Appearance of Shri Shri Radha Gopinath

Radha GopinathThe beautiful form of Gopinath was carved by the great demigod Vishwakarma, on the request of the great grandson of Shri Krishna, Vajranabh. It is said that the face of this particular Deity of Shri Krishna, is identical to the face of Krishna Himself. This Gopinath Deity was lost for a long period of time. But one great devotee of the name Paramananda Bhattacharya rediscovered Sri Gopinath Ji. Radhanath Swami described the story of Gopinathji’s reappearance during one of his yatras to Vrindavan. One day Gopinath appeared in Shrila Paramananda Bhattacharya’s dream and told him, “You will find my beautiful form under the Vamshi Vata tree.” So Shri Paramananda Bhattacharya went there and Shri Gopinath was revealed to him.

Radhanath Swami explained that according to another version of this story, once river Yamuna had over-flooded and the original Vamshi Vata tree on the banks of the Yamuna got uprooted. So, Paramananda Bhattacharya took one branch from the sacred Vamshi Vata tree and planted it so that another would grow. It was at that time that he found the original beautiful deity of Shri Gopinath.

The worship of Gopinath was later handed over to the great acharya Shrila Madhu Pandit Goswami, an intimate disciple of Gadadhar Pandit. Shrila Madhu Pandit was also an intimate loving associate of the six Goswamis of Vrindavan. It is explained that when Madhu Pandit saw the beautiful form of Shri Gopinath, he dedicated his life and soul, his everything to the service and pleasure of His lotus feet. It was Madhu Pandit who built the beautiful temple of Shri Shri Radha Gopinath in Vrindavan Dham.