Thiru Vadamathura | Sri Govardhana Nesa Perumal Temple | Divya Desams - 102

About the Temple & Location :

This Divyadesam is on the way between Delhi to Agra railway line.

To reach this Temple, one has to get down in Mathura Junction and travel about 2 miles from there and this sthalam is also reachable from Brindavan by traveling 7 miles from Brindavan .

Specials:

About 2 miles away from Mathura, is the place called as “Janma Bhoomi”, where a temple is built and this place is said to be the prison where Vasudeva and Devaki held prisoners and this prison only, Sri Krishna was born.

Sthalapuranam

The 3 Divyadesams namely Thiru Vadamathura, Thiru Aayarpadi and Thiru Dwaraka are connected with the Sri Krishna Avatar, One among the 10 Avatars of Sri Vishnu.

Brindavanam and Govardhanam are included in Vadamathura. Vadamathura is considered to be one among 7 mukthi sthalams. The other mukthi sthalams are Avanti, Ayodhya, Dwaraka, Maya, Kanchipuram and Kasi. In Mathura, Lord Sri Krishna fondly called as “Kanna” reveals His appearance with His wife (Thampathi Sametha – along with his wife) along with Sathyabama in standing posture.

Since, this sthalam was so pleasant and gave a peaceful and satisfied life for Sri Krishna and at the same time, an asura (Demon) by named “Mathu” was killed in this kshetram, this sthalam got the name “Mathura“. (In Tamil, Mathuram means pleasant and peaceful).

Once, when Sri Rama was ruling the country, rishis like Shravanar, Bhargava Maharishi and all other rishis complained to Sri Rama that an asura by name “Lavana” was troubling them and because of this they could not do tapas towards the perumal. So, they all prayed to Sri Ram that He should put an end to it. As a gesture, Sri Ram gave his great bow, which helped him to kill Mathu and Kaidaber (they are also asuraas ) to his younger brother Sathruknan.

Getting the Bow and the blessings from Sri Ram, Sathruknan fought very hard with the Asura, Lavanasura and was killed using the Bow given by Sri Ram. Thus, the Mathu town was saved from Lavanasuran and all the Rishis and Devars thanked Sathruknan and they asked him what he wanted as a gift as a boon for killing Lavanasuran?

Sathruknan asked that the Mathu town should become a very big empire, with great warriors, lots of beautiful temples and lots of Vishnu bhaktas. As requested by him, the Mathu town was blessed by Devas and Rishis and from then, Sathruknan ruled the Mathura City and many temples were raised on the banks of Yamuna river. After Sathruknan, his generations ruled and after this, Mathura was ruled by Yadhavas (Vasudeva).

The temple where the Alwars did their Mangalasasanam on the perumal is not found now since they were destroyed by the Mohammedan invasion and now at that place, a big mosque is built. Close to this, there is a place where Vasudeva and Devaki were imprisoned. This place is considered to be the Holy and spiritual place, since that prison is said to be the Birth place of Sri Krishna.

And places like where Sri Krishna did Vadham (killed) of Kamsa and the Elephant and a place by named “Vichranthi”, where Sri Krishna took rest on the banks of Yamuna river are said to be some of the places which is a must for every devotee to visit once.

As the remembrance of Sri Krishna in Mathura, two temples were built in the later years. Sri Krishna is named in these two temples as Dwaraknathji and Mathuranathji.

The Dwaraknathji is seen giving his appearance standing alone like in Tirupathi, as in Tirupati Sri Srinivasa is alone in standing posture.

Mathura town is surrounded by many beautiful places and all these places make one remember to rekindle the childhood days of Sri Krishna.

About 8 miles away from Mathura is a place called “Govardhanagiri”, where Sri Krishna and all of his childhood friends too, the cowherd for grazing. This Govardhanagiri is a beautiful place, with beautiful and pleasant surroundings; the temple was built on the top of the hill by Sri Vallabhacharya. a devotee, after visiting Govardanagiri. There is a Temple at the foothill of Govardhanagiri, for Sri Lakshmi – Narayana, where worship is done as per the regulations laid down by Sri Ramanuja.

Close to this temple, a river that flows deep and broad and is 18 Km away from Govardhanagiri, as a memorabilia of Nandhagopal and Yasodha, a small town is constructed with the name “Nandhi Gramam” on the hill top and a temple for Bala Krishna.

About 6 miles away from Mathura lies Brindavan, where Sri Krishna along with all other Yadhavas led their lives in peace. This is the place where Sri Krishna spent his childhood days along with his boy-hood friends and performed his magical acts known as “leela”.

On the banks of Yamuna river, there is a temple named “Rangaji Mandir '' where there is a separate sannidhis each for Sri Ranganatha, Sri Andal, Lord Sri Srinivasa and Sri Ram.

Utsavam:

In Mathura, the Krishna Janmashtami (Krishna Jayanthi) is celebrated in a grand way, where lacs of Vishnu devotees come here to worship Sri Krishna. During that time, the entire life of Sri Krishna is depicted as a play.

Moolavar:

The Moolavar of this Divyadesam is Govardhana Nesan. He is also named as Balakrishna. The Moolavar is in a standing posture facing his East. Pratyaksham for Indra, all the Devas, Brahma devan, Vasudeva and Devaki.

Thaayar:
The Thaayar here in this sthalam is Sathyabama Naachiyaar.

Mangalasasanam:

Periyalwar – 4 Paasurams

Andal – 6 Paasurams

Thondaradipodialwar – 1 Paasuram

Thirumangaialwar – 4 Paasurams

Nammalwar – 10 Paasurams

About Brindavanam, Andal has done mangalasasanam on the perumal in 10 paasurams and about Govardhan, Periyalwar has praised the perumal in 16 Paasurams.

Pushkarani:

Indra theertham

Govardhana theertham

Yamuna theertham

Vimaanam:
Govardhana Vimaanam.