Sri Radha Ramanji of Vrindavan

Sri Radha Ramanji

Vrindavan is a town in the Mathura district of Uttar Pradesh, India. It is the site of an ancient forest which is the region where, Lord Krishna spent his childhood days.The town is about 10 km away from Mathura, the city of Lord Krishna's birthplace, near the Agra-Delhi highway. The town hosts thousands of temples dedicated to the worship of Radha and Krishna and is considered sacred by a number of religious traditions such as Gaudiya Vaishnavism, Vaishnavism, and Hinduism in general.I went to the place myself, a couple of times and noticed that practically the whole town full of temples.

It is believed that the essence of Vrindavan was lost over time until the 16th century, when it was rediscovered by Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. In the year 1515, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu visited Vrindavana, with purpose of locating the lost holy places associated with Lord Sri Krishna's transcendent pastimes.Lord Chaitanya wandered through the different sacred forests of Vrindavana in a spiritual trance of divine love. It was believed that by His divine spiritual power, He was able locate all the important places of Krishna's pastimes in and around Vrindavana.The Six Gosvamis Sri Rupa Gosvami, Sri Sanatana Gosvami, Sri Raghunatha Bhatta Gosvami, Sri Raghunatha dasa Gosvami, Sri Jiva Gosvami, and Sri Gopala Bhatta Gosvamis, under the direction of Srila Rupa Gosvami and Srila Sanatana Gosvami, studied various Vedic scriptures and picked up the essence of them, the devotional service of the Lord.Under the orders and blessing of Lord Chaintanya, they established number of temples for Sri Radha Krishna and wrote many scriptures on devotional service with the support of the Vedic literature. 

Few days ago, it was the 472nd anniversary of the appearance day of Sri Radha Ramanji of Vrindavan. One of my good friend and well wisher in Vrindavan sent me these photos that he took on the day.

When grandson of Sri Krsna,Vajranabh, was planning to have the deities of Krsna made, he was consulting with Uttara, mother of Pariksit Maharaj as to how did Krsna look (as she was the eye witness to Krsna’s pastimes). Based on her guidance, Vajranabh made 3 deities – Sri Sri Madanmohanji Sri Sri Govindji, SriSri Gopinathji. Then he asked Mother Uttara to see the deities. When Uttara Mai saw the deities, she said that Madanmohanji feet is just like Krsna’s feet,Govindji’s chest is just like Krsna’s chest and Gopinathji’s face is just like Krsna’s face.

When the deity of Sri Sri Radha Ramanji self- manifested (appeared), all the Goswamis (and devotees) declared that Sri Sri Radha Ramanji has the face of Gopinathji,chest of Govindji and feet of Madanmohanji. Thus Radha Ramanji is exact replica of Sri Krsna.Also, Sri Sri Radha Ramanji even though standing alone is a Yugal Murti(deity of Lord Krishna along with Srimati Radharani). Radharani is constantly residing in the deity of Ramanji (and thus she is represented on the altar in temple by Her Sari and Crown). It is explained that the Radha Raman deity is 5 deities in one – the 3 main deities of Madanmohanji, Govindji, and Gopinathji, He Himself, and Sri Gauranga Mahaprabhu or Radharani (Gauranga Mahaprabhu is Sri Sri Radha Krsna combined…as Radha Ramanji is self manifesting from Shaligram Shila which is Gauranga Mahaprabhu Himself coming to Gopal Bhatta Goswami).

Appearance of Lord Sri Radha Ramanji:-

When Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu was touring South India, He spent the four months during the rainy season called Caturmasya in Shri Rangam at the house of Venkata Bhatta, the chief priest of the Ranganatha Temple. His son, Shri Gopal Bhatta, was then able to serve the Lord to his heart’s content. Being pleased by his devotion, Shri Caitanya gave him initiation and ordered him to go to Vrindavana after the disappearance of his parents. There he should remain with Rupa and Sanatana doing bhajana and writing books. – At the age of thirty, after the death of his parents, Gopala Bhatta, left for Vrindavana. When Lord Caitanya heard that Gopala Bhatta Goswami had arrived in Vrindavana and had met Shri Rupa and Sanatana Goswami, He was very pleased. At that time Mahaprabhu had already visited Vrindavana. Although Rupa and Sanatana had gone to visit him in Puri, Gopala Bhatta never received any invitation to go. Understanding his disappointment, Shri  Caitanya sent His personal asana and cloth to him through Rupa and Sanatana, which can still be seen on special festivals in Radharamana Temple. – Later when Gopala Bhatta heard of the disappearance of Mahaprabhu, he felt intense separation from the Lord, having associated with him only in his childhood. One night Lord Caitanya appeared in a dream and told him, "If you want my darshana, make a pilgrimage to Nepal." InNepal, Gopala Bhatta visited the river Gandaki. After taking his bath he filled his water pot and was surprised to see that some Shaligram-shilas had entered it.Emptying his pot, he filled it again, only to find the shilas had re-entered his water pot. Again he emptied his pot, and when he filled it for a third time he found that now twelve Shalagrama-shilas were there.

Thinking this must be the mercy of the Lord, he decided to bring those shilas with him to Vrindavana. –One day after returning to Vrindavana, a wealthy devotee approached Gopala Bhatta Goswami with dresses and ornaments for his Deity. Gopala Bhatta told him that as he was only worshiping a shalagrama-shila, it would be better to give to someone else who was worshiping a Deity and could use them. It happened to be Narasimha-caturdashi and thinking deeply on this incident Gopala Bhatta remembered how Lord Narasimha deva had manifested from a stone pillar. He then began to prey to the Lord, "O Lord, you are very merciful and fulfil the desires of your devotees. I wish to serve you in your full form." In ecstasy he read the chapters of Shrimad Bhagvatam about Lord Narasimha deva’s pastimes, and then took rest. In the morning when he awoke, he found that one of the twelve Shalagramas, the Damodara-shila, had manifested as Shri Radharamana. He immediately called Rupa and Sanatana and all the other devotees. They were all astounded by the beauty of Shri Radharamanaji. They remarked that from the feet to the waist He had the form of Sri Madana-Mohanaji, His chest was like that of Shri Gopinathaji and He had the moonlike face of Shri Govindadeva.Then with the blessing of all the Vaishnavas, he began the worship of Shri Radharamanaji which is still being continued today.
I went to this temple and what ever I said about the deity is so true. It is such a beautiful deity and also, the prasadam - Keer(sweet) served there tastes amazing.