History of Vrinda Kunda
Some five thousand years ago, after Krishna and His associates wound
up Their earthly pastimes, the Lord's great-grandson, Vajranabha
Maharaja, installed Deities of Krishna all over Vraja. Deities were
installed also at Vrinda Kunda. Later, unfortunately, They were
disfigured by Muslim invaders and for some time They disappeared from
human sight. Today, although They are no longer worshiped, They are
still giving darshan in a small kutir by the side of the main temple,
under an old chokara tree.
"Time I am," Lord Krishna says in Bhagavad-gita, "the destroyer of the
worlds." As days, weeks, months, years and centuries succeed one
another, civilizations rise and fall and the surface of the earth
changes. By the time Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu appeared on earth in
1486, all the places of Lord Krishna's childhood pastimes were deeply
buried under the jungles covering the land of Vraja. Therefore, Sri
Caitanya Mahaprabhu instructed Srila Rupa and Sanatana Gosvamis to
excavate the lost places of pilgrimage in Vraja, which they did. Lord
Caitanya Himself visited the fifty-six kundas surrounding Nandgaon,
including Vrinda Kunda and Gupta Kunda. Then, some time between the
Muslim invasions and the turn of the twentieth century, Vrinda Kunda
again disappeared from human sight.
Around 1920, the great Vaisnava scholar and saint Baba Madhava Dasa
was born in a highly elevated brahmana family. A resident of Vraja
Dhama for over fifty years, he spent his entire life as a sadhu. He
also acted as a fiery reform leader. Responsible for the protection of
many holy sites of Krishna-lila, he saved Pavana Sarovara from being
drained by land developers. Baba Madhava also rescued Kalavata Hill,
which bears the sacred footprints of Lord Krishna, and eleven other
sacred hills in Vraja from the blind greed of land developers and road
builders. (Government officials, unaware of the spiritual significance
of these sites, were auctioning them to road builders to be chopped
off as raw materials.) Baba Madhava Dasa also preserved the sanctity
of the Govardhana parikrama path by successfully opposing, on behalf
of many sadhus in the area, a proposed railway line that would have
bisected the Govardhana parikrama path.
To beautify the land of Vraja, Baba Madhava Dasa regularly got wealthy
Vaisnavas to donate many hundreds of fruit, flower and sandalwood
trees, which he would then arrange to be planted in various holy
places, such as the beautiful gardens of Radha Bagh and Krishna Bagh
in Varshana. Vrinda Kunda, however, is the crown jewel of his lifetime
of service to the holy Dhama.
After securing the property, Madhava Baba managed to get a Government
grant to help him excavate the two sacred ponds, Vrinda Kunda and
Gupta Kunda. Schoolboys from the Kishor Raman Degree College and a
lady from Agra also helped. He then built a small temple and installed
a Deity of Vrinda-devi on Jahnava Mata's Appearance Day in the early
1980s.
The old mutilated sculpture under the chokara tree had been worshiped
as Vrinda-devi for a very long time before Baba Madhava's arrival.
According to the villagers, some thieves had come fifty years before,
stolen the sculpture and stored it near Charan Pahari, along with some
other stolen sculptures. But when they brought a small truck to carry
them away one night, even six or seven of them together could not lift
the sculpture of Vrinda-devi. So they left it there. In the morning
one villager saw the murti lying by the side of the hill and carried
it back to Vrinda Kunda.
Baba Madhava Dasa had many plans to develop Vrinda Kunda: a
surrounding compound wall, a small ashram for sadhus, a larger, more
beautiful temple for Vrinda-devi, and lush gardens.
Vrinda Kunda's History After Being Donated To ISKCON
The time factor, which imperceptibly devours the duration of life of
all living beings, has no grip on Vaisnavas, because Vaishnavas are
directly under the protection of their beloved Lord and their service
to Him is not limited by time and space. Externally, however, Baba
Madhava Dasa appeared to become sick, first with pleurisy, then
cancer, and for almost a year he lived at the TB hospital. Knowing he
would soon leave his body, he approached various babajis to take over
the service of Vrinda-devi. By the Lord's divine arrangement they all
replied, "No men. No money." Although some of them later changed their
mind, Baba Madhava understood that His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta
Swami Prabhupada, who had introduced the worship of Tulasi-devi all
over the world, was the natural guardian of Vrinda-devi's interests,
and thus he entrusted both the worship of Vrinda-devi and the
development of the property to the devotees of ISKCON in 1989.
