PREM MANDIR- VRINDAVAN

n the month of December 2013, I got the opportunity to visit Mathura and Vrindavan along with my elder brother and two friends. This was my second visit to the holy city of Mathura and Vrindavan. Last time I came here in March 2012 with my family. In the last visit I missed lot of old temples, especially -Sapt Devalayas (seven holy places). Six out of these seven are situated in the interior streets of Vrindavan and are not well known to majority of tourist.

These are oldest temples of Vrindavan and were established by the followers of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu also known as the Six Gosvamis of Vrindavan. Many stories of Miracle and sight of Lord Krishna and Radha Rani are related to these temples. I will write in details about these Temples some time later. Name of these Sapt Devalayas are:

1. Govind Dev Temple

2. Radha Gopinath Temple

3. Madan Mohan Temple

4. Radha Raman Temple

5. Radha Damodar Temple

6. Radha ShyamSundra Temple

7. Gokulanand Temple

Beside these Sapt Devalayas there are a lot of temples .Some of these are quite famous eg Sh. Banke Bihari Temple, Rang Nath Temple, Jaipur Temple, Shah Ji ka Temple, ISCON (Krishan-Balram Temple), Prem Mandir, Dau ji Temple, Ashta Sakhi Temple, Radha Vallabh, Vrindavan Bihari, Sewa Kunj, Nidhi Van etc.

In our group, it was first journey to Mathura and Vrindavan for all except me. We reached at Mathura railway station on 22/12/2013 at 8AM. We stay there for two full days and visited as many Temples as we can. In this post I will discuss and concentrate only on Prem Mandir.

Prem Mandir is situated in Raman Reti in the holy land of Shri Vrindavan; the divine abode of Shri Radha Krishana’s loving pastimes. This temple is an outstanding monument in terms of its unique architecture beauty and grandeur. It is adjacent to ISKON temple and on the Chhatikara Road. A few important facts regarding the temple are listed below.

• Foundation laid on 14th January 2001.

• Inaugurated on 17th February 2012.

• Temple situated on sprawling 12 acre of land.

• Well-arranged gardens, fountains and dioramas.

• The combined efforts of approximately 1000 artisans and thousands of labourers who worked tirelessly for 11 years to complete this Temple.

• Constructed of 30,000 tons of Italian karara marble.

• 125 feet high, 122 feet long and 115 feet wide.

• Majestically standing on 150 artistically carved pillars.

• Decorated with 9 beautifully engraved domes.

• Resplendent with 17 golden coloured pitchers (Kalash) and a grand flag mast at the top.

• Built on the basis of Nagaradi architecture.