Mathura or Mahaban has been the
place of the arrival of the Purushottam Sri Krishna from the Dwapar Yug, he descended in the prison of
Kansh in this Mahaban or Mathura. After his death & towards end
of Dwapar Yug some 5500 years ago, his grandson Vajranabh launched himself into
giving the world a series of living deities of Sri Krishna & erecting some magnificent
temples in the memory of Sri Krishna ably assisted by Old Rani Ut, who his mother Usha (Daughter of Banasur & Wife of Anirudh) was the only living being of the Pandava & Kuru family who had seen Sri
Krishna Vajranabh was a master sculptor.It was during this time that with encouragement from his mother Usha, he sculpted Sri Krishna Vigrahas remembering his various leela's. He created 04 Dev's - Hari Dev (Goverdhan),Keshava Dev (Mathura),Govind Dev (Vrindavan) & Baldev (Baldeo - Mahavan) & also dedicated grand temple's to the 4 dev's. He constructed exactly on top of the Prison Cell where Krishna was born Keshav Dev Temple.However this temple was destroyed & deities lost which modern
history has not been able to trace back. All these deities were made up of a special stone called "Bajra Kit", rendering them absolute strong against all kind of weather conditions. And this is why they even today are equally shining & looks alive. I am fortunate to have had the darshan from a very very close quarter of a few of them which are trully the magnificient in their making. What a magician was Maharaj Vajranav, the king of Mathura as coronated by Samrat Yuddhistir.
The next big temple about which we are trying to share some insights
about & reminding of our glorious past both historically & from a
spiritual relevance, was built during the reign of the Gupta’s by Emperor Chandragupta
Vikramaditya also known Chandragupta II in 400CE.But what we have read about the
legends & from the memoirs of Huen Tsang the Chinese traveller of 06th Century who had visited this temple, while on his travel to Thaneswar (modern day Kurukshetra) brings us to the doorstep of a
temple that was believed to have been made by the Gods only. Standing at 250
feet height & visible from 20 kms ahead of Mathura, this beautiful
structure was lost to the Invansion of Mahamud of Ghazni in 1018 AD & his mindless
destruction & religious bigotry. This Temple was such an exquisite
structure & a marvel, that it was opined that neither a painting nor a description, could
do justice to this Celestial Architecture. Some legends say that it might have
been built by demon architect Maay Danav or the Architect of the Gods
Vishwakarma, such was the beauty. The temple had a huge Ghee Diya at the top
around the Kalash being lit & visible from some 06 miles away.
Mahamud of Ghazni was a regular plunderer of Hindustan’s wealth &
used to frequent every winter for his loot. In the words of Utbi (Court Historian of Sabaktagin & Mahmmud of Ghazni & who travelled with Mahmmud to Mathura) as mentioned & translated from the original Persian version of the contemporary Arabic chronicle by James Reynolds Al-Kitāb al-Yamīnī “In the neighboring
holy city, identified as Mathura, he (Mahmud of Ghazni) saw a building of
exquisite structure, which the inhabitants declared to be the handiwork not of
men but of Genii (Jin). The town wall was constructed of hard stone, and had
opening on to the river two gates, raised on high, and massive basements to
protect them from the floods (since this was located on the banks of Yamuna,
which was huge that time & of massive proportions, with seasonal flooding
& high current). On the two sides of the city were thousands of houses with
idol temples attached, all of masonry and strengthened throughout with bars of
iron, & opposite them were other buildings supported on stout wooden
pillars. In the middle of the city Avas a temple, larger and finer than the
rest, to which neither painting nor description could do justice. The Sultan
thus wrote respecting it :— ‘ If any one wished to construct a building equal
to it, he would not be able to do so without expending a hundred million
dinars, and the work would occupy two hundred years, even though the most able
and experienced workmen were employed.’ This magnificent structure finds its mention in the notes of the famous Chinese traveller Huen Tsang who had come to India during the reign of Emperor Harshavardhan of Kanauj or Thaneshwar ( present day Kurukshetra).
