Shree Govindajee Temple, Manipur

Address

Kangla, Imphal, Laipham Siphai,

Manipur 795001

Moolavar

Radha Govindaji (Krishna)

Amman

Radha

Introduction

Shree Govindajee Temple is dedicated to deities Radha Krishna (Govindaji). It is the largest Vaishnava temple in Imphal district of Manipur, India. It was originally built in 1846 during the reign of Maharaja Nara Singh and later rebuilt by Maharaja Chandrakriti in 1876. The temple management was earlier with the former king, as per Article II of the Manipur Merger Agreement of 1949 (when Manipur became a part of India after the latter’s independence).

Puranic Significance

Maharaja Nara Singh (1844–50 AD) of the Manipur kingdom commissioned the temple on 16 January 1846 and dedicated it to Shree Govindaji, which was their royal deity. The temple and the deities were substantially damaged during an earthquake of 1868. Consequently, the temple was rebuilt to its original design during the reign of Maharaja Chandrakriti (1859-1886) and was consecrated on 26 April 1876. However, during the Anglo Manipur war of 1891 the idols of the temple were moved to Kongma. In 1908, after the Maharaja Churchand Singh took up residence at his new palace the idols were also moved and reconsecrated in the present temple

It is also said that (Maharaja Jai Singh) or Bhagya Chandra Karta (1763–1798), who was an ardent devotee of Lord Krishna, received an epiphany from the Lord to build a temple for him. Accordingly, he formally initiated the carving of the idol of the Lord Govindaji, in 1776, which was then completed and consecrated in November 1779 on the full moon day in a temple built by him in his palace. On this occasion Ras Lila was performed for five days at Raas Mandal Pukhri at Langthabal

Special Features

The temple is simple in design with two gold plated domes, a paved court and a large, raised Mandop (Meitei for ‘Mandapa’), or congregation hall. The central chamber of the garbhagriha (sanctum sanctorum) has Govindaji (Krishna) and his chief consort Radha as the main deities. The other two chambers on the either side of the central altar are dedicated to Krishna and Balarama on one side and Jagannath, Subhadra and Balabhadra on the other side. The temple appears very elegant. It is built in an idyllic location with a well-tended garden surrounding the premises. There is a small pond in the vicinity of the temple, and also a large open space where a row of tall trees are planted along the boundary

Festivals

Important festivals held with much fanfare are the Janmashatami, during the month of August, and Kang (Rathayatra), during June–July, which are attended by a very large number of devotees.