Sacred
Pilgrimages: Vrndavana
Radha-Madan-Mohana Temple of Sanatana Goswami
Vrndavana
Vrndavana is the most important Gaudiya Vaisnava holy
place in all of India. This is because Mathura is
the birth-place of Lord Krishna and Vrndavana is the
place where he performed His childhood pastimes.
It
is said that there are about 5,000 temples in Vrndavana.
Amongst these some of the most famous are the temples
of Radha-Govinda, Radha-Madana-Mohana, Radha-Damodara,
Radha-Ramana, Radha-Gokulananda, and Radha-Gopinatha.
This is also the bhajana-sthali of the famous six Gosvamis of Vrndavana, the intimate followers of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. These six Gosvamis followed the strictest standards of devotional service, wrote many devotional literatures and uncovered the lost places of Sri Krishna’s pastimes.
Radha-kunda is considered to be the holiest place on earth for all Gaudiya Vaisnavas. Radha-kunda appeared after Lord Krishna killed the demon Aristasura. Because Aristasura was in the form of a bull, the gopis told him that he had made an offence and had to purify Himself by bathing in all the holy tirthas. Rather than travel to all the holy places, the Lord brought all the holy places to that spot. He struck the ground with His heel and immediately all the waters from all holy rivers appeared. This place became known as Syama-kunda. In a competitive mood, the gopis led by Srimati Radharani also created a kunda by digging the earth with their bangles. All the holy rivers then petitioned Srimati Radharani to allow them to enter Her new kunda. Thus Radha-kunda appeared. About 5,000 years later the location of Radha-kunda and Syama-kunda was unknown, then Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu came to Vrndavana and discovered them. Later, Srila Raghunatha Dasa Gosvami and Srila Jiva Gosvami supervised the expansion and building of the kundas to what they are today.
Govardhana Hill is another important holy place for Gaudiya Vaisnavas. This hill is considered to be non-different from Sri Krishna Himself. When Krishna saw the Vrajavasis preparing to worship Indra, He instructed them to offer all their worship to Govardhana Hill. Being non-different from Govardhana, Krishna accepted all the offerings of His devotees. Considering his offering to have been spoilt and usurped, Indra became furious and poured incessant rain upon the inhabitants of Vraja. To protect them, Sri Krishna picked up Govardhana Hill with the small finger of His left hand and held it their for seven days. Seeing the greatness of the Lord, Indra became repentant and begged forgiveness from Him. From that time on, Sri Krishna became known as Giridhari – the lifter of Govardhana Hill.
