History, Importance, Timings, Festivals, Architecture, Interesting Facts and Travel Guide of Prem Mandir, Vrindavan, Uttar Pradesh, India
The Prem Mandir, Temple of God’s Love is one of the most famous Hindu temple located in outskirt of Vrindavan in Mathura district, Uttar Pradesh. The majestic temple is dedicated to Radha Krishna and Sita Ram. On 14th January 2001, Shri Jagatguru Kripaluji Maharaj had put up the foundation stone of this temple in presence of thousands of devotee. The temple was inaugurated on 17th February 2012. At present the temple is maintained by Jagadguru Kripalu Parishat which is an international nonprofit, spiritual, educational charitable trust. The Prem Mandir is located at just 13 Kms from the birth place of Lord Shree Krishna, the Krishna Janmabhoomi place. It is said that the temple cost around 150 crores which was provided by the trust. Prem Mandir is most beautiful temple of Braj Bhoomi and masterpiece of architecture in Nagara architecture underlining with Rajasthani and Gujarati styles. Also it is the most crowed temple and especially during the evening Aarti. Shri Kripalu Maharaj believed that if the world does not prioritize Love, then Atmik Kalyan would not be possible. Thus, Prem Mandir becomes the important religious site for millions of devotee and spiritual inclined people who are on the path of Prem Lakshana Bhakti. Prem Mandir is also known as Shayama Shyam Dham Vrindavan.
The grand temple spread across the 54 acers of land and took around 11 years to complete. The temple is completely made up of white granite stones. The magnificent temple is 122 feet long, 125 feet tall and 115 feet wide. The temple has several important statue of leela of lord Krishna, Shree Radha Krishna painting, Shree Govardhan Dharan Leela statue, the Kaliya Nag scene statue, Julan Leela are all intricate well which completely describes the life story of Madhav. The temple is constructed according to the Vaastu. The doors, windows, and the ceiling are beautifully intricate for which the temple is very famous. A 73,000 square feet, pillar-less, dome shaped satsang hall is being constructed here in temple complex which has capacity to accommodate 25,000 people at a time. Entrance of Prem Mandir is another key attraction as it is beautifully engraved entrance door, the beautiful gardens which give soothing pleasure of mind to everyone.
The temple is very well maintained and the lightning during the evening time gives a more spectacular look to the temple. The lighting is done in such a way that the color of the lights changes every five minutes which makes it look even more. The temple celebrates the Janmashtami and Radhashtami with great enthusiasm. The Janmashtami is celebrated at 12:00am night with the Arti where thousands of devotees gather to worship Krishna. The 40 feet wide Parikrama starts from the main entrance of the temple. This entire route of Parikrama is consists of beautifully engraved pillars, 8 latticed windows, 48 panels displayed on the ground floor and 32 panels displayed on the first floor. There are lots of panels where the different pastimes of Shri Krishna as described in the Shrimad Bhagavat Puran have been chronologically displayed in three dimensional formats.
There are lots of attraction in Prem Mandir which you must enjoy. The temple has the musical water fountain show which happens every day in the evening between 7 PM to 8 PM based on the season. The kirtans and life story of Krishna are being sighted to the devotees. Evening lightning is another key feature here in temple premise.
Entire Vrindavan is full of holy places and temples, thus along with the Prem Mandir, you must place to visit these temples as well. Few well known are Shri Banke Bihari Temple, RangNath Temple, Jaipur Temple, ISCON Krishan-Balram Temple, Dau ji Temple, Ashta Sakhi Temple, Radha Vallabh, Vrindavan Bihari, Sewa Kunj, Nidhi Van etc. Also you can plan to visit Sapt devalayas or Seven holy place which are established by followers of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, these seven temples are Govind Dev Temple, Radha Gopinath Temple, Madan Mohan Temple, Radha Raman Temple, Radha Damodar Temple, Radha ShyamSundra Temple, Gokulanand Temple.
The best time to visit Prem Mandir is between October and March when weather is pleasant and during festival like Holi, Janmashtami, Jagadguruttam Diwas Mahotsav, Guru Purnima, Diwali etc.
Aarti and Darshan time of Prem Mandir are as below.
5:30 AM: Arati and Parikrama.
6:30 AM: Bhog
8:30 AM: Darshan Arati
11:30 AM: Bhog
12:00 PM: Shayan Arati
4:30 PM: Darshan Arati
5:30 PM: Bhog
7:00 PM: Winter: Musical and Digital Fountain show (1 October - 31 March)
7:30 PM: Summer: Musical and Digital Fountain (1 April - 31 September)
8:30 PM: Shayan Arati
Mllions of devotee across the world visits Vrindavan across the year, thus to facilitate them lots of Ashram, Dharmshala, Hotels, Guest House, Yatri Bhavan, Restaurants are built. Also you can easily find the public and private transport, auto rickshaw for the local sightseen and visit nearby Yatradham like Mathura, Barsana, Gokul, Jatipura, Govardhan Hill, Nandgaon etc.
How to Reach Prem Mandir, Vrindavan, The Abode of Lord Krishna, Uttar Pradesh, India
Prem Mandir is one the most popular pilgrimage site of Vrindavan where thousands of devotee and tourist reachs here around the year. Vrindavan being one of the major pilgrimage center and tourist destination, of Uttar Pradesh where people across the world visits around the year. It is very well connected with all major cities of India via road, rail and air network. Mathura has major railway junction just at 14 km from Vrindavan from where you can get train to almost all region of India. Agra Airport and Delhi Airport are the nearest airport at distance of 69 and 140 respectively from Vrindavan. From where you can get flight to all major cities of India and across the globe. You can find private taxi and public transport as well from both airport to reach to Vrindavan. Vrindavan is located at just 14 km from Mathura, 26 km from Gokul, 42 km from Barsana, 30 km from Jatipura, 23 km from Govardhanhill, 70 km from Agra, 180 km from Delhi. You can get direct buses from Mathura, Agra, Delhi etc. to reach Vrindavan.
