A Mughal who was a devotee of Lord Krishna - Page 3

Originally posted by: RadhikaS0

Diksha

Your present post on Rahim's devotion to Krishna reminded me of another article I had read in the Speaking Tree section of Times of India sometime back.

It was about the Govindji Temple in the Surya Mahal of the city palace complex in Jaipur. This Krishna temple has an interesting history to it.

Apparently, the idol was made by Bajranabh, the great grandson of Krishna himself. Bajranabh was only 13 when he asked his grandmother how Krishna looked like. He made the idol based on her description and hence this idol is supposed to be that of the real Sri Krishna himself.

This idol was lost in time but later discovered by Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and installed in Vrindavan. From here, it had to be removed so that it was not destroyed by the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb.

It is said that Sri Krishna appeared in a dream to Maharaja Sawai Jai Singh II of JAipur and asked him to bring the idol from Vrindavan and install it in his palace in Jaipur. The king did as he was told and later built a separate residential palace for himself known as Chandra Mahal.

The Rajputs have a most interesting connection with Sri Krishna and a number of Krishna devotees are famous among them.

Just as you mentioned in your post, it is really interesting how God gets His Will done. That His idol should be discovered by a Krishna Bhakt from Bengal, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and then saved by another Krishna bhakt from Rajasthan, Maharaja Sawai Jai SIngh II is amazing.

Thanks again Diksha for sharing such a lovely article :)

Originally posted by: RadhikaS0

Diksha

Your present post on Rahim's devotion to Krishna reminded me of another article I had read in the Speaking Tree section of Times of India sometime back.

It was about the Govindji Temple in the Surya Mahal of the city palace complex in Jaipur. This Krishna temple has an interesting history to it.

Apparently, the idol was made by Bajranabh, the great grandson of Krishna himself. Bajranabh was only 13 when he asked his grandmother how Krishna looked like. He made the idol based on her description and hence this idol is supposed to be that of the real Sri Krishna himself.

This idol was lost in time but later discovered by Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and installed in Vrindavan. From here, it had to be removed so that it was not destroyed by the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb.

It is said that Sri Krishna appeared in a dream to Maharaja Sawai Jai Singh II of JAipur and asked him to bring the idol from Vrindavan and install it in his palace in Jaipur. The king did as he was told and later built a separate residential palace for himself known as Chandra Mahal.

The Rajputs have a most interesting connection with Sri Krishna and a number of Krishna devotees are famous among them.

Just as you mentioned in your post, it is really interesting how God gets His Will done. That His idol should be discovered by a Krishna Bhakt from Bengal, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and then saved by another Krishna bhakt from Rajasthan, Maharaja Sawai Jai SIngh II is amazing.

Thanks again Diksha for sharing such a lovely article :)

Originally posted by: RadhikaS0

Hi Diksha

So good to read your post after a long time :) And what a wonderful post! 👏

Rahim had a Hindu converted to Muslim mother (rather she was the daughter of a family that had accepted Islam long back) but he was too young when she died to have been influenced by her. He was lucky to have been brought up by Salima Sultan Begum from a very young age and to be given the protection of Akbar himself. As such, I don't think he ever realised the absence of parent figures in his life and was always well taken care of and well educated by both Salima Begum and Akbar. Salima Begum's influence must have brought out the poet in him for she was a noted poet and writer and had an excellent library.

As far as devotion to Krishna is concerned, I personally feel that it must have been the influence of MUZ, who was a Krishna devotee and practised her faith within the Mughal harem. Her devotion which had even rubbed off on Akbar himself must have been responsible for Rahim's interest in Krishna too.

It is such a tragedy that all this could have been shown in the serial but was not. :(