Veni Madhav - the first of the 12 Madhavs who watches over the Triveni Sangam at Prayagraj

 In the narrow by lanes of Daraganj is an ancient temple dedicated to an avatar of Vishnu. The familiar UP Tourism signboard in yellow and black reads that Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu used to perform his dance and kirtan in the courtyard of this temple around 500 years ago. 

Why is Veni Madhav called the Nagar Devata of Prayagraj?

The story of Veni Madhav is given in Matsya Purana, Agni Purana and Padma Purana. 

After the great flood Lord Brahma recreated the Universe and to commemorate that event, he organised a yajna which is a vedic ritual for an auspicious beginning. All the Gods and Goddesses came to Prayagraj to participate in this ritual. Even Lord Vishnu is invited who is in between his yog nidra. All the people who are present there request Vishnu to take up permanent residence and presence in Prayagraj as the protector which he agrees to. 

Actually Brahma conducted a series of 10 yajnas at Daraganj. The place where a Shiv Ling was made by Brahma is now the Shri Dashashwamedh Brahmeshwar Mahadev Mandir. It also has a second Shiv Ling which was installed there by Yudhishthira. 

There are two interesting facts related to Daraganj. First is the name which means a current of water. There is a possibility that this place was named after Dara Shikoh a brother of Aurangzeb who resided here for some time to translate literature work to Persian. He was killed by the Emperor to eliminate competition. When Shivaji escaped from the imprisonment of Aurangzeb, all expected the King to make a dash from Maharashtra or the safety of the forts of Deccan. Instead, Shivaji went eastwards. He choose to stay in hiding in Daraganj locality in the house of a local priest or panda. 

In another story a demon Gajkarna has big plans to conquer the three worlds. He was indulging in a lot of violence to further his aim. Those affected by his actions prayed for Vishnu's intervention. He sends Narad to check out on Gajkarna. Narad while interacting with the demon, he notices that Gajkarna is suffering from some ailment. So he offers Gajkarna to visit Sangam and have a dip in the holy water. Miraculously the demon is healed and he gets greedy. He decides to take the holy trinity river water along with him to his world. He consumed all the water till not a single drop remained. People prayed for Lord Vishnu who came to Prayagraj on Tuesday. Both fought for three days and on Thursday Vishnu killed Gajkarna by cutting off his head and releasing all the water of the rivers. Every Thursday is special prayer and celebration at Veni Madhav Mandir, Prayagraj. 

The 12 forms of Madhav form a protective circle for Prayag Kshetra

People request Lord Vishnu to continue protecting Prayagraj. Vishnu takes 12 forms of Madhav and forms a circle of protection around Prayagraj with Veni Madhav being the most important form.

Here is the list of the 12 temples. There might be some errors in the list.

1.   Veni Madhav of Daraganj
2.   Gada Madhav near Cheoki Railway Station
3.   Shankh Madhav at Munshi's Garden
4.   Chakra Madhav at Arail
5.   Manohar Madhav at Johnston Ganj
6.   Bindu Madav at Draupadi Ghat
7.   Aksahayvat Madhav considered to be within the Sangam 
8.   Anant Madhav at Daraganj
9.   Asi Madhav at Daraganj
10.  Aadi Madhav is in the form of water within the Sangam
11.   Padma Madhav at Deoria
12.   Sankathar Madhav at Jhunsi

The temple of Veni Madhav hence is considered to be the first temple of Prayagraj. It is believed that a holy dip in Sangam is not complete without a visit to Veni Madhav Mandir.

It is believed that Maharishi Bharadwaj started the practise of visiting all the Madhav Temples in Prayagraj in the form of a yatra during the Kumbh Mela. He also asked Ram, Sita and Lakshman to visit the Veni Madhav Temple and cross the Ganga with the help of the Nishad boatmen. However, the British and Mughals destroyed most of the temples and the parikrama discontinued. In 1961, Shri Prabhudutt Brahmachari concluded the first pradakshina of all the 12 Madhav temples of Prayagraj. He was also instrumental in searching and finding all the 12 temples along with a few other religious teachers. This practise stopped in 1987.

It were the efforts of Akhil Bharatiya Akhara Parishad which led to the resumption of this parikrama in the Maha Kumbh of 2019. At the time of writing of this article, Prayagraj is preparing for the Maha Kumbh of 2024 and this parikrama is sure to attract the attention of a lot of people. 




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