Radha Raman Temple in Vrindavan

      Radha Raman Temple was built in 1826 by Shah Behari Lall, the grandfather of Shah Kundan Lall and Shah Fundan Lall, who built the Shahji Temple. This temple is located quite close to Nidhivan and Loi Bazaar. Radha Raman means 'one who gives pleasure to Radha'.

      At the entrance are two huge gates reminiscent of the Moghul style of architecture. Even the main brown-coloured building is similarly designed. When I walked through the gates, to my left, I saw a small building that had two small rooms. The inner of the two rooms contains the samadhi of Gopal Bhatta. Gopala Bhatta Goswami found the idol in this temple in 1542. He was the son of Venkata Bhatta, from Srirangam in south India. He was an ardent devotee of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu who had sent him to Vrindavan to pursue spiritual studies. As I proceeded further, I saw a huge courtyard. To the left was the altar with a black idol of Lord Krishna (Radha Raman).There was no idol of Radha. Instead, there was a silver crown, to the left of Lord Krishna's idol, symbolising Radha Rani.

Sri Radha Raman Temple

      Radha Raman idol is one of the few original idols left in Vrindavan. In most of the other Goswami Temples, the original idols had been moved, during the days of Aurangzeb, to other places for safekeeping. What temples are replicas of the original deity. The idol in Radha Raman is considered to be very sacred because it is believed to have manifested itself from a Saligrama to satisfy the wishes of Gopala Bhatta Goswami.

      This self-manifested idol is worshipped to this date at this temple. Every year, during full moon night in the month of Vaishakh, this event is celebrated in a grand manner. The Panchamrit Abhisheka is performed for the Radha Raman idol.

      Since Gopal Bhatta was not a rich man, he could not afford to build a temple. He kept the Radha Raman idol on a tree and worshiped the deity daily. Since he was worried about the safety of the idol at night, he would remove the idol from the tree and keep it in a boat that was anchored in the middle of a lake. Gopal Bhatta and his friends would guard the idol with bows and arrows. It is believed that the bows and arrows are still kept in the temple premises. Gopal Bhatta had brought Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu's clothes and seat from Jagannath Puri. These are also kept in the temple premises and displayed to the public a few times a year.

      One needs to be extremely careful about the ferocious monkeys that surround this place. The temple priest gave us prasada (holy offerings) in northern pots. The prasada was khova (a sweet made of milk and sugar). It tasted delicious, just out of this world. As luck would have it, one of the monkeys came swiftly and snatched the clay pot containing the delicious prasada from my son's hands. My son began to cry. I consoled him saying that monkey is an avatara of Lord Hanuman, the greatest devotee of Lord Rama and since Lord Krishna is none other than the re-incarnation of Lord Rama, fate had willed that the prasada of Lord Rama (Krishna) should go to His prime devotee - Lord Hanuman. We must remember that Lord Hanuman always has the first right to the prasada of the Supreme Lord.