||Hare Krsna||

||Jai Srila Prabhupada||

Sri Sri Radha Gopinath

(Established by Madhu Pandit Goswami)
Shri Shri Radha Gopinath are the life and soul of Shrila Madhu Pandit Thakur.
The beautiful form of Gopinath was carved by the great demigod Vishwakarma,
on the request of the great grandson of Sri Krishna, Vajranabh. It is said that the
face of this particular Deity of Shri Krishna, is identical to the chest and flute of
Krishna Himself.
 Appearance of Gopinath in Vrindavan:
Gopinath is one of the deities which were installed in Vraja Bhumi about 5000
years ago by Vajranabh. Later however the deity became hidden from human
perception for many many years.
Once there was flood in Yamuna and the flow of waters cut down the land near
the bank at Vamshi vat and thus the beautiful deity of Gopinath ji was exposed
out of the sand under the old Banyan Tree (Vamshi Vat). This deity was found
by Paramananda Bhattacharya, the disciple of Gadadhar Pandit who in turn
entrusted the idol for service to Madhu Pandit Goswami and it was here that
Madhu Pandit had arranged this beautiful temple to be built for Shri Shri Radha
Gopinathji.
On Magh Shukla Purnima, Samvat 1560 (year 1503) amidst ceremonial Naam
Sankirtan, from under the sacred soil of river Yamuna at Vamshi Vat, Lord
Gopinath with Radha Rani Manifested.
With all sacred rituals, observing the Gaudiya Sampradaya regulations, the
regular worship of Radha-Gopinath started in a cottage .
  Construction of the Temple:
Initially the deity was being worshipped at Vamshi Vat but after 41 years of
manifestation of Lord Gopi Nathji, a red sand stone temple for him was made
by king of Khandela, Raisal Darbari, one of emperor Akbar’s courtier and great
grand son of Shekha,descendent of the Shaikhawat Branch of Rajput in 1632
A.D. near Nidhi Van in Vrindavan. This was before the construction of the
Red Stone Temple of Govind Devji. Lord Gopinathji is ever since regarded as
KulDevata at Khandela and other many places including Shekhavati; it is said
that around 365 or more temples of Lord Gopinath came into existence in these
areas.
The temple built up of Red sandstone matches closely in style and dimensions
to that of the old Madan Mohan Temple. Major portion of the temple was
destructed to ruins during the attack of the Mughal ruler Aurangzeb. The
central dome of the temple was entirely destroyed and the main entrance
gateway of the temple courtyard is shaking to its fall. The Choir dome of the
temple is richly decorated with the sculptures in Arab style (Islamic art). To the
northern side has been built a new temple worshipping the Pratibhu Vigraha
(replica) of Gopinath and Radha Rani along with Jahnava Thakurani (Ananga-
manjari) the consort of Nityananda Prabhu as the original deities were moved to
Jaipur for safekeeping. This new temple was built in 1819 AD as the old temple
was almost destroyed and was unfit for worship. Inside the temple on the altar
can be seen the black marble beautiful deity of Lord Gopinath along with Sri
Radharani standing to its right and Anangamanjari (younger sister of Radhaji)
to the left. This is the only temple in Vrindavan having such an unusual
arrangement as in all other temples deity of Radhaji is installed on the left of
Lord Krishna. Samadhi of Madhu Pandit lies to the east side of the new temple.

In the hall leading to Radha-Gopinath´s current altar there is a doorway on the

right leading down a step into a small temple room. This is the old temple
where the original deities of Radha-Gopinath lived before the Mughal invasion
when they were moved to Jaipur. Now the deity being worshipped here is
¨Muralidhar Mahaprabhu,¨ a form of Gaursundara playing the flute. The temple
Gosvami says of the deity, ¨This deity was installed after the Mughal invasion.
Mahaprabhu holds the flute, for the sake of the general populace who don’t
know about Mahaprabhu´s svarup. His color is golden like Radharani, but he
holds the flute to show that he is also Krishna; He is Radha and Krishna in one
form.¨

 Installation of another deity of Radharani:

Gopinath is also the worshipable deity of Jahnava Devi, the eternal consort of
Nityananda Prabhu. Jahnava Devi in her original spiritual form is Ananga
Manjari, the younger sister of Shrimati Radharani.
Towards the end of 16th century, Sri Jahanva Devi came to Vrindavan. When
she visited the temple of Lord Gopinath, she had a divine inspiration that the
existing image of Radha Rani which manifested from under the Vanshi Vat with
the sacred image of Lord Gopinathji, was much smaller in the size; And hence
an other image of Radha Rani reasonably proportionate in size, be installed on
the left of Lord Gopinathji. After her return ,she accordingly sent to Vrindavan
an image of Radha Rani, proportionate in size as per divine inspiration with one
vaishnav devotee, Shri Parmeshwari Das through boat via the river route from
the Gour Pradesh. This image was placed on the left of Lord Gopinathji and the
original sacred deity which manifested from under the Vanshi Vat was placed
on the right of Lord Gopinathji; This continues right since then.
These are two deities of Shrimati Radharani on each side of Gopinath Dev, the
smaller one on His right and the bigger one on His left. The Acharyas have
declared that when Jahnava Devi left this world, she entered this smaller deity
of Shrimati Radharani and since then this deity is worshipped as Jahnava
Ananga Manjari. The original deities of Gopinath, Radharani and Ananga
manjari are now in Jaipur. The Pratibhu Murthis are being worshipped in
Vrindavan.

