Vrindavan: The city of God

Hello everyone,

In this post I will tell you about my visits of some of the temples of Vrindavan other than those which I covered on the first day of my trip.

First of all I visited to the temple of Pagal Baba.

Pagal Baba Mandir

This temple was built by a Baba who was famous by the name of Pagal Baba. The temple was solely the creation of his mind and he collected the money by slowly collecting it from different kinds of works that he did. He sacrificed his entire life for creating the temple. The temple has a total of nine floors including the ground floor. On each floor except the second one there are the idols of different gods. On second floor there is no idol, it is meant for the Parikrama of the temple.

After that I visit the famous temple of Rangaji. The temple is the largest of all in whole Vrindavan. It is spread in an area of 1.5 sq km such a large area.

Main gate of Rangaji Temple

This South Indian style temple was built by a wealth Seth of Mathura known as Seth Laxmi Chand Jain. in the year 1851. It was built by Seth to honour his Guru Shri Rangaji Maharaj when with the blessings of Govindji he was blessed with the son as suggested by his Guru.

He donated about 3640 Kg of Gold in the temple. This Gold has been utilized to create different knids of idols and domes of the temple.

The top of the dome of Temple made of Gold

The main temple is completely standing on pillars which counts to 282, no Girder no iron rod is placed in the pillars.

Temple pillars

There was an exhibition on the items that were made of Gold, these are taken out only once at the time of Brahmotsava, when a large Rath Yatra is carried out in whole of Vrindavan. The items are made of pure gold.

Surya Chakra

Hathi the royal sawari

There was also a Shishnaag on which according to Hindu beliefs Lord Vishnu sits, is also placed. That is made of pure silver.

Sheesh Naag

The temple is a purely divine place for a devotee. I spent few hours in the temple but still not fulfilled with the divinity of the temple. It is a strong belief that if anyone wishes anything from pure heart, than his wish will surely be fulfilled, Govindji will not let anyone go empty handed.

This is one of the  few temples in India that still follows the outdated rule of not allowing foreigners to enter the temple. They can enter the outside perimeter of the temple but not enter the place where idols of Gods are kept.

After this I went to the main temple of Vrindavan, which is known as Banke Bihari Mandir. The temple is situated in the main market of Vrindavan in a very conjusted area. Inside photography is totally banned, so I could not take the photographs of the temple from inside.

Banke-Bihari Temple

I reached the temple when aarti was about to begin in half an hour. The temple atmosphere was very much religious at that time. The aarti continued for about half an hour and then I stayed there for some more time as the atmosphere felt me like too energetic and like all my wishes have been fulfilled.

Banke-bihari means Krishna, the Supreme enjoyer. This temple was built in 1864. The deity of Banke Bihari was discovered in Nidhuvana by Swami Haridasa, known for his devotional bhajans  who was the guru of famous musician Tansen.

After this I went to the temple of Maata Vaishno Devi which is situated just at the beginning of Mathura Vrindavan road. Here too the Inside Photography was restricted.

Maata Vaishno Devi

The idol of Maata Vaishno devi is so much big that it is visible on the road to the Mandir. I was so much impressed by the idol that could not stop myself from visiting the temple. The temple is actually a small model to the yaatra of Vaishno Devi which is one of the religious places of Hindus. There are similar kind of mountains, caves and allover complete experience that one experiences in Vaishno devi. The yaatra there looks like is very small, but in fact it took us over an hour to complete the yaatra, and all the temples present there. The temple was a masterpiece of art and culture. It is created in such a manner that every one is attracted towards it and one cannot stop himself from visiting the temple. Not Only Vaishno maata but idols of Lord Rama and Krishna are also idolized there. The temple has a sense of divinity in itself. The time I spent there felt me like a fortunate person who got an opportunity to see maata vaishno devi.

That's all for this trip. I hope you like it.

Thank You

Agra: The City Of Mughal Architecture

Hello friends,

Today I will tell you about my visits to Agra, which is known to be the city of Mughal Architecture. Agra comprises of such beautiful examples of Mughal architecture that cannot be just said by words. There are countless monuments that are situated in Agra. You all must have heard about the famous monument known as one of the wonders of world, Taj Mahal. But in this blog I will tell you about other monuments of Agra, rather than Taj Mahal, so that you can enlighten your knowledge about Agra at a wider context than only Taj.

