The Lord, accompanied by Akrura and
Balarama, traveled in the chariot with great speed toward the bank of
the Yamuna. Simply by taking a bath in the Yamuna, anyone can
diminish the reactions of his sinful activities. Krishna and Balarama
took Their baths in the river and washed Their faces. After drinking
the transparent, crystal-clear water of the Yamuna, They took Their
seats again on the chariot. The chariot was standing underneath the
shade of big trees, and the two brothers sat down there. Akrura then
took Their permission to also take a bath in the Yamuna. According to
Vedic ritual, after taking a bath in a river, one should stand at
least half submerged and murmur the Gayatri mantra. While he was
standing in the river, Akrura suddenly saw Balarama and Krishna
within the water.
He was surprised to see Them there
because he was confident that They were sitting on the chariot.
Confused, he immediately came out of the water and went to see where
the boys were, and he was very much surprised to see that They were
sitting on the chariot as before. When he saw Them on the chariot, he
began to wonder whether he had mistakenly seen Them in the water. He
therefore went back to the river. This time he saw not only Balarama
and Krishna there but many of the demigods and all the Siddhas,
Charanas and Gandharvas. They were all bowing down before the Lord.
He also saw Lord Shesha Naga, with thousands of hoods.
Lord Shesha Naga was covered with
bluish garments, and His necks were all white. The white necks of
Shesha Naga appeared exactly like snowcapped mountains. On the coiled
lap of Shesha Naga, Krishna was sitting very soberly, with four
hands. His eyes were like the reddish petals of the lotus flower.
In other words, after returning to the
Yamuna, Akrura saw Balarama turned into Shesha Naga and Krishna
turned into Maha-Vishnu.” – Krishna Book, Chapter 39
Akrura Ghat is also the place where the
residents of Vrindavan saw the Vaikuntha planets in the water of the
Yamuna, as described in Chapter 28 of Krishna Book.
This place assumes significance from
the fact that Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu made Akrura Ghat His
headquarters as long as He was in Vrindavan when He came here from
Varanasi. Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu also took bath in the Yamuna here
and remained submerged in the water for a long time.
At Akrura Ghat is now a temple of
Akrura with Krishna and Balarama. Opposite the altar is a deity of a
surabhi cow and next to it is the lotus footprint of Sri Chaitanya
Mahaprabhu.
A little to the right of the altar is
an old banyan tree, which is said to be where Sri Chaitanya
Mahaprabhu rested. There is a Pancha mukhi Hanuman temple here
(Hanuman with five faces).
To reach here, one goes along the road
from Vrindavan to Mathura till one reaches Vatsalya Gram on one’s
right. Here one turns left onto a narrow asphalted road opposite
Vatsalya Gram. After a few hundred meters, one can see the Akrura
Ghat temple on one’s right after passing through a small village.
Around this temple is nothing much except agricultural fields. The
Yamuna has now moved away by about 1km from Akrura Ghat.
Main Mandir
black and white Krsna Balaram tree,
Akrura, Krsna, Balaram deities
Sri Akrura
Sri Balaram
Sri krsna
Sri Sri Radha Govinda
other deities in main mandir
the surabhi cow mahaprabhu's lotus footprint and siva linga
Sri Krishna Sharanam mama
Some arts in the parikrama path inside of main mandir:
Putna
Bakasura
Kaliya
Akrura taking Sri Krsna and Balaram to mathura
stealing their clothes to the gopis
stealing yogurth with friends
a pilgrim coming from far away to take darshan
lifting Govardhan
Vasudeva carrying baby Krsna to Vrindavan
Mahaprabhu singing with animals in jarikanda
Siva linga
The banyan tree which Mahaprabhu rested before entering to Vrindavan
and panca mukhi Hanuman temple
