A 34-feet black granite statue of Sri Sankarshan Bhagavan will soon be cosecrated at Giriraj Govardhan
A 34-feet tall black granite deity of Sri Sankarshan will be installed in Braj bhoomi in Govardhan after Vijay Dashmi on October 3. This larger than life deity of lord Sankarshan has invoked a spontaneous festival in the holy city of Mathura.
The deity’s statue, was carved in Tirupati by 22 sculptors from a single 40 ton granite block and was brought to Govardhan by road while covering a distance of over 2000 km. As per the scriptures, lord Sankarshan, who is also known as Balaram, is considered to be “the protector of Braj Bhoomi.” The deity, wrapped in a yellow cloth, will witness its Prana Pratishtha ceremony (ceremony by which an idol is consecrated in a Hindu temple, followed by the recital of hymns and mantras inviting the deity to be the resident guest. This is followed by the idol’s eye being opened for the first time). The ceremony is eagerly awaited by the global community of Vaishnavas. The main event is on Sharad Poornima which falls on October 5 when His Holiness Sri Chinnajeeyar Swamiji performs the Pran Prathishtha and Abhishek at Govardhan.
A podium has been built so that devotees can climb and perform Kailash Abhishek with milk, yoghurt and honey.
Sankarshan kund is amongst the most important heritage sites of Braj located on the Govardhan Parikrama Marg. This kund is named after the elder brother of lord Krishna, known as Sankarshan who is also known as Baldauji (Balaram) or Dauji.
As per the mythology, a deity of Sankarshan was found in the Kund 5000 years ago by Sri Vajranabh, the great grandson of lord Krishna, and it was installed in Anyor village. This deity finds mention in the ancient Vedic literatures including Garg Samhita. It is believed that a holy dip in the Kund relieves one of all the past sins which were committed in the material world.
Its further claimed that 30,000 yojanas beneath the Patal loka is Ananta loka where lord Sankarshan resides as Anant Shesha. lord Sankarshan is believed to have 1,000 hoods, on one of which rests the entire universe.
It is said that in the 16th century Raja Man Singh, the army chief of Emperor Akbar, had come to seek blessings of Sri Kumbhan Das in the premise of the kunda. This sacred kunda is mentioned in ancient scriptures but was in a pitiable condition due to accumulated squalor and filth over a long period of time.
In 2011, the residents of Anyor village of Govardhan requested The Braj Foundation to revive this sacred water body. The foundation, which is engaged in restoring the various leela Sthalis in Braj commenced the renovation of this kund on October 1, 2012. The restoration work was inaugurated by His Holiness Sri Chinna Jeeyar Swamiji of Hyderabad. The restoration work got completed in the year 2017.
The renovation work ran swiftly till the year 2013, after which it met some obstacles in the form of illegal encroachments and lack of proper arrangements for village drains. The desilting of this kund was done with the financial support of Kamal Morarka, former Cabinet Minister and Mumbai based philanthropist.
Construction work was done with the financial support of Dr Rameshwar Rao (Hyderabad) and Jamnalal Bajaj Foundation (Mumbai). The construction of the village drain has been done with the financial support from Rajya Sabha MPlAD fund of HK Dua.