Agra : Mathura police and district administration are busy preparing for the ‘Mudiya Purnima’ fair to be held on July 3 in the Braj area. All arrangements will be made by June 20. Those places on the ‘Parikrama Marg’ are also being rectified where drain water was found flowing. ‘Mudiya Mela’ is organized in Braj on every Purnima (full moon night). As part of this five-century-old tradition, devotees bathe in the Mansi Ganga and offer prayers at the Danghati temple in Govardhan.
The 21 km ‘Parikrama’ route becomes the sea of people
A sea of devotees perform a 21-km ‘parikrama’ around the Govardhan hill in Mathura after offering prayers at the Danaghati temple, which has already been declared a ‘tirtha’ (pilgrimage) by the Yogi regime. According to the local people, there is more crowd in this fair as compared to Shri Krishna Janmashtami. The Inspector General (Agra Range) has camped in Mathura to review the security arrangements. Padma Shri awardee and Braj literature legend Mohan Swaroop Bhatia told that Govardhan was raised by Lord Krishna to save the residents of Mathura from the wrath of Indra, the god of rain.
Five centuries old tradition
Mohan Swaroop Bhatia said, “The fair has a Bengal connection and dates back to the time of Saint Sanatan Goswami and his brother Roop Goswami, who were originally ministers in the court of Hussain Shah in Bengal about five centuries ago. Well versed in Persian and Sanskrit, he came to Vrindavan after being inspired by Bhai Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, a great saint of Bengal. Sanatana Goswami was entrusted with the task of locating the ancient sites in Braj and in the process earned great respect from his disciples. La. It is said that Lord Krishna in ‘Bal Swaroop’ (child form) gave ‘darshan’ to the aged Sanatana Goswami and asked him to rest instead of doing ‘Parikrama’ daily.
Staged ‘Parikrama’ by shaving the head
According to the experts of Braj culture, Sanatan Goswami insisted on ‘Parikrama’, so Lord Krishna left his foot-print on a ‘Shila’ (stone) and gave it the status of Govardhan hill. Sanatana Goswami was so revered that his disciples shaved their heads and performed ‘Parikrama’ when he left for his heavenly abode 465 years ago, a tradition that continues ever since. Followers of Sanatana Goswami, with shaved heads, walk with ‘mridanga’ and sing Bengali devotional songs.
