Akshay vat Ram Mandir

Radhey Radhey

Akshay vat

That's good mandir along Brij chaurasi kosh parikrama

Religious place with peace and natural beauty

This place is known as Akshay Vat as there is an eternal banyan tree here. Lord Krishna was eating under this tree with his friends when a horrific forest fire threatened the boys and cows. Krishna swallowed that forest fire and saved everyone!

"This place is known as Akṣayavaṭa. Akṣayavaṭa is also called Bhāṇḍīravaṭa, and is situated two miles south of Rāma-ghāṭa. Śrī Kṛṣṇa, Balarāma and the sakhās played many games in the shade of this banyan (vaṭa) tree. They especially liked to wrestle here. Baladeva killed Pralambāsura at Akṣayavaṭa. Once during cow herding, Śrī Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma left the cows to graze in the lush, green fields and went off to play with the sakhās. They divided themselves into two groups, one headed by Kṛṣṇa and the other headed by Baladeva. The game they played had a rule that each boy in the group that lost had to carry the boy who had defeated him on his shoulders from Bhāṇḍīravaṭa to a fixed place some distance away and then back again. Pralambāsura, a demon sent by Kaṁsa, assumed the form of a beautiful sakhā and joined Kṛṣṇa’s team. Kṛṣṇa knowingly encouraged the new sakhā to play and kept him on His team. Śrī Kṛṣṇa was defeated by Śrīdāma and Pralambāsura by Balarāma. According to the rules, Śrīdāma sat on Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s shoulders and Balarāma on Pralambāsura’s. Kṛṣṇa made His way towards the appointed place, but the wicked Pralambāsura ran instead to a place that was deep and isolated. After some time he assumed his hideous rākṣasa form. Kaṁsa had instructed him to kill Baladeva before killing Kṛṣṇa. At first, Baladeva Prabhu was uncertain about what to do but, upon receiving a clue from Kṛṣṇa, He split the head of the demon with one blow of His fist. Pralambāsura vomited blood and collapsed to the earth. When Kṛṣṇa and the sakhās arrived there, they embraced Balarāma and praised His strength and fortitude. The following pastime also took place at Akṣayavaṭa. One day, Śrīmatī Rādhikā, the sakhīs and Śrī Kṛṣṇa were playing together here. The sakhīs said to Kṛṣṇa, “Prāṇa-vallabha, You always boast that You have defeated even expert wrestlers. But why is it that Śrīdāma defeated You?” Śrī Kṛṣṇa answered, “That is entirely untrue. No one in the whole universe can defeat Me. I have never been defeated by Śrīdāma.” Rādhikā replied, “If that is so, then we gopīs are ready to wrestle with You. If You defeat us, then we will understand that You are the topmost wrestler.” The gopīs dressed themselves as wrestlers and Śrīmatī Rādhikā wrestled with Kṛṣṇa, easily defeating Him. The sakhīs clapped their hands and praised Her. Since Śrī Kṛṣṇa and the sakhās wrestled and performed physical exercise here, the village near Akṣayavaṭa is called Kāśraṭa. The word kāśraṭa means kasrat karnā, or “to perform physical exercise”. It also means kuśtī karnā, or “to wrestle”. When the ancient banyan tree that stood here disappeared, a new one was planted in its place. Note that the Bhāṇḍīravaṭa situated in Bhāṇḍīravana is a different pastime place on the other side of the Yamunā." Excerpt from the book 'Sri Vraja-mandal Parikrama' by Srila Bhaktivedanta Narayana Gosvami Maharaja