The Temple of Divine Love will mesmerize you
Prem Mandir is an iconic world famous temple in Vrindavan that is entirely made of Italian marbles and is a must watch place. As I wrote in my previous post, after visiting Shri Banke Bihariji Temple, we went here straight, because the evening is pretty colorful with special lighting arrangement that changes the color every 30 seconds. But unfortunately, the security guard did not allow us to go inside after seeing the SONY α6400 with me and we returned, going back again next day morning.
I got a very good contact from one of my friend who asked us to come through this gate 3, and we were now allowed with the camera, picked up by the battery car operating inside, taking us straight to Maharaj.
Offering us with lovely prasad, snacks and coffee, Maharaj explained the significance of divine love to God that starts where religious devotion ends. Prem Mandir (The Temple of Divine Love) is a testimony of that fact, which, one can realize only after purifying his own soul to love God without any expectations. The temple is dedicated to Radha Krishna and Sita Ram and possibly Radha is the most iconic figure in our religion, for her unwavering love to Lord Krishna. She was not married to Lord Krishna but the pure and innocent soul loved Lord Krishna so much that, the Lord surrendered to her and both became the strongest companion. So if Krishna enchants the world, then Radha Rani enchants the Lord and that is the reason, people in Vrindavan say Radhe Radhe as a greeting, symbolizing Radha's spiritual connection and divine love that conquered the Lord.
Take a moment and think about this for a while and you will be free from the materialistic world. Divine love to God is beyond expectations and that is the reason, many people come and reside at Vrindavan. There is an Ashram inside Prem Mandir, where one can stay after taking life membership ( have to pay ), but you will not be allowed to go outside, and will have to stay and involve yourself in religious activities inside the temple. I have a thought to consider this after few years.
Prem Mandir was established by Jagadguru Shri KripaluJi Maharaj - a God realized Saint who was esteemed with the honor of being the fifth and last original Jagadguru in 1957. If you are still wondering about where to find Happiness, and want to know more about Sanatan Dharm, then you may download the Sanatan Vedic Dharm App.
And listening to his videos would certainly make you stress free and realize the true goals of life.
https://www.youtube.com/jagadgurukripalujimaharaj
Now let me take you through a photographic journey of the Prem Mandir, tell me which one you like the most.
We got a helping hand to frame both of us.
The view of the temple from the other sides, around 1000 artisans built this over a 10-11 year time period at a cost of $18 million. Many people were staring at me, how I got the camera inside but the security guard came near me and saluted saying, you must be someone special, only then you can carry a DSLR camera. By the way Mobile phones are allowed through the front gate. You can capture the temple from outside but photography is prohibited once you enter inside the temple. However, in India, people exactly love to do what is prohibited 😀, so if they have their phone with them, no one can stop them to take photos. Even though I was holding the DSLR, Maharajji had instructed not to take photos of the main deities and he share these beautiful photos of mesmerizing lord.
And I took some photos of the wall outside in mobile.
The inside temple follows a strict timeline, so you must plan for that.
For the first time, I saw this group of people punishing themselves by doing sit ups and asking for forgiveness in front of the Lord, seems a tradition in this region.
The gate from where we were returned back.
A pillar-less, dome shaped Satsang hall that can accommodate 25000 people at a time.
Lord Krishna grazing the cows with his elder brother, can you spot some real men in the photo ?
Mom was tired and did not want to walk further, but I wanted to capture some more snaps, so I asked her to wait for me at this place.
Rasa Lila by Krishna nicely depicted.
Do you know what this depicts ? If you can explain, then a full upvote from me. And do you know where Lord Krishna's heart beats even today? It's in the Jagannath Temple, Puri at my place. That is the reason all saints including KripaluJi Maharaj were frequent visitors of Puri, which is one of the Char Dham.
Few more distant shots, I was not feeling like coming back, this temple alone needs a full day with the evening, which we missed. It was already noon and we had to check out and visit nearby Mathura, before proceeding to Agra for the overnight stay. More to come on that, on our way back, we saw the Vaishno Devi Temple, which seemed to be far from the main road. So we just had a glimpse from outside, and came back.
Shot with SONY α6400 with 18-135 mm Zoom Lens
#premmandir #premmandirvrindavan #vrindavan #krishna #radhekrishna #sitaram
Here is a video compilation for Mom - these memories will cherish us forever. She shares these with her friends and discussing these keeps them alive.
It takes immense amount of time to write posts like this with all context, so if you like it, please consider upvoting it. If you are interested in the religious and spiritual journey of India, then some more travel posts from my spiritual journey :
- Vrindavan - Shri Banke Bihariji Temple, Keshi ghat and Nidhivan
- Haridwar Har-ki-Pauri
- Everything for Mom - Kedarnath Temple
- Bala Hanuman Temple, Jamnagar - listed on Guinness Book of World Records
- Swaminarayan Temple , Jamnagar, Gujurat
Some of my other travel posts if you are interested to explore India, I have a lot to add to this list :
- Rashtrapati Bhavan and Parliament, New Delhi
- India Gate, New Delhi
- Raj Ghat, New Delhi
- Red Fort or Lal Qila, New Delhi
- Pari Mahal, Srinagar - a seven terraced garden from mid-1600s
- CHESHMASHAHI Mughal Garden, Srinagar
- Gulmarag, Kashmir
- Ganesh Festival in Pune - The most important festival in South India
- Sabarmati Ashram - Ahmedabad, Gujurat
And if you would love to come to my place, which is India's best kept secret, then some glimpse :
- Midubandha Waterfall, Daringbadi, Odisha
- A scenic drive to Daringbadi, Odisha
- Gopalpur Sea beach and Hotel Pramod - Lands End
- TAMPARA LAKE, GANJAM, ODISHA
- Golden Blue Beach, Puri
- Puri Jagannath Temple and Golden beach
- Wonder World Water Park , Puri, Odisha
- Goda Lokanath Shiva Temple
- The private beach at Balukhand - Konark Wildlife Sanctuary
- COASTLINE DHABA - Must try if you are on Puri Konark Marine Drive
- Toshali Sands - the first Ethnic luxury beach resort at my place
- Satkosia Gorge - the scenic beauty of Odisha
- Ansupa Lake Park - rejuvenated beauty
- Heritage Monuments of Saranda Gada on the banks of Ansupa lake
- Subarnapur - on the way to Anshupa Lake
- Dhabaleswar Temple at my native place
- Chilika Lake with the luxury at Swosti Chilika Resort
It took quite some time to come up with my travel post list, but this gives me an impression of how much I have posted - I still have a lot to share.
This post will be part of my Google review of Prem Mandir, Vrindavan, a little hive marketing. I have also joined a Sony A6400 Shooters Facebook group (with 34.5k members) where I share my posts so that other photographers may also discover our blockchain and share their work here.
Pinned on https://pinmapple.com/ -
Do you know the recent update on the @pinmapple project ? Unfortunately, the Pinmapple project is shutting down and there will be no more #traveldigest from the end of May, see this post for more details. But I guess, we can continue posting our travel posts, however, it's sad to see we loose all our Pins on Pinmapple. Saving a screen shot of my profile map, for memory.
copyrights @sanjeevm - content created uniquely with passion for #HIVE platform — NOT posted anywhere else! #HIVE is my only social diary - my blog is my life.