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Sri Narayana Bhatta Gosvami

He was born in Madurai in Tamil Nadu on Narasimha Caturdasi. His father Bhaskara was a Bhriguvamsi Daksinatya brahmana and a follower of the Madhvacarya sampradaya. He came to Vrindavana to help reveal the pastime places of Radha and Krishna. In his book Braja Bhakti Vilasa he describes the different pastime places of Radha and Krishna.

When Narayana Bhatta came to Vrindavana he went to Rupa and Sanatana Gosvamis and paid obeisances to them. He took initiation from Sri Krishna Dasa Brahmacari, who was a disciple of Gadadhara Pandita and a priest for the Deity of Madana Mohana. Narayana Bhatta remained with him for some time to learn the teachings of the Gaudiya sampradaya. He then went to Radha Kunda to begin his work of discovering the pastime places of Krishna. After living in Radha Kunda he moved to Uchagrama and stayed there until he left his body. He got married there and had a son named Damodara.

Narayana Bhatta discovered all the tirthas and pastime places mentioned in the Varaha Purana that were not discovered yet. He would go to a village and then would meditate on Ladali Ji, who would then tell him where a lila place existed or a Deity was lying under the ground. Some of the Sri Vigrahas (Deities) that he discovered are Sri Ladali Ji of Varsana, Garbhodaksayi Vishnu at the Sesasayi temple, Baladeva at Uchagrama, Badrinath, and Kamesvara Mahadeva. Some of the tirthas (pastime places) that he discovered are Kusuma Sarovara, Manasi Ganga, Govinda Kunda, Sankari Kor in Varsana, Chira Ghata, Nanda Ghata and many others. He discovered the 12 forests of Braja, and he determined the boundary of Braja. He established the practice of doing Braja Mandala parikrama, circumambulation of Braja. He discovered the places that are connected to the rasa dance. He named every village, kunda and kunja according to its connection with Krishna-lila.

Raja Todaramala, the treasurer of Akbar, gave Narayana Bhatta financial help to complete his projects. Narayana Bhatta arranged to build rasa-mandalas, temples, and the ghatas around many kunds. He then had Deities installed in the rebuilt temples.

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