Shri Govind Dev Ji Temple

The story

Tradition says that Vajranabh, Shri Krishna's great-grandson, had three murtis made from the memory of his grandmother, who had seen Krishna. In the first, only the feet were like Krishna's; this is Madan Mohan Ji, now in Karauli. In the second, the chest and arms matched; this is Gopinath Ji, who is also in Jaipur. When she saw the third, she drew her veil and said the face was exactly his; this is Govind Dev Ji. Devotees believe that seeing all three on the same day is like seeing Shri Krishna in his full form.

In time the murti was hidden in the earth. In the 16th century Rupa Goswami, a disciple of Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, found it again at Goma Tila in Vrindavan. Later Raja Man Singh of Amber built a grand temple of red stone there. Around 1670, when Braj was no longer safe for the murtis, the sevaks set out with Govind Dev Ji, and after many halts in the Kachhwaha kingdom the Lord reached Jaipur. Sawai Jai Singh II, the founder of Jaipur, installed him in the garden palace next to his own, declared Govind Dev Ji the true king of the state, and called himself only the Lord's diwan.