01Bhagyachandra’s Govindaji
Maharaja Bhagyachandra, Ching-Thang Khomba, who ruled from 1763 to 1798, was a devotee in the line of Shri Chaitanya. The Manipuri account says Bhagwan Krishna came to him in a dream and showed him a jackfruit tree on the Kaina hill from which his form should be carved. The carving began in 1776 and Shri Govindaji was consecrated in November 1779. Bhagyachandra is remembered too as the maker of the Manipuri Ras Lila, danced to this day in the temple’s mandapa on the full-moon nights of autumn.
02Built, shaken, rebuilt
Maharaja Nara Singh built a temple for Govindaji in the Kangla palace in 1846. The earthquake of 1868 badly damaged it, and Maharaja Chandrakirti rebuilt it to the same design; it was consecrated in April 1876. After the Anglo-Manipur war of 1891 the British occupied Kangla. When Maharaja Churachand Singh moved to his new palace, the deities were brought to the present temple beside it and installed again in 1908. The temple has twin gold-plated domes over a raised plinth, with a large congregation hall in front.
The life of this place
- 1776–1779Bhagyachandra has the murti carved and consecrates Shri Govindaji.
- 16 January 1846Maharaja Nara Singh builds the temple in the Kangla palace.
- 1868 CEAn earthquake badly damages the temple and the deities.
- April 1876Rebuilt under Maharaja Chandrakirti and consecrated again.
- 1908 CEDeities installed in the present temple beside Churachand Singh’s palace.
In the palace compound, central Imphal. Ras Lila is performed on Kartik and other purnimas; dress modestly, Manipuri devotees come in white.
