Vrindavan and Mayapur[43]

Among 64 angas of bhakti, there are 5 mukhya angas. One of them is Mathura vaas.
Mathura (including the complete braj)is the manifestation of the spiritual world in this
material world, and living there has immense purifying effect and can give pure love of God.
This is the place where Lord Krsna appeared and performed his pastimes. Similarly, Mayapur
is the birth place of lord Chaitanya and is a manifestation of the spiritual world.
Vrindavan
Braj dham is divided in 12 vans(forests). Of them, Vrrindavan is the place where thte Lord
performed his cow herding pastimes and raas lila. Over the course of time, due to the will of
the Lord, all knowledge about this place was lost. It was only 500 years ago, after the
appearance of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, that the places where Lord Krsna performed his
pastimes were uncovered by His foremost disciples the six goswamis of vrindavan. The
prominent places to be seen in vrindavan are:
The Seven Major Gaudiya Vaishnava Temples
Radha Madana Mohan
Sanatana Goswami discovered the Deity of Madan. Mohan. Ram das Kapoor, a merchant
who became his disciple, donated the funds for this mandir in 1580. When the Muslims
attacked in 1670, the original Deities were moved to Jaipur. and later to Karoli.

Radha Damodara
This temple includes the Deities of Radha Damodara, worshipped by Srila Jiva Goswami,
the Deities of Radha Vrindavan Chandra of Krishna Dasa Kavirja Goswami, Radha Madhava
of Jayadeva Goswami and Radha Chalcikana of Bhugarbha Goswami.


Radha Syamasundara
This temple was established by Syamananda Pandita. The original Deity given to
Syamananda by Srimati Radharani can be seen to the right of the altar. The large Deity on
the central altar was worshipped by Baladvea Vidyabhusana while he was in Vrindavan.

Radha Ramana
The Deity of Radha Raman (one of the few original Deities still left in Vrindavan) was
worshipped by Srila Gopal Bhatta Goswami. The Deity self-manifested from one of the
Goswamis saligram silas in 1542.

Radha Gokulananda
Here are the Radha Vinod Deiteis of Lokanatha Goswami, the Gokulananda Deity of
Vishvanatha Chakravati, the Caitanya Mahaprabhu Deity of Narottama Dasa Thakur, the
Radha Vijaya Govinda Deities of Baladeva Vidyabhusana and the Govardhan sila given to
Raghnatha Dasa Goswami by Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu.


Radha Gopinatha
This Deity was worshipped by Madhu Pandita, one of the close associates of Lord Caitanya.
The Gopinatha Deity was originally installed by Vajranaba, Lord Krishnas grandson, 5,000
years ago. The Deity was rediscovered at Vamsi-vata by Paramananda Goswami, and
worshipped there by Paramananda Bhattacarya, who gave the Deity to Madhu Pandita.



Radha Govinda
This temple was built in1590 by Maharaja Man Singh for the original Govinda Deity
discovered by Srila Rupa Goswami. Govindaji was removed from this temple and
reinstalled in Jaipur when the Muslim Emperor Aurangzeb destryoed part of the temple in
1670.


Other Places of Interest in Vrindavan

Yamuna River and Kesi Ghata
The Yamuna river flows through Vrindavan and Mathura. It is the most sacred river in India
as it is so intimately connected with Krishnas pastimes. Situated on the bank of the Yamuna
is Kesi Ghata, where Krishna killed the Kesi demon.

Seva Kunja
This is the sacred place of the Rasa dance and also where Lord Krishna would offer service
to Radharani by decorating Her hair with flowers, and by massaging and painting Her lotus
feet.

Nidhuvana
Here Krishna would decorate Radharani with different kinds of cosmetics before performing
the Rasa dance. Sometimes Radha and Krishna would come here to rest after the Rasa
dance, at the far end of the garden is a small temple call Rang Mahal, where a bed is still
kept for the divine couple to rest.

Imli Tala
The sacred Imli Tala tree where Srila Sanatana Goswami established the worship of Sri Sri
Gaura Nitai. Caitanya Mahaprabhu used to sit regularly under the Imli Tala. A Deity of
Caitanya Mahaprabhu is installed under that tree.

Gopisvara Mahadeva
This is the oldest temple in Vrindavan. Gopisvara Mahadeva is Lord Siva who came to
Vrindavan to become a gopi of Krishna. Vrinda Devi blessed Lord Siva and allowed him to
enter the Rasa dance of Lord Krishna. Lord Krishna then offered Lord Siva the guardianship
of the Rasa Lila, and placed him at the entrance of the Mandir.

Banke Bihari Mandir
Established in 1864 by Swami Haridas, this temple is one of the most popular temples in
Vrindavan, especially during Jhulan Yatra, the swing festival in the month of Shravan
(July/August).


Mayapur
Mayapur is the birth place of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, and here he lived for first 24 years
and performed his student lila and sankirtan lila. As mahaprabhu is non-different from Sri
Krsna, Mayapur is non-different from Vrindavan. Prominent places to be seen in mayapur
are:
Yogapeeth
This is the birth place of Lord Chaitanya. The temple houses the neem tree, under which
Mahaprabhu was born and the deity of Adhokshaj Vishnu, worshipped by the father of
Mahaprabhu , Sri Jaggannath Misr. This place was discovered by the efforts of Sri
BhaktiVinod Thakur and Sri Jagannath Das Babaji. This temple was built by HH
Bhaktisiddhant Maharaj.
Srivas Angan & Advait Acharyas House
This is the residence of Srivas Acharya, the incarnation of Narad Muni, where the Lord
performed His night sankirtans. Nearby is the House of Advait Acharya the incarnation of
MahaVishnu.
Sri Chaitanya Math
This is one of the prominent Maths built by Bhaktisiddhant Maharaj. Here, there is Radha
kund, Shyam kund, Govardhan, the Samadhi of Gaur Kishor Das Babaji and the Samadhi of
Bhaktisiddhant Maharaj.
Murari Gupts House
This is the residence of one of the most important associates of Mahaprabhu. Murari Gupt
was an incarnation of Hanuman, and he worshipped Lord in His form of Ramchandra.