyone. When Srila Rupa Goswami came to know, he carved a beautiful deity for Srila Jiva Goswami. In the year, 1542 Radha Damodar was manifested and a temple was built. Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb’s attack resulted in the movement of deities to Jaipur.
A parikrama allows one to see the Samadhis of various Acaryas and saints including Srila Jiva Goswami, Srila Rupa Goswami, and many others. One can find Srila Prabhupada’s Bhajan kutir and kitchen. It is at this place, where Srila Prabhupada started translating Bhagvata Purana. He left for the USA in 1965, to preach the name of Lord Krishna. He brought a worldwide revolution by establishing ISKCON (INTERNATIONAL SOCIETY OF KRISHNA CONSCIOUSNESS).
Sri Radha Shyamsundar Mandir
Story Behind
Sri Dukhi Krishna Dasa, a student of Srila Jiva Goswami used to chant beads, attend programs, and do kirtans. One day he told, Srila Jiva Goswami about his desire to serve Lord Krishna to which Srila Jiva Goswami gave him the task of brooming Seva Kunja. Sri Krishna used to perform his pastimes here.
After 12 years, Sri Krishna Dasa found a glittering object which was a gold anklet. Upon touching it, he felt something different. He realized that it might belong to Srimati Radha Rani and decided to return to the right person. An associate of Srimati Radha Rani, Sri Lalita came to Sri Krishna Dasa disguised as an old woman claiming the anklet belonged to her daughter. Sri Krishna Dasa refused to give the anklet. He returned the anklet to Srimati Radha Rani in Goloka Vrindavan.
Srimati Radha Rani manifested a beautiful deity of Shyamsundar from her heart and gave it to Sri Krishna Dasa. Srimari Radha Rani renamed Sri Krishna Dasa to Shyamananda Prabhu. Sri Shyamananda Prabhu worshipped the deities with his heart. The Maharaja of Bharatpur made a beautiful temple for Radha Shyamsundar.
This is the story of the seven main temples of Vrindavan.
For more details, you can buy the book ‘The Sapt Devalaya Of Vrindavan’ from the link below:
Radhe Radhe !!!
Jai Sri Krishna !!!