Utbi further elaborates - Orders were given that “all the temples should be burnt with naphtha
and fire, and leveled with the ground.” The city was given up to plunder
for twenty days. Among the spoil are said to have been five great idols of
pure gold with eyes of rubies and adornments of other precious stones, together
with a vast number of smaller silver images, which, when broken up, formed a
load for more than a hundred camels. The total value of the spoil has been
estimated at three millions of rupees,while the number of Hindus carried away
into captivity exceeded 5,000. Nizam-ud-din, Firishta, and the other late
Muhammadan historians have confirms that “They broke up several statues
including a large golden image (probably of Krishna with a height of close to
15ft) weighing of 98300 miskals or approximately 456 kgs of pure gold and
carried away a sapphire weighing 450 miskals or approximately 2.09 kgs.
.The Sultan obtained by this victory 185 fine elephants besides other booty
only from plundering the Keshava Deo temple.” Though history provides an
account of the genocide & devastation he unleased on the residents of
Mathura, Vrindavan,Gokul & other adjoining areas’s & also the other temple’s
that he looted. Interestingly these other temples were left out from being
plundered because of the sheer number, probably 10,000 plus, but the caravan of
200K Hindu slaves that he took back after the completion of his expedition with
him on way to Ghazni, were put to sword around Taxila, which prompted the mountain
range to be renamed as the Hindukush. (Slaughter house of the Hindu’s).
The present site known as Krishna Janmasthan (lit. 'birthplace of
Krishna') was known as Katra (lit. 'market place') Keshavdeva. The
archaeological excavations of the site had revealed pottery and terracotta from
6th century BC clearly pointing to the temple existent & built by Vajranabh & Chandragupta. This grand & opulent structure which was plundered by Mahmud of
Ghazni was built around 400 AD. Some late 8th century inscriptions mentions
donations to the site by the Rashtrakutas. In 2nd December of
1018AD, Mahmud of Ghazni attacked and
plundered Mahaban(Mathura). Ghazni had ordered to burn all the temples
and demolish them. He plundered gold and silver idols and carried away a load
of some 300 hundred camels & close to 200 elephants.
Unconfirmed sources say that the Idol of Sri Krishna 15ft tall &
which was of pure gold & eyes of Sapphire was kept inside the sanctum sanctorium in a hanging state, supported
by extremely strong magnets, a technology which we finds mention in the Somanth & Konark
Sun Temple’s ancient structure before being plundered by Ghazni & Kalaphad respectively.
Much later in the 1672 during the month of Ramzaan when Mughal Emperor
Aurangzeb plundered the Fourth version of this beautiful temple made of red Sandstone
& an octagonal structure built by the The Legendary King of Bundelkhand Shri Veer Singh Bundela ( Who also created the Orcha Chaturbhuj Temple & Raja Rani Temple). He had donated 81 Metric tonnes of Gold for this opulent structure. Alamgir
deliberately destroyed the area around the Prison Room of Devaki &
Vasudeva.It is said that Shahi Eidgah was constructed on the sabhamandapa (assembly
hall) of the original temple and the Garbha Griha (sanctum sactorum)
was left. It is considered as the place of the prison cell where Krishna is
believed to have born. A marble pavilion and an underground prison cell were
built on the place with spacious veranda.
There is shrine near it dedicated to eight-handed goddess Yogmaya.It is located against the rear wall of
the Shahi Eidgah. Although this fact could’nt be established & in all
probability the true Prison Cell of Sri Krishna still lies inside the present
day Eidgah.
The last inspection of the site was done by Alexander Cunnigham & he after taking all due measurements & inspecting the plinth had clearly mentioned in his report the existence of the plinth of a temple on which the diaplated Idghah was standing by him which was around 70 plus feet in width.
To sum up here is the short flow of events :
1. First Structure by Vajranabha – 3000 BCE (apprx).destroyed.
2. Second Structure by Chandragupta Vikramaditya in 400CE & destroyed by Mahmud of Ghazni 1018 AD. Finds mention by Hieun Tsang.
3. Third structure by Jajja from the reign of Vijaypal Deva & destroyed by Sikandhar Lodhi around 1510 - 12 CE. It was this temple that was visited by Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu & Vallabhacharya.
4. The fourth & last structure was built by the King of Orcha Maharaj Veer Singh Bundela, under the patonage of Mughal Emperor Jahangir, but destroyed by Emperor Aurangazeb in 1670 CE. This was also an opulent structure of Red Sand Stone & finds it mention in the accounts of few British & French travellers like Tavernier.
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