Teka Rani temple

Known to everybody who ever made the pancacrosi parikrama of Vrindavana, this temple is one of the most impressive monuments of Rajastani architecture. The temple was built by the queen (Rani) of Tekari, a city in Bulgari which is very close to the famous Vishnupad temple in Gaya.

The temple has been managed by a pujari family for many, many years. After independence the original owners did not come to personally look after it. Tekari Rani made a plan 200 years ago to come to Vrindavana for dharshan. Moslim dacoits heard that the Queen would be coming to Vrindavan. They decided to steal the big treasure of the Queens party. They attacked the Queens party at the other side of the Yamuna, close to the Man Sarovar. The Queen had a Gopal deity, and upon the dacoits attack, she tried to save the deity by running all the way to the Yamuna, which was quite high at that time.

As the history goes, Tekari Rani and her beloved Gopal deity reach safely and exhausted on the other side of the Yamuna. Right at this spot on the parikrama marg one will find the Tekari Rani Ghat today. She decided to build the temple for Gopal just on the side of Jung Gudri, the park where Sri Uddhava delivered the message to the Gopis.

Once a year most of the temples take their deities out on the grass at this place. The Queen constructed something extraordinary. Nothing less than could be expected from the Vaisnava queen. The palace situated right next to the extraordinary mandir is surrounded by women's quarters. There are a least 100 hundred rooms in the ashrama complex.

Over the course off time most of the temple complex deteriorated, except for the stone structure and carvings. When the present pujari of the Tekarani Rani was selling land of the temple recently, they decided to donate the entire property to an Indian yogi by the name of Devraha hamsa Baba.

The Baba's devotees are looking over the restoration of the place. Devraha hamsa is the disciple of Devraha baba, who had a bhajan kutira in Vrindava, and was believed by many to be 260 years old when he passed away. He was living on the bank of the Yamuna in a wooden cottage and taking only water of the Yamuna. After his departure of this world, Devraha Hamsa Baba was widely accepted as the successor of Devraha Baba.

He has now taken up the task of restoring this incredible ashrama. Highly experience arquitechts from Delhi and former (ai) IS office Sri Dubei are overlooking the project.

The Vrindavan Dham Preservation Committee of the WVA visited Hamsa Baba in his place to give him the recent publication of the WVA. Hamsa Baba started chanting and happily exclaimed in Hindi: Radha Krishna glories are traveling all over the world. It is wonderful to see how much interest is coming to Vrindavana from all sides of the world.