Kesava Deo Temple
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Kesava Deo Temple is among the most sacred of Hindu sites. It was built in Mathura over the prison which was believed to be the birth place of Lord Krishna.In contemporary memory ,it was built by Raja Vir Sinh Bundela of Orchaa, in the reign of Jehangir. The rajput prince enjoyed a special favour with the Mughal on account of his support to Jehangir in his succession. The site however has been a deeply religious one for the Hindus. It is said that the first temple here was constructed almost 5,000 years ago by Vajranabha, the great-grandson of Lord Krishna. The next big temple was constructed here during the time of the Gupta Emperor Chandragupta Vikra-maditya around 400 AD. This temple was so grand that it was said that neither painting nor description could describe it. Mahmud of Ghazni destroyed this temple in 1017 AD.
Another temple was built here in 1150. Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu visited this temple. It was destroyed in the 16th century during the reign of Sikander Lodi.
During the reign of Jahangir, Raja Veer Singh Bundela of Orchha constructed another temple about 75 m (250 ft) high at the cost of Rs 3.3 million. In 1669 Aurangzeb destroyed this temple and had a mosque, which is still here, built from the materials of the temple.
Mughal empreror Aurangzeb ordered the demolition of the temple and constructed Katra Masjid in 1661. Traces of the ancient Hindu temple can be seen from the back, where the modern temple Shri Krishnajanmabhoomi complex stands.
Construction started on the present temple in 1965. The temple cost Rs 15 million to construct. Next to the temple is a small room that looks like a prison cell, where it is said that Lord Krishna appeared.
The Katra mound has been a site of extensive excavations and numerous buddhist and Hindu statues have been excavated. In all probability, the debris of the temples and buddhist monasteries was dumped at the site as a foundation. Pandit Madan Mohan Malviya led a movement for the construction of a temple at the site of famous Kesava Deo temple of Mathura. The Goenkas funded the project and the present temple was constructed out of the corpus.
The fly over on NH-2 offers a majestic view of the beautiful temple and the imposing Katra mosque juxtapositioned as a beatific image of solidarity of Hinduism and Islam.
The name Kesava Deo Temple has been taken up by many other temples in and around Mathura. There is one temple just besides the main Krishna Janma Bhoomi complex which is gaining popularity among local people ever since the heavy security cover took over the main Krishna Janma Bhoomi complex.
Around the main Krishnajanmabhoomi complex there is another temple having same Hindi name as the Kesava Deo Temple. A separate page has been started for that temple at Keshav Dev Temple. Next to the Keshava Deo Temple is the room where it is said that Lord Krishna appeared. There is also another temple near this one that claims to be the real appearance place of Krishna. It is about 250 m away, to the north of Potra Kunda. At this other temple, there are deities of Vasudeva, Devaki, and four-armed Krishna. Darshan is from 8 am to 8 pm at this temple
This temple has gained popularity after the Krishna Janma Bhoomi complex has been put under great security cover after incidents in Ayodhya 1990 and 1992.
