Shri Radha Damodar Temple is a

Hindu temple A Hindu temple, also known as Mandir, Devasthanam, Pura, or Kovil, is a sacred place where Hindus worship and show their devotion to Hindu deities, deities through worship, sacrifice, and prayers. It is considered the house of the god to who ...

, dedicated to

Hindu deities Hindu deities are the gods and goddesses in Hinduism. Deities in Hinduism are as diverse as its traditions, and a Hindu can choose to be polytheistic, pantheistic, monotheistic, monistic, even agnostic, atheistic, or humanist. Julius J. L ...

Radha Radha (, ), also called Radhika, is a Hindu goddess and the chief consort of the god Krishna. She is the goddess of love, tenderness, compassion, and devotion. In scriptures, Radha is mentioned as the avatar of Lakshmi and also as the Prak� ...

and

Krishna Krishna (; Sanskrit language, Sanskrit: कृष्ण, ) is a major deity in Hinduism. He is worshipped as the eighth avatar of Vishnu and also as the Supreme God (Hinduism), Supreme God in his own right. He is the god of protection, c ...

. The temple is situated in

Vrindavan Vrindavan (; ), also spelt Vrindaban and Brindaban, is a historical city in the Mathura district of Uttar Pradesh, India. It is located in the Braj, Braj Bhoomi region and holds religious importance for Hindus who believe that Krishna, one of ...

Indian state India is a federal union comprising 28 states and 8 union territories, for a total of 36 subnational entities. The states and union territories are further subdivided into 800 districts and smaller administrative divisions by the respe ...

Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh ( ; UP) is a States and union territories of India, state in North India, northern India. With over 241 million inhabitants, it is the List of states and union territories of India by population, most populated state in In ...

. In the temple, Krishna is worshiped in the form of ''Damodar'' with his consort Radha. It is one of the main seven Goswami temples of Vrindavan. The temple belongs to

Gaudiya Vaishnavism Gaudiya Vaishnavism (), also known as Chaitanya Vaishnavism, is a Vaishnavism, Vaishnava Hindu denominations, Hindu religious movement inspired by Chaitanya Mahaprabhu (1486–1534) in India. "Gaudiya" refers to the Gaura or Gauḍa region o ...

tradition and was founded by

Jiva Goswami Jiva Goswami (; ) was an Indian philosopher and saint from the Gaudiya Vaishnava school of Vedanta tradition, producing a great number of philosophical works on the theology and practice of Bhakti yoga, Vaishnava Vedanta and associated discip ...

in 1542.

History

Shri Radha Damodar Temple was first established by Jiva Goswami in the year 1542 and was located at Seva Kunj of Vrindavan. Later, In 1670, when the Muslim emperor

Aurangazeb Alamgir I (Muhi al-Din Muhammad; 3 November 1618 – 3 March 1707), commonly known by the title Aurangzeb, also called Aurangzeb the Conqueror, was the sixth Mughal emperors, Mughal emperor, reigning from 1658 until his death in 1707, becomi ...

invaded Vrindavana, the original deities Radha Damodar were shifted to Jaipur for some time and when the social conditions became favourable, deities were brought back to Vrindavan in the year 1739. The deities Radha Damodar have been served in Vrindavan since then. Before the disappearance of Jiva Goswami in 1596, he left the deities in the care of his successor Krishna Dasa, the head priest. Presently, the descendants of Krishna Dasa are serving the deities.

Significance

The temple is one of the ancient temples of Vrindavan. It is among the seven significant temples of Vrindavan which includes Radha Madan Mohan temple, Radha Gokulnanda temple, Radha Raman temple, Radha Govinda temple, Radha Gopinath temple and Radha Shyamsundar temple. The temple also houses the ''Giriraj Shila'' having the footprints of Krishna which was believed to be given to Sanatana Goswami by

himself. According to popular belief, four ''parikramas'' (circumambulation) of the Radha Damodar Temple is equal to one circumambulation of Govardhana Hill. There are also samadhis of many Gaudiya saints including

Rupa Goswami Rupa Goswami Rupa Goswami (, , ; 1489–1564) was a devotional teacher (guru), poet, and philosopher of the Gaudiya Vaishnava tradition. With his brother Sanatana Goswami, he is considered the most senior of the Six Goswamis of Vrindavan as ...

, Jiva Goswami and Krishnadasa KavirajaSamadhi of Shri Krishna Das Kaviraj at Shri Radha Damodar Temple, Vrindavan.
/ref> inside the premises of the temple. Founder of

ISKCON The International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), commonly known as the Hare Krishna movement, is a religious organization that follows the Gaudiya Vaishnavism, Gaudiya Vaishnava tradition of Hinduism. It was founded on 13 July 1966 ...

, Srila Prabhupada also stayed in this temple for six years before heading to the United States of America to preach about Krishna.

Temple deities

Along with Radha Damodar and Giriraj Shila, the other deities worshiped in the temple are - Radha Vrindavanchandra, Radha Madhav,

Gaur The gaur (''Bos gaurus''; ) is a large bovine native to the Indian Subcontinent and Southeast Asia, and has been listed as Vulnerable species, Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List since 1986. The global population was estimated at a maximum of 21,000 ...

Nitai and

Jagannath Jagannath (; formerly ) is a Hindu deity worshipped in regional Hindu traditions in India as part of a triad along with (Krishna's) brother Balabhadra, and sister, Subhadra. Jagannath, within Odia Hinduism, is the supreme god, '' Purushot ...

Temple timings

The time zone ( UTC+05:30) observed through India by the priest - Morning - 4:30 AM to 1:00 PM Evening - 4:30 PM to 9:00 PM

Gallery

References

{{Reflist

External links

Official website
Radha Krishna temples Tourist attractions in Mathura district Hindu temples in Mathura district Gaudiya Vaishnavism Mathura district Krishna temples Vrindavan 16th-century Hindu temples 1542 establishments in India