Prem Mandir – Know & feel the divine love here

Like all other temple in and around Vrindavan this Prem Mandir is also dedicated to Lord Krishan and his lover interest Shri Radhe. Apart from being a place of religious/pilgrimage interest, Prem Madir is also a grea source to learn about the history of Sanatana Dharma. When you enter the temple through the beautifully imprinted entrance door, you see the beauty of the impressive temple, which gives you extreme mental peace. At the first floor you can see the idols of Sita Ram and Kripalu Maharaj, the second floor is for Radhe Krishna. Wall painting and the carvings on the pillar, windows, walls are simply astonishing. In the night temple simply looks amazing with different colored LED ligtings giving a festive look.

The clearly white marbled Prem Mandir is like a pearl in the middle of the large temple area. All the entrance doors of the temple are brilliantly carved. The pillars are imprinted with beautiful statues of Sakhis serving Shri Radha Krishana in different ways. The whole temple is dazzlingly lit with attractive chandeliers. The walls are decorated with colorful stones, showing flowery vines with flowers and buds.
The amazing thing is that Prem Mandir complex is so vast that you never feel crowded and there are no queues. When you enter in the Prem Mandir area, you feel like it is just you are there, alone with Radha Krishna.  In Prem Mandir, you don’t just hear the word “Prem”, you learn the belvedere of what “Prem” is and have the choice to actually knowledge it.

Prem Mandir, located in the holy town of Vrindavan (Mathura, India). This holy temple is a fine example of modern day architecture yet full of art, devotion and grandeur.  Temple architecture is very unique and the temple is spread on a larger area of land (12 acre). It is said to be one of the most expensive temples to be built in modern India. Around INR 150 crores in believed to be spent on the construction of the temple. Built entirely of marble (30,000 tons of marble was used), this temple is a pleasure to the eyes and you can’t give it a miss even while driving the road side, your eyes will surely turn to the Prem Mandir. The foundation stone for Prem Mandir was laid on January 14, 2001 and it took around 11 years to complete the construction. Temple was formally inaugurated on February 17, 2012. The foundation by laid by Shri Kripalu Ji Maharaj (5 October 1922 to 15 November 2013).

How to reach:-

By Road- well connected from Agra (70 km on NH2) and Delhi (145 km on NH2).
Nearest Railway Station- Mathura Junction (MTJ) 10.5 km and Nearest Airport- Agra Airport 75 km
From Railway Station there are two ways to reach here. One goes inside the city of Mathura via Bhuteshwar road , via Birla Temple, Bhaktivedanta Swami Marg and you can reach at Prem Mandir. P Pilgrims visiting Prem Mandir can also visit other well-known temples of Vrindavan. November to March is the best time to visit this Holy City.Buses and taxis are available here.

Timings of Darshans-

05:30 A.M. - Morning Darshan and Aarti.
06:30 A.M. - Bhog Darshan and Prayers
08:30 A.M. Shringar Darshan
11:45 A.M. Aarti
12:00 Noon - Temple Closes
4:30 P.M. - Evening Darshan and Aarti
5:30 P.M. - Bhog and Prayers
7:00 P.M. - Musical fountain show with very beautiful light show.
8:00 P.M. - Aarti
8:15 P.M. - Shayan Darshan
8:30 P.M. - Temple Closes

Banke Bihari Temple, Vrindavan

 The famous Banke Bihari temple is located in Vrindavan, the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. The Bankey Bihari is the most holiest and famous temples dedicate to lord of Krishna. Bankey means Bent in three places and Bihari means Supreme enjoyer. There are various places on interest to pilgrimage in and around Vrindavan. Apart from Banke Bihari temple once can visit the famous ISKCON temple, Prem Mandir, Nidhivan, Radha Kund, Govardhan Parvat and lot more. Every year thousands of visitors visit ths place to seek blessing on Lord Krishna and Sri Radhe.

Few of the interesting things to share about Banke Bihari Temple are:

• Unlike the other hindu temples, this temple the deities are not left open for darshan. Here a curtain  covers the dieties and the curtain is pulled timely so that bhakts can do the darshans of Banke Bihari  Legends say that a person might fell unconscious by looking for the eyes of Banke Bihari for too long.
• Normally a ringing bell is used in the prayers or to wake up the god in the morning. But since here the child form (Bal Gopal) of lord Krishan is worshipped no bells are used in the prayer (aarti) or to wake up the lord. Its believed to be inappropriate to wake up or disturb the bal gopal.
• The diety holds the flute (bansuri) only on the full moon day of Autumn
• A special crown (Mukat) is also worn on the same day.
• Kamal Charan (Lotus feet) of the god can be seen only once in a year i.e. on Akshaya Tritiya. Akshaya tritiya normally falls in April or May.

The statue of Thakur Ji is much older and worshipped in Nidhivan till 1863. This temple was built in 1864 with the input of Goswamis. After construction of temple, Goswamis transferred the statue to this temple.
There is a different style of celebrating every festival in Bankey bihari temple. Most of the pilgrims visit temple in the major celebrations of festivals like Janmashtami, Holi and Radhashtami, celebrating the magnetism of Krishna. Holi is a big festival celebrating at the Banke Bihari Temple. People playing with colors and greeting one another with the normal Holi hug. The whole surroundings is out of this world, difficult to bond in the words.

As the name suggests, the temple “Bankey Bihari” is dedicated to the Lord Krishna. Bankey Bihari is the image of God enjoying the bliss and pleasure. Photography and video recording is not allowed inside temple area.

How to reach

Vrindavan is situated on Delhi-Agra NH-2, you can visit by bus and taxi. Temple is 7 km. from National Highway. You can easily reach this Temple via tempos or rickshaw throughout the day. Mathura is just 12 km away, frequent buses and taxies runs between Mathura and Vrindavan.
By Train: Nearby railway station is Mathura on the Delhi-Chennai and Delhi-Mumbai main line.
By Air: The nearest airport is Agra, 67 km from Vrindavan.