Jagat

I was thinking about Govindaji this morning and remembered that I had never been to the new Govindaji temple. I also wanted to test the "Yoga-Peeth-ness" of the old temple by sitting and meditating there. I had quick results in the affirmative. I played with the color on some of these photos, as the light was a little difficult for an amateur photographer like me. I did not have time to do a good job, so the duller pix are the ones that are "natural." I believe this photo was first published in Growse's District Memoir in 1873, Growse ordered the first renovations. It seems that a lot of the stone from the building was used here and there, and a lot of it was dumped in what is now called "Patthar Pura". According to some sources, a lot of the stone went to help build the mosque in Mathura at the Janma Sthan. The wall that appears on the roof here, according to Growse, was built by Aurangzeb as a mosque with qibla pointing to Mecca. He repor...

Continuing in the same volume by Sharan Bihari Goswami, there are a number of other quotes from 19th and 20th century scholars. Goswami mentions Growse with approval, but does not quote him. For those who do not know F.S. Growse, he wrote a Mathura: A District Memoir in which he describes the various Vaishnava sampradayas living in the region, which he compiled during his tour as collector between 1872 and 1885. Next on the list is J.N. Farquhar, whose Outline of the Religious Literature of India (Oxford University Press, 1920) was a noted authority in his time. Goswami picks a bone with him for identifying the Haridasis as related to the Gaudiya sampradaya, figuring that the confusion arose out of the similarity of names with Yavan Haridas. He also objects to the sentence "They [Radha-vallabhis] are Shaktas, placing Radha above Krishna." The main quote, though, relates to the Vallabhi sampradaya: Whether they be men or women, they look forward to becoming Gopis and sportin...