Sri Radha Madana Mohana temple

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Those who have gone to Vrndavana, they have seen the temple of Radha-Madana- mohana.

Sri Caitanya-caritamrta, Adi-lila 1.15
by His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
Dallas, March 4, 1975

By : Agrani Krishna Dasa

jayatam suratau pangor mama manda-mater gati
mat-sarvasva-padambhojau radha-madana-mohanau

“Glory to the all-merciful Radha and Madana-mohana! I am lame and ill advised, yet They are my directors, and Their lotus feet are everything to me.”
In the execution of Krishna consciousness, our first business is to know Krishna and our relationship with Him. Since this relationship can be learned by worshiping the Madana-mohana vigraha, we have to first establish our relationship with Him.
Maharaja Vajranabha got three Deities of Krishna carved, under the direction of Uttara: Madana Mohana, Gopinatha and Govinda. Each deity exactly resembled one part of Krishna’s body. The Deity of Madana Mohana resembled the body of Krishna from the waist to the feet.

The oldest temple in Sri Vrindavana Dham is the temple of Sri Sri Radha Madana Mohana established by Srila Sanatana Goswami. This temple was built in 1580 A.D. and is 60 ft. high. It sits on a 50 ft. high hill next to the Yamuna. This temple consists of a single tower raised from the ground and has a unique architecture. The temple is on a hillock and houses the pratibhu murti of Sri Sri Radha Madana Mohana. This is the first big temple in the parikrama marg of Vrindavana and can be reached by rickshaws, or by vehicle. Earlier Yamuna used to flow right next to the temple. However, due to the tectonic changes, Yamuna has moved a kilometre away from the temple.
Advaita Acharya discovered the original Deity of Madana Mohana at the base of an old vat tree, when he visited Vrindavana. He entrusted the worship of Madana Mohana to one of his disciples, who then gave the Deity to Sanatana Goswami. Madana Mohana is worshiped along with Srimati Radharani and Lalita.
When Sanatana Goswami first came to Vrindavana, he performed his bhajana on top of a small hill known as Dwadashaditya Tila. Sometime later when he obtained the Deity of Madana Mohana, he also worshiped the Deity at this same place and is said to have kept the Deity on a tree until a temple was eventually built.
While staying in Vrindavana, Sanatana Gosvami used to go to Mathura for performing madhukari and one day while accepting alms from a brahmana’s house; he noticed the children were playing with the beautiful Deity of Madana Mohana. One day while chanting on his beads near the banks of the Yamuna, Sanatana Goswami noticed a very beautiful and unusual looking cowherd boy playing games with the other children. Sanatana Goswami felt certain within his heart that this was no ordinary boy but must be Krishna Himself, enjoying pastimes with the local children. Therefore, when all the children returned home after playing, Sanatana Goswami followed the cowherd boy to see where he was living and determine his true identity. When the cowherd boy went inside a nearby temple, he also went inside, but to his surprise found himself alone inside a temple, with the little boy nowhere in sight, as if he had completely vanished. The only other person insider the temple was the Deity of Madana Mohana. Sanatana Goswami immediately bowed down before the Deity and without uttering a word to anyone, and in a deep mood of contemplation, returned to Vrindavana.
After this incident, when Sanatana Goswami went out to collect alms he would also have darshana of Madana Mohana in the temple managed by the brahmana and his wife, who also lived on the temple premises. On one occasion he felt somewhat shocked at the irreverence being shown to the Deity, when he saw the brahmana’s children playing in their house with the Deity, and also the way in which the brahmana’s wife was serving the Deity as if the Deity was one of her children. Sanatana Goswami mildly reprimanded the brahmana’s wife, who was looking after the worship of the Deity and wanted to know why they were not following the specific rules concerning the Deity worship. The brahmana’s wife admitted her fault and agreed to be more careful in the future. However, that night Sanatana Goswami had a dream in which Madana Mohana told him that He had been very happy playing with the children, but since Sanatana Goswami had asked the brahmanas to be more reverential in their Deity worship, they had now introduced so many rules and regulations, that He was no longer happy staying there, and instructed Sanatana Goswami to take Him back to Vrindavana.
