Surdas

01Gaughat

The Pushti Marg tradition, written down in the Chaurasi Vaishnavan ki Varta, says Surdas was blind from birth and lived as a singer with a band of followers at Gaughat on the Yamuna between Agra and Mathura. He sang songs of his own unworthiness. When Vallabhacharya came there, he asked Surdas to sing instead of the leelas of the Lord, and gave him the Bhagavata. Surdas took diksha and went with him to Govardhan, where he served as kirtankar before Shrinathji.

02The Sursagar

The Sursagar, the ocean of Sur, gathers thousands of pads, most of them about Krishna’s childhood in Gokul and the gopis’ longing after he leaves for Mathura. The mother Yashoda, the butter pot, the stolen curds and the child’s sulks are so exact that the poems are sung at every Janmashtami. Vitthalnath counted Surdas first among the eight poets of the Ashtachhap. He spent his last days at Parasoli near Govardhan.

Place · Temple of Jajja c. 1150; Keshavdev temple of Bir Singh Deo c. 1618, destroyed 1670; present shrines built 1950s–1982Shri Krishna Janmabhoomi, MathuraThe prison-cell of Kamsa where Shri Krishna was born at midnight. The Katra Keshavdev mound carried great temples that were destroyed in 1018 and 1670; the Shahi Idgah stands on part of it, and a new temple complex stands beside.Read →