This Photo Journey is about PREM Mandir, which is quite near to ISKCON Temple in Vrindavan Town. All these photographs are shot during one of our recent trips to Vrindavan ! We planned a weekend trip from Delhi to Vrindavan with some of my office colleagues. Let's check out ...
Prem Mandir has become another source of pride for lot of Hindu devotees and tourists from all over the world. Prem Mandir is built entirely of gigantic blocks of grainless, pure white Italian marble, with no steel, bricks or cement binding between blocks.
Although beautiful to the senses, perhaps its greatest value lies in its utter spiritual significance to countless supporters and devotees. It is the 'Temple of Divine Love'.
Prem Mandir is inaugurated on 15 - February 17, 2012 in the presence of Jagadguru Shree Kripaluji Maharaj. It is already being called a wonder of the modern world.
Lord Krishna at ground floor of Prem Mandir, Vridavan, Uttar Pradesh, India !
On fifty acres of land, Prem Mandir is surrounded with magnificent gardens and beautiful fountains. On the walls of this double story monument, the true theme of our scriptures, the Vedic science of creation, the world history and the unbroken continuity of Bhartiya scriptures for over 1.9 billion years will be depicted. The beautiful deities of Radha Krishn and their leela songs are depicted in an exquisite manner. All creations on outer walls look 3 dimensional !
Here is a photograph of huge entry gate for Prem Mandir. Entry of Prem Mandir has lot of green patches all around. Lush green lawns look amazing and some flowers planted around the boundaries.
Just after the entry gate, there is a green lawn on left side and having some trees around. On one of the tree, there is a creation which shows Lord Krishna and Radha Rani on a jhoola made up of flowers. Since no one is allowed to step over lush green lawns, I can't comment on material used in creating these ! But the quality of all these creations is unmatchable...
Above photograph shows one of the artistic creation of white marble. This is a photograph of one part of pillar in Prem Mandir ! These creations were very close to natural objects and it was hard to believe that all these are created in Marble. Wonderful work done at various parts of Prem Mandir. This is one of the magical part of Prem Mandir in Vrindavan. To us this seemed like a tourist place as compared to a typical temple, but we were proved wrong when we entered into the core of Prem Mandir (Temple).
Architecture of Prem Mandir is based on the book 'Shilp-Ratnakar', written by Vishwa Karma. It is apparently the first temple in the world where the many pastimes written in Bhagwatam are illustrated on the wall. The inside view of the temple is said to overwhelm visitors with religious feelings. Huge Deities of Radha Krishna are situated in the center of ground floor. The inside walls are beautified with engraved paintings of Radha Krishn and glimpses of group kirtan (chanting) and lectures of Jagadguru Shree Kripaluji Maharaj. It is said that the beauty and art of the tomb-type roof cannot be described in words. The first floor is glorified with the Deities of Sita Ram. Towards the south side of this floor the scenes of the pastimes of Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu are engraved with multi color stones and towards the north side the pictures of all the 4 previous Jagadgurus and great rasik saints like Jeev Goswami, Haridas Ji, Hit Harivansh Ji and Vallabhacharya Ji are engraved beautifully. Besides that the beautiful verses are inscribed on the walls.
My photographs don't do any justice to lighting of Prem Mandir ! Huge light chandeliers were used to lit various parts of the temple. Upper storey of Prem Temple is dedicated to Ram Mandir ! Above photograph shows one of the smallest lighting stuff, which was hanging around various walls of Prem Mandir !
This photograph shows a close-up of Lord Krishna while he has picked up Govardhan Parvat on his finger. There is a huge creation in front of Prem Mandir which shows Lord Krishna lifting up the Govardhan Parvat and lot of other folks with cattle under it.
There are various temples in Vrindavan town but Prem Mandir has it's own charm. A beautifully built temple in the heart of the town makes it a tourist destination.
Here is a photograph showing some of the creations carved on inner walls of the temple (Prem Mandir).