First I visited Sikandra. Sikandra is one of the superb Mughal buildings, which is situated about 7 Km. from Agra city on Agra-Mathura Road.

Emperor Akbar the Great selected this place for his burial and started the construction work in 1602 A.D., but it could not be completed as Akbar lived. He was buried here as per his wish in the catacomb. The main building was constructed by Akbar only but was completed by Emperor Jahangir in 1613 A.D. with a cost of Rs 15 Lakh. This Mausoleum stands in a big garden called Bahishtabad in an area of 150 acres, and is enclosed by a huge wall about 25 feet high having 4 gates towards all the four sides. 

The Main entrance gate to Sikandra

The gate way of Sikandra is extremely beautiful and is situated on the south side. It is made of red sand stone. Its main door was made of sandal wood, which was taken away by the Jats. Formerly the roof of this gate was decorated with silver and gold which was taken over by Jats during their short rule. The upper storey of the Gate has a 'Naubat Khana', from where the big kettle drums were played in the morning to evening in the honour of the dead Emperor. The roof has got four couplas marble and red stone which is surrounded by beautiful 'kangura' work. The exterior portion is profusely decorated with white marbel inlay work. On either sides of the gate way are built court yards of red sandstone, which are called 'Nau-Mahals'.

From the main gate to the main building there are stoneways paved with red stone having  some small tanks and cannals. The main building is squarish having 4 storeys and about 100 feet high. the first three storeys are of res stone while the fourth one is of white marble, which is a clear evidence that the first three stories of red sandstone were built by Akbar while the fourth one was built by his son Jahangir. The Mausoleum proper stands on a marble platform of 496 feet square and 30 feet high.

The Mausoleum at Sikandra

In the centre of the main building is the grave of Akbar situated on a raised platform, cut out of a single block of marble. There is an inscription on the Northern side of the cenotaph which reads like this-"Alla-ho-Akbar" (God is Great), and on the south "Jatt-e-Jalal Hoo", (Great is His glory), and around it there are ninety nine names of God, the almighty inscribed in stone.

The tomb of Akbar The Great

Besides the tomb of Akbar there are the tombs of Jahangir wives and daughters of Akbar. These are also made of white marble. 

Tomb of Akbar's daughters

Near the main gate of Akbar's Tomb towards the south-east side, is a beautiful bilding called Sheesh-Mahal or the Palace of Mirror. It was constructed by Jahangir for his beloved consort Noor-Jahan. Its beauty is indescribable but its remains are in a dilapidated condition today.

Sheesh-Mahal

After this I travelled to the famous Fatehpur Sikri, which is situated about 37 Km. west of Agra on Agra-Jaipur National Highway. It was small village named Sikri, dwelt by some stone cutters and was under Rajput cheifs upto 14th century. It is near the famous battle field of 'Kanwah' where a decisive battle was fought between Babur and Rana Sanga. It was famous for the dwelling place of a Sufi Saint 'Shekh Saleem Chisti', who was famous for his spiritual deeds.

When Akbar was returning from his victory over Gujrat, he made a hault at Sikri village just to have  prayer to the Sufi Saint to bless Akbar with a son from his Rajput wife Jodhabai.

Shekh Salim Chisti Tomb

Sheikh salim Chisti Tomb is made of white marble, the marble screen surrounding the cenotaph has beautiful floral design. The actual remains of the sufi  saint are kept in a vault just below the cenotaph. Its a famous place of worship for people from all religions. There is a belief that if an individual wishes for something and ties a thread in the jali around the cenetoph, the wish will surely be fulfilled and if so happens then one has to visit here again and untie the thread. This saint was the guru of Akbar.

Jama Masjid

Jama Masjid is the largest building in whole Fatehpur Sikri. It was constructed by Emperor Akbar on the pattern of the Mosque at the Mecca at the suggestion of Sheikh Saleem Chisti. It was completed in the year 1527 A.D. Akbar treated himself as one of the religious heads (Imam). It is said that on one Friday, he performed the prayers and read Khutba composed by Faizi but later on he left the service leaving to the original Mullah of the Masjid.

