Bankey Bihari Temple
The Bankey Bihari temple was constructed in 1864 with the contribution of Goswamis. After the construction of the temple, Goswamis transferred the idol to this temple. Bankey bihari ji is worshiped and looked after as a child. Swami Haridas was the reincarnation of Lalita ‘sakhi’ (female friend), of the inner consortium of Lord Krishna. By tradition, the Sewa is performed by descendents of Jagannath Goswami till date.The temple is an architectural beauty in itself and follows the contemporary Rajasthani style. There are no bells or conch in the temple because Bankey Bihari does not like the sound of bells or conch.
Pandit: Nikhil Goswami
Address: 143, Brahm Ganga
Kunj,Bihari Pura,Vrindavan (Mathura) India
Contact Number: 91-9897919717
How To Reach:
By Road: Vrindavan is situated on Delhi-Agra NH-
2 and the various buses runs between the Agra and Delhi. Temple is 7 km. away
from National Highway. Getting to Temple is very easy as there are frequent
tempos and rickshaw available throughout the day. Mathura is just 12 km away. Frequent
buses, tempos and taxies runs between Mathura and Vrindavan.
By Train: The major railway station nearby is
Mathura on the Delhi-Chennai and Delhi-Mumbai main line. Several express and
passenger trains connect Mathura from other major cities of India like Delhi,
Mumbai, Pune, Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Calcutta, Gwalior, Dehradun,
Indore, and Agra. Though Vrindavan itself is a railway station. A rail bus runs between Vrindavan and Mathura
5 round in a day.
By
Air: The nearest airport is Agra just 67 km away
from Vrindavan. The nearest international airport is Delhi, which is connected
to almost every important city in the world with major airlines. There are
regular flights to other important tourist destinations of India such as Delhi,
Mumbai, Bangalore, and Chennai etc.
History
Inside the temple premise, the image of
Bihariji installed is the one granted to Swami Haridas by the celestial couple
Shyama -Shyam themselves. Devotees say the Lord himself appeared in person with
his divine consort and left back a black charming image before disappearing.
Legends say Swami Haridas ji was born to Shri Ashudhir and his wife Smt
Gangadevi on the day of Radha Ashtami . Radha- Ashtami was famed as the eighth
day of second (bright) fortnight of Bhadrapad month of the year 1535 Vikrami.
As per the mythology he was born in a small village which is now known as
Haridaspur, near Aligarh in Uttar Pradesh. The linage of the family can be
dated back to Shri Gargacharya. Shri Gargachrya was the kulguru (family guru)
of Yadavs and visited Brij for conducting the Namkaran Samskar (naming
ceremony) of young Krishna and Balram on the request of Sri Vasudev. And then
the branch of the family shifted to Multan which is now in Pakistan.
