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Banke Bihari Ji

Bihari Ji · Thakur Ji · Kunj Bihari

  • 3 Mantras
  • 1 Tirth
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Banke Bihari Ji

जय श्री बांके बिहारी

About

Banke Bihari Ji is the most beloved Thakur of Vrindavan. In his single form, Radha and Krishna are believed to be present together. 'Banke' means bent in three places, the tribhanga pose, and 'Bihari' means the one who delights and plays. The saint-musician Swami Haridas began his seva in Nidhivan under the name 'Kunj Bihari'. His temple in Vrindavan, Mathura district, Uttar Pradesh, was built in the 1860s. He is served very gently, as a child, and the temple is known for its jhanki darshan, where a curtain is drawn again and again.

The story

Swami Haridas was a great musician and devotee of the sixteenth century. Tradition regards him as a form of Lalita Sakhi. He would sit in Nidhivan in Vrindavan, singing his own songs, lost in meditation on Radha and Krishna.

His disciples wanted to know what was special about one grove in Nidhivan. One day, the birthday of his disciple Vitthal Vipul ji, Swamiji took them all into that grove and prayed with deep love. Then the divine couple, Radha and Krishna, appeared there, and Swamiji, full of joy, sang his pad 'Mai ri sahaj jori pragat bhai'. At Swamiji's prayer the couple gave the devotees a single form of themselves, in which both Radha and Krishna are believed to be present. This form came to be called Banke Bihari Ji. That day was Margashirsha Shukla Panchami, celebrated today as Bihar Panchami.

At first Bihari Ji was served in Nidhivan. The seva was handed to Goswami Jagannath ji, and the sevayat Goswamis of the temple today come from his line. Later a new temple was built and Bihari Ji was seated there.

In the temple a curtain is drawn again and again during darshan. Devotees say his form is so enchanting that one cannot keep gazing at it, and it is also believed that with unbroken darshan he might follow a loving devotee home.

How they are shown

Banke Bihari Ji's dark form stands in the tribhanga pose, gently bent at neck, waist and knee, and is believed to hold both Radha and Krishna. Each day he is dressed with a pag (turban), strings of pearls and a tipara crown. His flute rests beside the throne; only on Sharad Purnima does he hold the flute and wear a mukut. Darshan of his feet happens once a year, on Akshaya Tritiya.

How to worship

Offerings

Makhan-mishri, milk and dry-fruit sweets, fruit, tulsi leaves, flowers and ittar

How

In the temple tradition Bihari Ji is served very gently, as a child; no bells are even hung in the temple. Serve him at home with a calm mind too. Keep his picture or a small murti in a clean place, offer flowers and tulsi leaves, and place makhan-mishri as bhog. Show dhoop and a diya, sing the aarti 'Shri Banke Bihari Teri Aarti Gaun' and lovingly chant 'Radhe Radhe'. Finally share the prasad with the family.

Their festivals

Aarti, chalisa and katha

Temples and tirth

Sources