हिंदीOn this day
Standing

Sri Krishna Balaram Mandir (ISKCON), Vrindavan

The ISKCON temple at Raman Reti, opened by Srila Prabhupada in 1975, where he spent his last days and where his samadhi stands. It brought pilgrims from every continent to Vrindavan.

Built: Opened Ram Navami, 20 April 1975, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami PrabhupadaWhere: Uttar Pradesh (Mathura district)Deity: Krishna and Balarama; Radha Shyamasundar; Gaura-Nitai27.57° N, 77.68° E
  1. 20 April 1975
  2. 14 November 1977
Photo: Goutam1962 · CC BY-SA 4.0

01Raman Reti

Raman Reti, the sands where the boys of Braj played with Krishna and Balarama, was open land when Prabhupada chose it. He had left India for New York in 1965 with a trunk of books, and came back with disciples from many countries. On Ram Navami, 20 April 1975, he installed Krishna and Balarama on the central altar, Radha Shyamasundar with the gopis Lalita and Vishakha on the right, and Chaitanya Mahaprabhu with Nityananda on the left. The courtyard, with its tamal tree, has been filled with the Hare Krishna mahamantra ever since.

02Prabhupada’s samadhi

Prabhupada left his body in his rooms at this temple on 14 November 1977. His samadhi mandir of white marble stands at the entrance to the complex, and his quarters are kept as they were. The guesthouse and gurukul beside the temple made Vrindavan, for the first time, a place where pilgrims from Russia, Brazil or Africa could stay among Braj people and learn the Bhagavatam.

The life of this place

  1. 20 April 1975Prabhupada opens the temple on Ram Navami.
  2. 14 November 1977Prabhupada passes away here.
Visiting

The temple is on Bhaktivedanta Swami Marg at Raman Reti; aarti and kirtan run from mangala aarti at 4:30 a.m.

Nearby

Prem Mandir, VrindavanStanding
Independent Bharat

Prem Mandir, Vrindavan

The white marble temple of Radha-Krishna and Sita-Rama raised by Jagadguru Kripalu Maharaj on a 55-acre site at the edge of Vrindavan. It opened in February 2012 and is now one of the most visited places in Braj.

Radha Madan Mohan Temple, VrindavanStanding
The Mughal era and the resistance

Radha Madan Mohan Temple, Vrindavan

The tall red sandstone temple on the Dwadashaditya mound above the old Kaliya Ghat, the oldest standing temple of Vrindavan’s Goswami age. The original murti, worshipped by Sanatana Goswami, was carried to Rajasthan in the 17th century and is now at Karauli.

Banke Bihari Temple, VrindavanStanding
Renaissance and the struggle for Swaraj

Banke Bihari Temple, Vrindavan

The most visited temple of Vrindavan, home of the murti that appeared to the singer-saint Swami Haridas in Nidhivan. Krishna stands here in the tribhanga pose, bent in three places, and the curtain is drawn every few minutes so that no devotee looks too long.

Govind Dev Temple, VrindavanRuined
The Mughal era and the resistance

Govind Dev Temple, Vrindavan

The red sandstone temple Raja Man Singh of Amber raised for Govind Dev in 1590, the largest temple north India had seen in centuries. In 1670 the murti was carried away to Kachwaha country ahead of Aurangzeb’s order, and it is worshipped in Jaipur to this day; the building stands without its upper storeys.