Buland Darwaza or Victory Gate

Buland Darwaza was constructed by Akbar in 1602 A.D. to commemorate his victory over South India. It is towards the south of Jama Masjid. It is said to be the greatest and tallest Gate way in India. There are so many stairs steps below this gate which increases its own class, it is one of the greatest doors of the world. There are some Arabic Texts inscribed on it.

Jodha Bai Palace

Jodha Bai's Palace is a double-storied edifice having its entrance towards the south. This building is having pure Hindu influence on its architecture as well as in the ornamental carvings depicting belts and chains on the stones. The northern and the southern wings are covered with beautifully glazed, azure-blue tiles from Multan.

Jodhabai's Kitchen

Besides Jodhabai Palace is the Kitchen of Jodhabai where the food for Jodhabai was prepared, as she was pure vegetarian so only vegetarian food was prepared for her.

Birbal's Palace

The house of Raja Birbal, a palatial building is situated near the norh-west ci=orner of Jodha Bai's Palace. It is said that it was built by birbal for his beloved daughter. Mahesh Das alias Birbal was an intelligent man, was Akbar's Prime-Minister and was amongst one of the nine gems of Akbar. This building stands on a huge concrete platform. It is a double storied building having flat roofs accessible by narrow staircase. The central part of the edifice is having four square rooms, It contains beautiful carvings on the walls, interior and exterior, along with the ceilings. It is a beautiful mixture of Hindu and Muslim architecture. Both the apartments are crowned with the domes on the two corners of the roof, which enhances the beauty of this building.

Panch Mahal

Panch Mahal has five storeys. It is the beauty of this building that every upper storey of this building becomes smaller than the lower one. It appears like a 'Buddhist Vihar' in appearance.

It appears that the entire building was meant as a place of recreation by Akbar with his wives.

DIWAN-E-AAM

Akbar the great, constructed this building known as the Hall of Public Hearing from 1570 to 1580 A.D. In its centre is situated the Emperor's seat of judgment on an elevated recess. On the three sides of this Diwan-E-Aam, there are some cloisters capable of seating thousands of litigants and petitioners while on the fourth side roof of the seat, provided seats for ladies of the royal Harem.

DIWAN-E-KHAS

There  is a red sand stone building near Diwan-E-Aam, which was known as Diwan-E-Khas or Ibadat Khana. It is a building having in its centre, a lofty chamber, consisting of a lofty octagonal beautifully carved column. On the top of the pillar is a platform which is enclosed by pierced screen carvings. At all the corners of the platform, there are some kiosks, approchable by two staircases, hewn in the thickness of the walls, the Emperor used to reach his seat by some marble steps, which could be slid beneath the platform. The Emperor used to sit here with his nobles in line, according to there respective ranks. From this place only Akbar used to give 'Jaarokha Darshan' to his subjects daily in the morning.

Turkish Sultana's House

The Turkish Sultana's House was built with red sandstone and its interior and exterior is ornamented with superb carvings. Its interior portion was decorated with scenaries, flowers and birds which was destroyed by Aurangzeb later on. Turkish Sultana was the chief wife of Akbar, who was the daughter of Hindal, the son of Babar. She was childless who died in Agra in 1626 A.D. at the age of 54 years.

Here I am mentioning the main buildings of Fatehpur Sikri. After this I went to Dayal Bagh.

Dayal Bhag is about 6 Km. from the collectorate. It is the birth place of a religious sect 'Radha Swami', which was founded by Swami Shiv Dayal Ji in 1861 A.D. This sect is headed by religious 'Gurus' and its followers are spread in all parts of at least North-India along with some followers throughout many countries of the East and the West, but of course Indians by birth. The main attraction of Dayal Bagh is the Samadhi of the 'Sat Guru Maharaj' in white marble, with in lay work of semi-precious stones. It is under construction since 1915 A.D. but the construction work is a bit slow. 

Here photography was completely restricted so, I could not take photographs of the place. 

