Govind Dev Ji Temple

The temple of Govind Dev Ji is one of the most sacred and famous tourist destinations in India. It is located in the City Palace complex, in Jaipur, Rajasthan. The deity, Govind Dev Ji, is none other than Lord Shri Krishna himself. It is believed that the image in this temple looks exactly how Lord Krishna looked during his incarnation on earth. The idol was originally kept in the temple of Vrindavan in Uttar Pradesh and was later brought to Jaipur by Raja Sawai Jai Singh, a staunch devotee of Lord Krishna. The idol of Govind Dev Ji is strikingly beautiful for its complete resemblance with Lord Krishna, and the temple is placed between Chandra Mahal and Badal Mahal in the City Palace complex. Every day, various 'Aartis' and 'Prasad' or 'Bhogs' are offered at the temple, at seven different times. The festival of Janmashtami is among the most important ones celebrated here as it commemorates the birth of Lord Krishna.

History:
The idol of Lord Govind Dev Ji was brought by Maharaja Sawai Jai Singh II from Vrindavan to his own palace, Surya Mahal. The king was inspired by a dream, in which Lord Krishna told him to install the idol in his palace, to save it from being destroyed by the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb. Later, he built his new palace, Chandra Mahal, which became his residence.

Legend:
According to mythology, the idol of Lord Govind Dev Ji was sculpted by the great grandson of Lord Krishna, Bajranabh. Approximately, 5000 years back, when Bajranabh was just 13 years old, he asked his grandmother as to how Lord Krishna looked like. After getting the description, Bajranabh created an image of Lord Krishna. However, his grandmother said that only the feet of the image looked like those of Lord Krishna. He made a second image of him and was told that only its chest resembled Lord Krishna. Finally, he created a third image, about which his grandmother said, it was completely like Lord Krishna. This image was named 'Bajrakrit', meaning 'created by Bajra'.