The next day, feeling great remorse that the Deity was no longer feeling happy, Sanatana Goswami returned to the brahmana’s house to apologize for encouraging them to be more reverential in their Deity worship. However, the brahmana requested Sanatana Goswami to take Madana Mohan, as he had also had a dream in which the Deity had told him that, as he already had so many children and Sanatana had none, therefore he should hand Him over to Sanatana Goswami. Hearing these words, Sanatana Gosawmi said that as he was in the renounced order of life and subsisted by begging alms, he was in no position to worship the Deity in the proper way, and for this reason could not accept the offer. That night, Sanatana Goswami received another dream in which Madana Mohana again appeared before him and once again asked Sanatana Goswami to take care of Him, saying this would make Him very happy. The Deity further said that whatever simple things Sanatana could offer, He would gladly accept it. After this dream, Sanatana Goswami agreed to take the Deity, and after bringing the Deity to Vrindavana, began to worship Him on top of Dwadashaditya Tila.
Sanatana Goswami’s only offering to Madana Mohana, besides water and wild flowers, were dry chapattis. One day, after having made an offering of dry chapattis, Sanatana Goswami heard Madana Mohana asking for some salt to put on His dry chapattis. Sanatana Goswami replied by saying, “Just see, now you want salt, and tomorrow You will want sweets; I am an old man and have so many books to write, so please be satisfied with these dry chapattis.”
Is so happened that on the same day, a merchant hailing from Multan in Punjab, named Ramadasa, was ferrying salt and other goods by boat down the Yamuna River to the city of Agra, and while passing Dwadashaditya Tila his boat got stuck on a sandbank in the middle of the river. In great anxiety and fear that his goods may be lost, the merchant came ashore in order get help. Ramadasa could not see anyone around accept a young cowherd boy sitting near the riverbank. Ramadasa asked the cowherd boy if there was anyone who could help to free his boat. The cowherd boy informed him that there was a sadhu performing bhajana on the nearby hill who might be able to help. Climbing the hill, Ramadasa humbly approached Sanatana Goswami and asked him to help free the boat. Sanatana Goswami said that as he was old and quite weak, he was not in any position give much help, but advised Ramadasa to seek help from his beloved Deity of Madana Mohana, who was sitting on the nearby tree. With full faith, Ramadasa bowed down and offered heart-felt prayers to Madana Mohana and very humbly requested His help.
Suddenly there was the deafening sound of thunder and immediately torrential rainfall began to inundate the whole area. Within a short time, due to the heavy downpour, the large deluge of rainwater began to swell the Yamuna and the merchant’s boat became freed from the sandbank. Being overcome with joy, Ramadasa repeatedly offered his obeisances to Madana Mohana, profusely thanked Sanatana Goswami, asking him what service he could perform in gratitude. Sanatana Goswami suggested that Ramadasa could help in building a temple for Madana Mohana. It is said that after completing all his business in Agra, and having made a handsome profit, Ramadasa soon returned to Vrindavana, and built a temple for Lord Madana Mohana.

The original Madana Mohana Deity was moved from Vrindavana to Jaipur in 1670 A.D., when soldiers of the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb attacked Vrindavana. That Deity is now in Karoli, which is southeast of Jaipur, in Rajasthan. In Vrindavana, there is a new Madana Mohana temple at the bottom of the hill, where the replacement Madana Mohana Deity called pratibhu-murti is now being worshiped. Since the temple atop the hill was broken and considered unfit for the worship of Deities, the pratibhu-murtis of Radha Madana Mohana were moved to the new temple at the bottom of the hill and another set of pratibhu murtis was installed in the temple atop the hill.