It is a piece of marvellous artistic work on the pattern of the Taj in white marble with floral designs in other coloured stones. Whatever work has been completed so far, is of  immense artistic value and worth visiting. Near the samadhi there is a good colony, meant for the followers of the Radha Swami faith. 

That's all for the day. In my next post I will tell you more about the temples of Vrindavan.

Thank You

The holy shrine: Vrindavan and Mathura

Hello friends,

Today, I will tell you about my experiences in Agra and Mathura. Mathura is known as the holy place of Hindu religion as it is believed that Lord Krishna was born here. First of all I visited Vrindavan which is known as the holy city or land of temples. It is said that there are more than 5000 temples in Vrindavan. As I reached Vrindavan a bit late therefore I could not get many of the temples open at that time, but I am listing some of them which I could visit. First i visited the newly built Prem Mandir. The temple has a very good architecture and appears to be a masterpiece on very first sight. Situated on the main road, it captures ones sight for its scenic placement and beauty.

Prem Mandir

 At Prem Mandir the architecture of temple is very close to the architecture of famous Jain temple, the temple of Ranakpur. Not a wall is left without carving in and out of the temple. Famous scenes of Sri Krishna and his life are depicted all over the courtyard of the temple in the form of tableaus. For example the famous lila of Sri Krishna holding the goverdhan parwat is depicted there.

Sri Krishna holding Goverdhan

The architecture of the temple is quite magnificent which can be easily seen in the dome of the temple as is depicted by the picture below.

Dome of the temple depicted the magnificent architecture

The temple has two main idols, one on the first floor of the temple and one on the ground floor of the temple. The idols of Lord Rama with Sita and Radha Krishna are too much devotional for one. At that time when I reached there aarti was being performed. I was totally attached to teh devine atmosphere of the temple at that time.

Lord Rama with Devi Sita

Radha Krishna

The walls of temple were also not left blank. They were depicted with different scenes of lifes of great sants and devine people. These were depicted in the form of carved painting on the walls.

Then the last thing I liked about the temple was the tableau of Lord Krishna Dance on Kaliya Naag. This depicts  the story of Kaliya mardan by Lord Krishna. Kaliya was known as the deadly devil of yamuna river and had poisoned the water of River. So Krishna decided to kill Kaliya. But Kaliya when was defeated decided to plea Krishna for his life after which Krishna danced on Kaliya as his punishment. The tableau completely depicts the purpose and looks life like, such a great architecture.

Kaliya Mardan

After that i visited to the temple of Britishers, known as Hare Krishna temple or ISKON temple. The temple was founded by Sri Prabhupada.

His statue is situated at the temple premises. He was known to be the founder of ISKON society. The temple is managed completely by Britishers. The temple has also a prasad vitran kaksh which is active for distributing the prasad of Lord Krishna. All the puja-aarti and every other daily chores of the temple are completely performed by the Britishers. The temple has a very good architecture and has an idol that looks very much devine to a devotee, and one is attracted towards the devine truth.

Idol of Krishna and Balram

The central deities are Sri Krishna Balarama and on the right alter is Shri Radha-Shyamasundara and the gopis Lalita and Visakha. On the left alter is Lord Chaitanya and Lord Nityananda, along with the murtis of Srila Prabhupada. Of all the temples in Vrindavana this temple has one of the highest standards of Deity worship and cleanliness. The devotees managing the temple are required to chant on japa beads sixteen rounds or 27000 names of God daily.

The temple has a very good collection of paintings from the life of Lord Krishna depicted on its walls.

Lord Krishna

After that i visted the temple of Mathura Chaurasi which is the famous temple of Jains in Mathura, built by Seth Laxmi Chand Jain. It is believed that the last Kevali Jambuswami got nirvana from the devine city of Mathura. The temple is devoted to Lord Jambuswami. As photography as restricted there so I could not take the photographs there.

Then I visited the famous Janambhumi of Shri Krishna in Mathura. Photography was completely banned there inside the premises of the temple, so I could not take photographs of the temple from inside. The photographs that I am showing here are of the main entrance gate to the Janambhumi.