Surrounded by ISKCON devotees, Baba Madhava Dasa left his mortal frame
on March 27, 1990 at the Krishna-Balarama Mandir in Vrindavan. Gazing
at the beautiful painting of Vrinda-devi made by Govinda Dasi (the
first ISKCON devotee to grow Tulasi-devi), his face shining with
remarkable radiance, he ecstatically went back to his eternal
home--the lotus feet of Vira-devi, the gopi friend and messenger of
Vrinda-devi in Vrinda Kunda.
Since 1993, His Holiness B.B. Govinda Maharaja, Director of the Food
for Life program in Vrindavan, has been feeding twenty-five sadhus and
poor villagers every day in Nandgaon. And every Purnima (once a month
on the full moon), more than four hundred village children come to
Vrinda Kunda for lunch prasadam. Also on the occasion of Tulasi-devi's
marriage to Shalagrama in Karttika and on the disappearance day of
Baba Madhava Dasa in spring, the devotees hold an all-night kirtana
with the villagers and cook a feast for five hundred persons.
Every year, during the Gaura Purnima festival, at least a thousand
devotees from all over the world come to Vrinda Kunda to bathe, feast
and pray for eternal residence in Vraja. And around two hundred VIHE
(Vrindavana Institute for Higher Education) students round up their
twice-a-year seminars with a parikrama and feast at Vrinda Kunda.
In 1998 the Deity was again stolen. But again it was found, a repeated
proof that Vrinda-devi never leaves Vraja, for it is her eternal place
of service to the Divine Couple. Although the Deity has again been
placed in her shrine, the daily puja is offered to a picture of
Vrinda-devi--in accordance with Vaisnava tradition--until the new
murti is installed. The new Vrinda-devi Deity has been completed and
is awaiting her new temple to be constructed at which time she will be
installed.
Madhava Dasa Baba's Samadhi completed in March 1999
In 1992 a handful of ISKCON devotees formed the Vrinda Trust to
maintain and expand the worship of Vrinda-devi all over the world,
develop Vrinda Kunda as a place of pilgrimage and help restore
endangered sacred spots in Vraja. Since Vrinda Kunda was largely
unknown and inaccessible to the public, one of the first things the
devotees did was to arrange for a large white sandstone road sign to
be posted on the Nandgaon-Kamyavana road before the dirt road turnoff
leading to Vrinda Kunda.
Under the determined leadership of Dina Bandhu Prabhu, a small crew of
Vrinda-bhaktas patiently but steadily cleaned, deepened and filled the
two kundas with sweet Yamuna water. They constructed new steps on the
eastern bank of Vrinda Kunda and the foundation of Baba Madhava Dasa's
samadhi at the edge of Gupta Kunda. They dug a sweet-water well,
cleared the land of thorn trees, planted vegetable and flower gardens
around the kundas, repaired three rooms for visiting devotees and
completed the construction of a solid stone wall all around the
two-and-a-half acre property. Dina Bandhu Prabhu designed a beautiful
wrought-iron gate ornate with parrots, which now graces the entrance
to Vrinda Kunda.
The worship of the Vrinda-devi Deity installed by Baba Madhava Dasa
soared to new heights as talented ISKCON devotees sewed wonderful
dresses for Vrinda-devi, painted her beautiful face and body and
enchanting backdrops for her shrine. Vidya mataji has been offering
Vrinda-devi beautiful outfits since 1989.
12th to 14th of February, 2003 - OPENING OF NEW TEMPLE AT VRINDA KUNDA
Installation (Prana-Pratistha) of Srimati Vrinda-devi
The old temple of Vrinda-devi was in a dilapidated condition, so Dina
Bandhu Prabhu joined with Acyuta Prabhu and searched for the excellent
artist who still knows the wonderful art of carving sandstones. It is
amazing to see that this tradition of Vraja-architecture, reminding us
of the time when the Six Goswamis were present, is still being
maintained. Many old temples are almost lost due to the previous
owners loosing their power and sources of income but the Vrinda Kunda
story is different. Here an absolute upgrade took place and this is
only possible because of the genuine love Srila A.C. Bhaktivedanta
Swami Prabhupada instilled in devotees like Dina Bandhu to serve
Vrinda-devi with this new temple. We can only pray that this spirit
will continue to live since Srila A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
desired that his disciples participate in:
1. Fixing the broken places in Vrindavan
2. Cleaning Vrindavan
3. Helping to restore the glorious deity-worship
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