Banke Bihari Temple

Vrindavan, Mathura district, Uttar Pradesh

Devta dhams

About

Shri Banke Bihari temple is the best-loved and most visited temple of Vrindavan. Here Banke Bihari ji is worshipped as Radha and Krishna in one single dark murti, standing in the graceful tribhanga pose, bent at three places. 'Banke' means bent, and 'Bihari' means the one who enjoys divine play. Bihari ji is served like a small child, so on ordinary days there is no early-morning mangla aarti and no bells hang inside the temple. A curtain is drawn across the shrine every few moments during darshan. Devotees say this is so that no one gazes at him too long, or Bihari ji, won over by love, would walk away with that devotee.

The story

The story begins with Swami Haridas, a saint and great musician who is remembered as the guru of Tansen. He left his village and settled at Nidhivan in Vrindavan, then a thick forest, where he spent his days singing to Radha and Krishna. Temple tradition says that one day his disciples went into the grove where he sat, but saw only a blinding light. On Swami ji's prayer, Shyama and Shyam, Radha and Krishna, appeared before everyone, smiling. Their beauty was so great that people could not bear it, so Swami Haridas asked them to become one, like a dark cloud joined with lightning. The divine couple merged into a single dark murti, the very one seen in the temple today. Swami ji named him Kunj Bihari, the one who plays in the groves; because of his pose, bent at three places, devotees later called him Banke Bihari. This appearance is believed to have happened on Margashirsha Shukla Panchami, celebrated as Vihar Panchami. Bihari ji was first worshipped at Nidhivan, and Swami ji handed his seva to Goswami Jagannath, whose descendants still serve him. In the 1860s the Goswamis built the present temple and brought Bihari ji here.

Visiting

October to March is pleasant. Holi, Janmashtami and holidays bring very large crowds, so take care of children and elders. The temple lies in the narrow lanes of old Vrindavan, so walk the last stretch and keep your belongings close. Nidhivan, the Radha Vallabh temple, the Radha Raman temple and the Yamuna ghats are nearby.

Festivals

Vihar Panchami (Margashirsha Shukla Panchami): Bihari ji's appearance day
Krishna Janmashtami: the only day of the year with mangla aarti
Akshaya Tritiya: darshan of Bihari ji's feet (charan darshan)
Hariyali Teej: the swing (jhula) festival
Sharad Purnima: Bihari ji holds the flute
Holi (from Phalgun Shukla Ekadashi to Purnima)

Devta dhams

Sources