 Gopinath Ji’s permanent residence in Jaipur:

In thee Year 1669 A.D. , during the reign of Aurangzeb when religious
fanaticism was at its height, the deitues of Radha-Gopinathji were shifted first
to Kamvyavan via Radhakund and then to Madhovilas Jaipur in 1775.
Thereafter, finally In the year 1792, before his death , then Deewan of Jaipur,
Shri Khushali Ram Bohra consecrated the deities of Lord Radha-Gopinathji in
his Haveli at Purani Basti Jaipur converting and dedicating the same to the
Temple Shri Gopinathji Maharaj (The Present Temple Premises). The Haveli
got the grace to become the Temple. The majestic deities were enshrined
in Haveli and Right Since then Shri Gopinath ji Maharaj continue to bless the
city of jaipur with his divine presence.
For around a century, Lord Gopinathji was at Kama (Kamvyan),Bharatpur,
Rajasthan and is called the Lord of Kamvyavan.

 Sri Madhu Pandit Goswami:

Madhu Pandit Goswami, a disciple of Shri Gadadhara Pandit, worshiped the
Gopinatha Deity.
Bhakti-ratnakar says that Shri Gopinathaji, who is an ocean of mercy, forever
sports along the enchanting banks of the Yamuna at Vamshivata. His bodily
luster steals the mind of whoever sees Him. When the soothing sweetness of
Gopinathaji’s charming form enters the heart it immeditately extinguishes the
burning fire of material existence.
Madhu Pandit Goswami blessed Shrinivasa Acharya with Gopinatha’s garland
before Shrinivasa, Narottama, and Shyamananda took the bullock cart of
Goswami granthas from Vrindavana. In Goloka Vrindavana, Madhu Pandit
Goswami serves as Mandali-sakhi in the group of Champakalata-sakhi. The
samadhi of Madhu Pandit Goswami is on the right side of the entrance within
the compound of the Radha-Gopinatha Temple in Vrindavana.
Madhu Pandit’s Japa beads and a set of Chadar(robe) and cap , completely made
of Tulasi beads, made in the year 1602, which Madhu Pandit used to wear while
chanting and worshipping his deities, went to Jaipur with the original deities and
is displayed at the present temple premises.
  Genealogy of the sevaks of Gopinathji:

1. Shri Madhu Pandit

2.Goswami Madho Dutt
3. Goswami Sadanand
4. Goswami Chetandas
5. Goswami Shyamacharan Dev
6. Goswami Vrindavan Dev
7. Goswami Nrisingh Lal Dev
8. Goswami Ramlal Dev
9. Goswami Nandlal Dev
10.Goswami Biharilal Dev
11.Goswami Madholal Dev
12.Goswami Gopal Lal Dev
13.Goswami Ballabh Lal Dev
14.Goswmi Siddharth Dev( Present Mahant)
Gopinath is dressed in various outfits according to different days and seasons.
On ekadashi he is dressed in Red amd saffron outfits and a special inclined
crown as Natwara-The best among dancers.
He is dressed in white on Poornima(Full Moon) and in Black on
Amavasya( New Moon).
Also in Chaitra month, outfits made of flower buds are offered to him to give a
cooling effect.
Main temples of Jaipur, like Sri Govind Dev ji and Gopinath Ji follow the rules
and regulations laid in Gaudiya Scriptures, Hari Bhakti Vilasa and Purohit
Darpana. The established routine system of Sewa is known as 'Ashta-yam Sewa'
in which Nine Jhankis are opened daily for the public. There are set Hymns for
each Jhanki, linked to the theme & emotions inherent to that Jhanki. These are
either in Hindi or in Bengali. When the "Kirtan" is at it's height, it is a live
experience of the presence of that omnipresent himself.
It is a deep divine experience to see the devotees fondly singing these hymns
with rhyme & rhythm. One gets absorbed in the same.
 In one book about the temples of Vrindavan, the Padma Purana is quoted
saying that to get the full vision of Sri Krisna, pilgrims have to visit and offer
obeisances to all three Deities during a single day, while the sun is still up.
 Sri Govinda and Sri Gopinath are now in Jaipur, and Madana-Mohan is in
Karoli, a small town in Rajasthan and this triple darsan seems to be possible
even today, if you are efficient traveler, of course.