Main entrance to janambhumi

It is known to be the birth place of Lord Krishna. The place is heavily guarded by the police due to the fight between the two religions Hindu-Muslim over the matter of Land. It was a pleasure for me to see the devine place or the karagar where Kansa placed Devaki and Vasudev and where Lord Vishnu took incarnation in the form of Lord Krishna to enlighten the world of divine truth and peace.

The temple photograph taken by zooming out as much as possible.

The temple is heavily carved out of architecture and the work is in progress of creating more temples in the courtyard of the main temple, to increase the divinity of the place. Walking over the courtyard of the temple felt like moving in Heaven and bathing in the divine river. The atmosphere is too much religious for a devotee that no one could be left untouched from the divinity of the Lords.

That's all for the day. in my next post I will tell you about my visits to Agra.

Thank You

Explorations to Jaipur

Hello everyone,

Today I will tell you about my further visits in Jaipur and the places nearby it.

I started my day by visiting to our holy place in Rajasthan, Padampuri. There is a very good temple of Jains. The temple is famous for the marvelous idol of sixth tirthankar of Jains Padamprabhu Bhagwan. The temple is created in such a way that it attracts the attention of anyone who visits the temple. The architecture there is very much attractive.

Padampuri

After this I traveled to the famous museum of Jaipur known as Albert Hall Museum. The museum has such a good display of architecture and things that I was completely amazed by that show.

I am telling about some of the things that I liked the most in the museum.

First of all there was the idol of Goddess Saraswati that has such a good carving on it that I was completely amazed by seeing the fine example of such carving.

Goddess Saraswati

After that the next interesting thing was the Egyptian Mummy placed at the museum.It was the mummy of Tutu a female member from the priests families of god Chem. It was found at Akhmin, ancient Panopolis. The lid shows a winged scarab beetle, symbol of resurrection in 'after-life', flanked by heads of the principal deity, the falcon god Horus with solar disks. below it is a wide bead collar down to the waist and a winged goddess for protection.

The Egyptian mummy

Then, next was the vase by Kinkosan. The province of Satsuma on the Japanese island of Kuishu became known for their fine ware. During the Meiji period in late 19th century they made various types of ornamented, enamelled and gilded high fire pottery often with scenes of Samural life surrounded by ornate patterning and vivid colours. This pot is of that time.

Satsuma Vase by Kinkosan

Next were some of the vases which were used in earlier times by different countries and differnet kingdoms there.

Different types of vases

Next were some of the upnishads and books of the old times. These were the original books of the previous times that were printed on the old paper on which Ramayana and Mahabharata were printed. The first copy of these religious books were preserved here.

Bhagwat Gita

Then, there were different models of block printing that were displayed as an example of the art that is very much popular not only today but in previous times.

Example of Block Printing

After this there were several coins of the kingdoms and dynasties of India. All types of coins were displayed from ancient, medieval and modern times. Even golden coins were also displayed there of the mauryan period.

Madho Singh III time coins

Albert Hall Museum

Then I went to the famous City Palace of Jaipur where the present king of Jaipur, Sawai Padmanabh Singh, stays with his family. The palace shows the different traditions of previous times and the customs and dresses of the royal family.

City Palace

But photography was not allowed in the dresses room, so I could not take the snaps of the dresses of the royal family. Then there were the royal carts which were used by the kings and queens in the previous times for travelling throughout the kingdom.

Royal Cart

There was also an exhibition of the royal family where old kings were shown doing there daily chores. 

A scene from Durbar

After this I went to Choolgiri which is the scared place of Jains. As photography was not allowed there so I could not take the photographs of the place but I was astonished to see the architecture that was present there.
Then I went to Galtaji that is known to be the sacred place of Hindu religion.

Galtaji

At Galtaji there are two ponds one is on the hill and one is on downstream. I could not take the photographs of the upstream pond as it was not allowed to go there at that time due to some unavoidable reasons.
This pond is known to be the sacred pond by Hindus. But bathing is banned here as it is too much deep and has an unexpected mass of algae at the bottom of pond which makes it unfit for bathing.

Galtaji Pond

That's all for the day. Now I will tell you more about my visits to next place when I visit there.

Thank you