Vrajmandal Parikrama: Mathura Parikrama, Bhuteshwara Mahadeva Mandira

Bhuteshwara Mahadeva Mandira
This is one of the most famous temples of Lord Shiva in the whole of Vraja. The Shiva-linga was established by  Vajranabha five thousand years ago as one of the dig-palas or protecting deities of Vrindavana Dhama. Bhuteshwara is also one of the ksetra-palas protecting the western side of Mathura. It is said in the Vishnu Purana. “Mathura is the abode of Mahadeva, the deity of all deities and a great devotee of Lord Hari. Mahadeva executed his penances at Mathura.” According to some traditions, the Vraja Mandala Parikrama may start from the temple of Bhuteshwara Mahadeva in the month of Bhadra (August-September), just after the celebration of Shri Krishna Janmashtami.

Jnana-vapi
The ancient tirtha of Jnana-vapi is located next to the Guru-Govinda Gaudiya Matha Temple. This ancient well is said to have been established by Dharmaraja (Yamaraja) in the Satya-yuga and according to the Adi-varaha Purana, anyone who bathes here automatically removes the evil influence of malefic planets and achieves both jnana  (knowledge) and Vishnu-bhakti (devotion). It is said that Lord Chaitanya came here after having darshana of Lord Keshavadeva to take a sacred bath and perform achamana. Lord Chaitanya also stayed near here and took meals in the house of a sanadiya-brahmana who was a disciple of Madhavendra Puri Goswami, the parama-guru of Lord Chaitanya. A large well with steps going down inside it is known as a bavadi or bowri and from this word it appears the name vapi has been derived. At the present time this bavadi is dry and now being used by Muslims who worship the shrine of a Sufi saint who once lived here.

Potra-kunda

After Krishna’s birth in the prison cell of Kamsa, it is said that mother Devaki came to Potra-kunda to bathe and wash clothing. It is said that while filled with ecstatic love, Devaki happily washed Krishna’s baby-linen, hence the name ‘potra’, which is derived from the word ‘putra’ which means ‘son’. Some say the kunda was formerly known as Pavitra-kunda but was later changed to Potra-kunda.

Prachin-Janmasthana (Vasudeva-Devaki Mandira)
The word ‘prachin’ means ‘old’ or ‘original’ and ‘janmasthana’ means ‘birthplace’. This place and is said to be the exact spot where the prison cell of King Kamsa was located and thus the actual place where Lord Krishna was born. The Prachin-Janmasthana is also known as ‘Kamsa Kara-garh’, which means Kamsa’s ‘prison-cell’. The Prachin-Janmasthana is situated in the area known as Mallapura where the wrestlers employed by Kamsa, including Chanura and Mushtaka, used to live. The wrestlers, who were part of the royal bodyguard, were given the responsibility to guard Vasudeva and Devaki during their period of imprisonment. The word ‘malla’ means ‘wrestler’ and ‘Mallapura’ means the ‘residence of the wrestlers’, further confirming that the Prachin Janmasthan at Mallapura is the actual site
of Kamsa’s prison. There is a small temple at the Prachin-Janmasthana where the deities of Vasudeva and Devaki along with baby Krishna can be seen. The local scholars and people of Mathura recognize this Prachin-Janmasthana as being the original birthplace of Lord Krishna.

The Chaitanya-charitamrita says that Lord Chaitanya also visited Krishna’s birthplace before going for darshana of Lord Keshavadeva. The Bhakti-ratnakara also mentions that Raghava Pandita, Srinivasa Pandita and Narottama Dasa also visited the room where Krishna was born during their parikrama of Mathura. It is interesting to note that the site presently advertised as the Janmasthana lying at the rear of the Keshava Mandira did not exist at this time. Historical records show that from around the year 1951, when the land containing the ruins of the ancient Keshava Mandira was acquired by the Keshava Mandira Trust for building a new temple, a room in an old basement next to the wall of the mosque was advertised as being the actual site of the Janmasthana where Krishna was born. Previous to this, the Prachin-Janmasthana was the place recognized by everyone as Krishna’s birthplace. Gaudiya scholars have concluded that the new ‘Janmasthana site’ behind the recently-built Keshava Mandira should be seen as a smriti-sthala (place of remembrance), while the Prachin Janmasthana should be recognized as the actual site of Lord Krishna’s birth.

Krishna Kupa / Maratha Mandira
This famous well known as Krishna Kupa has now been covered over and shops have been constructed on the spot. The well was situated at the northern gate of the Keshavadeva Mandira next to the place where the Maratha kings established a temple of Keshavaji in 1790, after having driven out the Mughals from Mathura around 1720. Because Aurangzeb had destroyed the original Keshava temple in 1669, and erected a mosque on the site, the Marathas built a new temple here at this location, which is known as the Adi-Keshavaji Mandira where the vijay-murti from the old Keshava Mandira was installed. The vijay-murti is the replica deity (pratibhu-murti) that was taken out of the original Keshava Mandira on a ratha during festival days. It is said that the body of this deity is marked with the signs of the twenty-four primary avataras of Vishnu. Only the old gateway and part of the temple boundary wall built by the Maratha’s remains today. The original deity of Keshavadeva established by Vajranabha was moved to  Rasadhana near Kanpur in 1669, prior to the destruction of the temple by the tyrant Aurangzeb. Unfortunately this deity was stolen by thieves some forty years ago and has not been seen since then.

Keshava Mandira
This is the latest in a long line of temples built at this spot where the ancient Keshava Mandira was first built by Vajranabha Maharaja more than five thousand years earlier. In the new temple one can see the pratibhu murti of Lord Keshavadeva. The original deity of Lord Keshavadeva was said to have been saved from being destroyed by Aurangzeb’s soldiers and was secretly taken to a small town called Rasadhan near Kanpur for safety. Within days the
Keshava Mandira was destroyed by the soldiers of Emperor Aurangzeb in 1669. At that time, the Harideva deity from Govardhana was also taken to Rasadhan. Both of these deities were being worshiped there from that time, but during the sixties or early seventies, the deity of Lord Keshavadeva was stolen and nobody knows its present whereabouts. The deity of Lord Harideva is still being worshiped at Rasadhan. According to accounts by early European travelers in the 15TH Century, at the peak of its glory the Keshavadeva Mandira, which was built out of the finest red sandstone, was greater in size than the Jagannatha Puri Temple in Orissa, with its base measuring 217 x 34 yards, and its three shikaras or domes reaching over 250 feet into the sky and visible from a distance of at least twenty kilometers. The original deity of Lord Keshavadeva was carved out of pure black marble with large rubies for eyes. It appears that this same temple, which was built by Raja Vijaypal in 1150, was the one visited by Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu when  He arrived in Mathura in 1515 on His parikrama of Vraja Mandala. Lord Chaitanya chanted
the holy names and danced in ecstasy in front of Lord Keshavadeva for many hours. Large crowds gathered to see the unusual spectacle of the Lord’s exhibiting such ecstatic transcendental emotions, as He danced and chanted the holy names of Krishna before the deity.