By Radhikakrpa dd
A famous Sanskrit shloka reads
Gurur Brahma Gurur Vishnu
Gurur Devo Maheshwara
Guru Sakshat Parabrahma
Tasmai Shri Guruve Namah
Meaning
Guru Brahma – Guru is Brahma also called as Generator, Guru Vishnu means Guru is Vishnu (Vishnu is the Lord who is called organizer), Guru Devo Maheshwara means Guru is the Maheshwara (Shiva or the destroyer), Guru Sakshat Parabrahma means Parbrahma the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
Since Guru leads to a path of light, Guru is Parabrhma.
Tasmai Shri Guruve Namah means we bow to that Guru .
The Vedic scriptures glorify Guru (the spiritual master).
“Guru”, who is the teacher, is considered the shadow of Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva and by virtue of his knowledge he is worshiped and respected. Since the ancient times a lot of gurus have been famous for teaching their prodigies the lessons of life- be it Sandipani the guru of Krishna and Balram, Vishwamitra the guru of Rama and Lakshman or the ever famous guru Drona who taught the Pandavas and the Kauravas.
Guru Drona was a legend, a military strategist- the most ambitious and a teacher par excellence.
Gurgaon has been recently renamed Gurugram for the reason that Gurgaon was the “Guru Ka gaon” the place where Guru Drona resided.
It is believed that this village was a gift to Guru Dronacharya by king Drupad. According to the legends it is the very place where the Kauravas and the Pandavas learnt their martial skills.
Dronacharya and Drupad were childhood friends and grew up together. However Drupad grew to be a king and Dronacharya was left to live his life as a Brahmin. Drupad promised half his kingdom to his friend. When Dronacharya went to seek his reward, Drupad refused to part with his wealth. It is thereby believed that a Panchayat was held to decide on this dispute and finally, Drupad gave Dronacharya 18 villages of which Gurgaon was the central village in that cluster. Dronacharya was highly skillful. He could not take the insult berated to him and thereby to teach Drupad a lesson to train the royal princes.
To commemorate the legendary Guru -Shishya relation a beautiful Vedic learning Centre along with the exhibition of high standard Deity worship – a splendid temple has been erected by ISKCON.
Srila Prabhupada’s wish to have a minimum of twelve temples in and around Hastinapur (old name for Delhi) has been fulfilled by H H Gopal Krsna Goswami Maharaja ji. The number has well exceeded .
In memory of the Five Pandavas and Guru Dronacharya, ISKCON on the 27 th November opened the doors of a majestic palace “The Glory of Gurugram- Sri Sri Radha Damodar Mandir ”.
The land where this breathtaking palace has come up has been a kind donation by a spiritual personality Acharya Sudarshan ji.
The old small hall was demolished to construct a grand temple hall measuring a little more than 5000square feet.
The temple inspired by the palaces of Rajasthan is the creation of HG Rasapriya das. His artistic skills aided monetarily by a big industrialist HG Vedavyas das have presented to the world a palace for the pleasure of Sri Sri Radha Damodara. The name ‘Damodara’ of Sri Ksna in itself represents the form that can be tied with the rope of love. To create the ambience of love such a splendid palace has been created.
The temple Gates have a majestic look with Rajasthani Chatris .The spectacular exteriors leave one spell bound. The red sandstone floored courtyard hosts the big temple entrance with a fifteen feet high heavily carved door. The gallery with carved red sandstone railing moves around the three sides of the temple adding to its beauty. The Temple hall has a beautifully laid floor of black and white marble in ‘kite style’ called in architectural language. The diamond polished floor glows to reflect the light thrown by the five huge heavily crystalled Chandeliers with ten medium sized chandeliers. The fans installed have been again kept of antique look to match the antique ambience.The walls of the temple marked with beautiful crisp cornices add to its beauty. These arches have been beautifully painted in floral patterns with the colors that enhances its beauty.The color combination has been strictly taken into consideration to keep the look royal. The colours used are the lightest of beige with rich gold and reddish shading in the flowers.
On either side of the grand altar for Their Lordships adorns the diorama of Lord Narsimha and Yashoda Damodar displaying the ‘Damodara Lila’ ; all painted in Reddish Copper and flowing gold. Thus giving life to Them for the devotees to feel Their presence.Sideways to the dioramas lovely framed paintings of Sri Sri Sita Ram Lakshman and Hanuman on one side and opposite to it the great devotee of Lord ;Hanuman have been placed .
The heavily carved Srila Prabhupada Simhasan has been placed on a carved marble dais. Srila Prabhupada’s murti placed on it showers mercy on all .
The most sacred place in the temple is the Altar of The Lordships. With utmost love and care that has been designed. The walls of the altar are marbled till the five feet height. Above it beautiful paintings of Peacocks , Cow with calves and Floral patterns adorn the walls and the roof has been beautifully painted with intricate floral designs adding to the grandeur of the temple. The beautifully hand engraved altar hosts the Gloriously Magnificient Deities of Gaura Nitai and Sri Sri Radha Damodara.
The millenium city of Gurugram has welcomed the opening of this Grand Palace for The Lordships with their hearts entrenched in love. The ceremony to install the Deities lasted for two days.The ceremony was marked with various festivals ; Homas and other Rituals. The spectacular Netromilan and Shayan Adivas and melodious kirtan mela attracted thousands. HH BB Govind maharaja ,HG Vaiyasaki prabhu , HG Mahamann prabhu,HG Revati Raman prabhu ,HG others enthralled the masses with the melodious kirtan.
The ceremony was attended by many senior ISKCON Sannyasis,Srila Prabhupad disciples ,members and devotees. To grace the occasion present were HH BB Govind maharaj, HG Mahaman prabhu ji, HG Panchgauda prabhu, HG Shankhdhari prabhu, HH Vrindavanchandra HH Prabhodhanand Saraswati Maharaj ,HH Bhakti Anugrah Janardhan Maharaj ,HH Karunamayi Vanmali Maharaj ,HH Bhakti Ashraya Vaisanva Maharaj ,HH Aseem Krishna Maharaj and many Temple Presidents .
They all glorified the efforts of HH Gopal Krsna Goswami maharaja ji who is the key person to motivate and bring life to this Palace on the land of Gurugram.
Composed by
Radhikakrpa Devi Dasi
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