A ship filled with merchandise and owned by Ram Das Kapoor went aground in the Yamuna. A Goswami told him to pray to Madan Mohan for help. When his ship was freed he took the money he made from selling the merchandise to build the Madan Mohan Temple, which then became home to the Madan Mohan deity.
The original deity of Madan Mohan was discovered at the base of a tree by Advaita Acharya, when he visited Vrindavan. He entrusted the worship of Madan Mohan to his disciple, Purusottama Chaube, who then gave the deity to Sanatana Goswami. (The same Goswami who told the ship merchant to pray to the deity.) The original Madan Mohan deity was moved from Vrindavan to Jaipur when the Moghul Emperor Aurangzeb attacked Vrindavan in 1670. Today a replica of the original deity is worshiped at the temple, which is also the oldest temple in Vrindavan.
No photography of deities allowed here.
There were quite a few stairs to get to the top!
But the view from the top is worth the stair workout. You can see the Yamuna:
love this temple!
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