The King and founder of the City of Jaipur, Maharaja Jai Singh II (1688–1743) performed a great service by bringing Srila Rupa Gosvami's deity, Sri Govinda-deva, to Jaipur for protection from the Mughal iconoclasts. Though Sri Govinda-deva is still served to this day in his beautiful temple in the garden of the Royal Palace, the present Maharaja of Jaipur never had the opportunity to pay his respects at the samadhi of Sri Rupa Gosvami, Sri Govinda-deva's foremost devotee. On Wednesday 19th December, Maharaja Narendra visited Vrndavan. It was my pleasure to guide Maharaja Narendra on a parikrama of Vrndavana and share with him the profound glories of Sri Rupa Gosvami and his unprecedented contribution to poetry and theology. May the long historical relationship between the Maharajas of Jaipur and our Gaudiya Sampradaya continue to flourish!

Photo 1: beginning parikrama from Anand Dhama Gaudiya Ashram. Left to right: Maharaja Narendra of Jaipur, Prem Prayojan das, Dr. Sri Acyuta Lal Bhatta Gosvami, Giulio.

Photo 2: At Dvadas-Aditya-Tila.