01Lost and found
After the raids on Mathura the groves of Braj lay half-forgotten. In 1515 Chaitanya Mahaprabhu walked here from Puri and, in ecstasy, identified the sites of Krishna’s leelas: Radha Kund, Govardhan, the ghats of the Yamuna. He sent Rupa and Sanatana Goswami to settle here, and with Jiva, Gopala Bhatta, Raghunatha Bhatta and Raghunatha Dasa they became the six Goswamis, who wrote the Gaudiya theology and re-founded the shrines. In the same century Vallabhacharya, Swami Haridas and Hith Harivansh made Braj their home, and Surdas sang of it.
02Govind Dev and the flight of the murtis
In 1590 Raja Man Singh of Amber built the Govind Dev temple in red sandstone, seven storeys high by tradition, the largest temple north India had seen in centuries; its inscription names him. When Aurangzeb’s orders against the temples of Braj came in 1669–70, the Gaudiya priests carried the great murtis away: Govind Dev and Gopinath to Jaipur, Madan Mohan to Karauli. The Govind Dev temple lost its upper storeys and stands roofless above the ground floor. The Radha Raman murti of Gopala Bhatta Goswami never left, and is worshipped in Vrindavan still. The present Banke Bihari temple, built in 1864, houses the murti Swami Haridas found in Nidhivan.
The life of this place
- 1515Chaitanya Mahaprabhu visits and identifies the leela-sthalas of Braj.
- 1590Raja Man Singh builds the Govind Dev temple.
- 1669–70Under Aurangzeb’s orders the temples of Braj are attacked; the great murtis are taken to Rajasthan.
- 1864The present Banke Bihari temple is built.
Walk the parikrama path round the town (about 10 km) and the lanes of Nidhivan and Seva Kunj. Banke Bihari darshan is in short spells with the curtain drawn every few minutes; Holi and Janmashtami are packed.
