Vrindavan, 2018.03.12 (VT) VRI is about to open its doors to the world by uploading the 30,000 manuscripts onto cloud storage. While the documents will not be available to be shared freely, they will be available to scholars for online viewing. VRI president, R. D. Paliwal said that around 30,000 … [Read more...]
Digest: Hundreds arrive on doorstep after girl says Sri Krishna is coming to marry her
Hundreds arrive on doorstep after girl says Sri Krishna is coming to marry her. In a display of faith and devotion that is rare in this world (but more common in Braj), hundreds of villagers camped outside the house of a 17 year old girl who said that Sri Krishna would come to marry her at midnight. … [Read more...]
Digest: Students from Newtown US to visit Vrindavan.
Students from Newtown US to visit Vrindavan. Param Pujya Didima’s work to empower women and girls is now reaching students in America. After Didima visited a US school, the faculty decided to send some teachers to visit Vatsalyagram Vrindavan in order to research whether it would be a suitable … [Read more...]
Digest: Gopal Guru advises: bathroom chanting is okay.
Gopal Guru advises: bathroom chanting is okay. Today is the disappearance day of Gopal Guru (Makaradhvaja Pandit). It was celebrated at his ashram in the Bamshi Bat area of Vrindavan. Makaradhvaja was a disciple of Vakreshwar Pandit. When he was just a boy, he saw someone holding his tongue to … [Read more...]
Today’s Digest: Thakurji’s Boardgame; Yama Dvitiya Preparations; National Ayurveda Day, and more…
Radha Vallabha plays boardgames. Radha Vallabha, one of Vrindavan’s most ancient Thakurjis, celebrates Kartik by sitting in a special silver window and playing chaupad (a board game) with Radha Rani. The Goswamis at Radha Vallabha temple act as stand-ins for Radha-Krishna and play the game while … [Read more...]
National Museum Director visits VRI museum
Vrindavan, 2017.09.10 (DJ): "The Braj Culture Museum of the Vrindavan Research Institute is not only valuable for local or national researchers, but will be of interest to people from around the globe. Its collections -- the art objects and manuscripts inspired by Braj culture, which are preserved … [Read more...]
VRI to preserve broken stone inscription from British period
Vrindavan, 2017.06.29 (VT with reference to Hindustan News): Yesterday’s news about the broken stone tablet created quite a stir. The Vrindavan Research Institute (VRI) came forward yesterday with an offer to preserve the stone, which is inscribed with an British order from 1866 that bans hunting in … [Read more...]
Vrindavan Research Institute: “No research, no help for researchers”
Vrindavan, 2016.11.14 (VT): Thousands of devotees visit the ISKCON temple in Vrindavan every day, but out of them, very few even notice a large gate just a few metres away with the name “Vrindavan Research Institute” written on the top. Even less people know that inside the library there lies the … [Read more...]
Sacred manuscripts of Radha Vallabh community to become a part of Braj Sanskriti Vishwakosh
Vrindavan 2016.09.02 (VT): The Vrindavan Research Institute organised a seminar yesterday in relation to the Braj Sankriti Vishwakosh (Encyclopedia of Braj Culture). In the seminar, sacred manuscripts from Radha Vallabh community that have been written about in the Vishwakosh were discussed. … [Read more...]
‘Exhibition on wheels’ to spread the message of Lord Chaitanya
Vrindavan, 2016. 02. 10 (V.T): An exhibition on wheels will travel to various places where Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu stopped en route to Vrindavan 500 years ago. It will also travel to some other places of Bengal where Mahaprabhu went besides travelling to the National Capital in Delhi and the State … [Read more...]
Insight into Jiva Goswami’s library: New research from VRI
Vrindavan, 2016.01.10 ( DJ): Five hundred years ago, before there was any printing technology, books were produced by professional or amateur copyists who wrote with pen and ink on various different surfaces —- hand made paper, palm leaves or birch bark, materials which were often hard to come by. … [Read more...]
Sri Krishna land offered a slew of developmental projects
Mathura, 2015.081 (IANS):A slew of projects, including widening of roads, were on Wednesday promised for the twin towns of Mathura and Vrindavan – also known as Braj or Sri Krishna land – to convert the area into a developmental hub. Uttar Pradesh Chief Secretary Alok Ranjan, at the end of his … [Read more...]
Termites infesting Vrindavan’s aged trees
Vrindavan, 2014.11.27 (VT): The heritage trees of Vrindavan are in grave danger of going extinct as a result of termite infestation. Although there are not all that many trees left in Vrindavan as they have been sacrificed to the so-called development and the greed of real estate speculators. A few … [Read more...]
The oldest copy of Chaitanya Charitamrita
Vrindavan, 2011.12.17 (Indradyumna Swami, Dandavats): In an old temple tucked away in a street near Loi Bazaar in Vrindavan is the oldest existing copy of Srila Krishna Das Kaviraja Goswami’s epic Caitanya Caritamrta. Over 350 years old, it sits in a cabinet in a room near the alter. In 1982, Sri … [Read more...]
Encyclopedia of Braj Culture workshop comes to a close
Vrindavan, 2011.12.01 (VT): The two-day workshop for the Encyclopedia of Braj Culture (Braj Sanskriti Vishwakosh) held at the Vrindavan Research Institute came to a close on Monday. In his closing speech, the head of the editorial board, well-known writer on Hindi language and literature, Dr. … [Read more...]