It is true that there are many Holy Places in Vrindavan but it is equally true that all of them do not share the same amount of importance. Of the 4000 temples that Vrindavan is home to, one of the most important ones is the Radha Damodara Temple. Located right in the middle of the Seva Kunj, the temple was thought of by Srila Prabhupada, the founder of ISKCON as the hub of the spiritual world. This throws a fair amount of light on the significance of the temple. Ensure that it is a part of your sight seeing trip in Vrindavan.
History of the Radha Damodara Temple Vrindavan :
The deity worshipped in the Radha Damodara Temple was carved with his own hands by Rupa Goswami. He presented this deity of Radha Damodara to one of his favorite disciples Jiva Goswami. Jiva Goswami then established the temple in the year 1542. For more than four centuries now this temple is being visited by devotees of Lord Krishna and the number is increasingly on the rise.
Description of the Radha Damodara Temple Vrindavan :
On your visit to the Radha Damodara Temple you will be able to see not only the deity carved by Rupa Goswami, there are several other deities that are worshipped here as well. These are the deities of Vrindavan Chandra which was worshipped by Krishna Das Kaviraja Goswami, Radha Madhava worshipped by Jayadeva Goswami at one point of time and Radha Chalacikana which belonged to Bhugarbha Goswami. Even though some of the original deities have been replaced by more recent ones, they are as good as the old and referred to as the prathibhu-murti.
The Samadhis of Srila Rupa Gosvami, Srila Jiva Gosvami and Srila Krishna Dasa Kaviraj Gosvami are all located within the precincts of the temple. The bhajan place of Jiva Goswami is also inside the premises of the temple. It was here that he performed all his devotional activities. Of late a lot of restoration activity has been done to help this century old temple to emerge as one of the foremost Tourist Attractions in Vrindavan. It is as it is visited by many followers with the inflow increasing even more when festivals like the Candana Yatra are celebrated and now with all the renovation, even the common tourists want to pay a visit to what is one of the oldest temples in Uttar Pradesh, India.
