From Gupta to Mughal history of Krishna Janam Sthan
- December 18, 2023
- Posted by: OptimizeIAS Team
- Category: DPN Topics
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From Gupta to Mughal history of Krishna Janam Sthan
Subject :History
Section: Art and Culture
Context: The Allahabad High Court has ordered a survey of the Shai Idgah mosque
Some facts about the Krishna Janam Sthan:
- The Krishna Janmasthan, the birthplace of Lord Krishna, has a rich history dating back 2,000 years.
- The site, located in Mathura along the Yamuna river, gained significance during the Mauryan era.
- The first Vaishnava temple was likely built in the 1st century CE, with a grander temple constructed during the reign of Chandragupta II around 400 CE.
- Mahmud of Ghazni’s plundering raids in the 11th century impacted Buddhist and Jain centers but did not destroy Krishna worship.
- The decline of temples during the Delhi Sultanate gave rise to a new form of Vaishnavism, propagated by saints like Nimbarka, Vallabha, and Chaitanya.
- Under the early Mughals, religious activity in Braj flourished, and Akbar made land and revenue grants to various Vaishnavite sects.
- In 1618, Raja Veer Singh Deo built a grand temple at the Katra site.
- In 1650, the grand temple at Mathura, as described by French traveler Jean-Baptiste Tavernier, exhibited a unique octagonal shape and was constructed with red sandstone.
- Venetian travelerNiccolao Manucci, visiting in the late 1650s, noted its impressive height, with a gilded pinnacle visible from Agra.
- In 1660, Aurangzeb appointed Abdul Nabi Khan as the governor of Mathura, a figure disliked by the Hindu population.
- Subsequently, in 1661-62, Khan constructed the Jama Masjid at the site where Sikandar Lodhi had previously destroyed a temple.
- In 1666, Abdul Nabi Khan dismantled the protective railing erected by Dara Shikoh around the Keshavdev temple.
- In 1669, Aurangzeb issued a royal farmaan ordering the destruction of all Hindu schools and temples, across the Mughal Empire.
- The Kashi Vishwanath temple in Kashi was destroyed after the farmaan was issued.
- In 1670, he specifically ordered the destruction of Mathura’s Keshavdev temple, and sponsored the construction of the Shahi Idgah in its place
- In 1803, Mathura came under the control of the British East India Company.
- In 1815, the Company auctioned 13.37 acres of land at the Katra Keshavdev site to Raja Patnimal, a wealthy banker from Varanasi.
- The ownership of this land is currently subject to ongoing litigation, with the Hindu side claiming it included the Shahi Idgah mosque, while the Muslim side disputes this.
- Despite Raja Patnimal’s desire to construct a temple on the site, financial constraints prevented its realization. Facing lawsuits related to the land, his descendants sold it in 1944 to industrialist Jugal Kishore Birla.
- In 1951, the Shri Krishna Janmabhoomi Trust was established by Birla to facilitate the construction of a temple at the site.
- Construction commenced in 1953 and was completed in 1983, shaping the temple’s current form, situated adjacent to the Shahi Idgah mosque.