01A banker’s gift
Gokul Das Parikh was treasurer to the Scindias of Gwalior, who held Mathura at the start of the 19th century, and a devotee in the Pushtimarg of Shri Vallabhacharya. In 1814 he built this temple in the crowded old city above the Yamuna, a broad courtyard house with a carved gateway and painted ceilings rather than a soaring shikhara, which is how Pushtimarg temples are made: Krishna lives here as the master of a household. The murti of Dwarkadhish is a four-armed dark form, with Radharani beside him.
02Hindola and the ghats
Darshan follows the eight daily jhankis of the Pushtimarg, from mangala at dawn to shayan at night, and between them the doors stay shut. In Shravan the temple holds its Hindola festival: for two weeks Dwarkadhish and Radharani are seated on swings of gold and silver, and each day the courtyard is dressed in a different colour or material. Vishram Ghat, where Krishna is said to have rested after slaying Kamsa, is a few steps away, and the evening Yamuna aarti there follows the last darshan.
The life of this place
- 1814Seth Gokul Das Parikh builds the temple with the support of Daulat Rao Scindia.
The temple is in the old city near Vishram Ghat, about 2 km from Krishna Janmabhoomi; darshan is closed between the jhankis.
