Vrindavan, 2017.07.28 (VT): Beautiful Unchagaon is the village of Shri Lalita Sakhi, one of the very closest companions of Shri Radha and Krishna. Her village lies about one kilometer from Radharani’s home town of Barsana. Here you will find the ancient temple of Revati Raman Balaram, located down the hill from Lalita Sakhi’s temple on the Barsana side of the village.
Revati Raman Balaram’s 572nd Prakatyotsav was celebrated with great joy this week by local devotees. Local women prepared a performance of folk dance and folksongs for the pleasure of Sri Baldev. But the main attraction of the festival was the abhishek which was held on Thursday at noon. The ancient deity was bathed in panchamrit to the sound of bells and Vedic mantras as the crowd of devotees eagerly watched. After the ceremony, prasad was distributed to the sadhus, Brahmins and devotees.
The deity of Revati Raman Balaram was worshipped by Shri Narayan Bhatt Goswami, a saint of the Gaudiya Sampraday who was instrumental in recovering the lost holy places of Braj around 500 years ago. His samadhi (tomb) is located in a beautiful garden not far from the temple.
Narayan Bhatt Goswami
Narayan Bhatt Goswami was a disciple of Krishnadas Brahmachari, who was in turn a disciple of Gadadhar Pandit. Narayan Bhatta was born in Madurai in Tamil Nadu. His father was a Tailanga brahmin named Bhairava, a member of the Madhva Sampraday. He arrived in Braj in 1602 VS (1546 CE). He made many contributions to the Gaudiya Sampraday in Braj, principally that of designating and cataloguing the various pilgrimage sites in Braj.
His book, Braj-bhakti-vilas, is perhaps the earliest authoritative source for the Braj Mandal Parikrama. Shri Haridas Das Babaji says that he inaugurated this custom as well as the Raas Lila performances in the vernacular in Braj. The latter attribution may be less likely than the former, but it would nevertheless be no exaggeration to say that he played an important role in this aspect of Braj culture.
Other books by Narayan Bhatt Goswami include: Bhakti-rasa-tarangini, Vraja-dipika, Vrajotsava-candrika, Vraja-mahodadhi, Brihad-vraja-gunotsava, Bhakta-bhushana-sandarbha, Vraja-sadhana-candrika, Vraja-prakasa, Bhakti-viveka, Rasikahladini (a commentary on the Raas Lila), Sadhana-dipika, Premankura-nataka, Ladili-lala-yugala-paddhati, and Ladileyastakam.
His biography has been written in the Puranic style by his descendant Janaki Prasada Bhatt. It is known as Narayana-bhatta-caritamrita (published by Baba Krishna Das). Further biographical information is found in Swami Radhakrishna’s Rasa-sarvasva. Both these books credit Narayan Bhatt with creatijng the Raas Lila performance institution. He is also mentioned in Nabhaji’s Bhaktamal (Chappaya 88).
According to Narayan-bhatta-caritamrita, he was an incarnation of Devarshi Narad, who descended specifically with the mission of establishing the Raas Lila.
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