Radha Damodar Temple, Junagadh

The Radha Damodar Temple stands on the road to the Girnar hills in Junagadh district, Gujarat, alongside the sacred Damodar Kund and Revati Kund. Krishna is worshipped here as Damodar in his four-armed Vishnu form, holding conch, discus, mace and lotus, with Radha seated beside him; a neighbouring shrine honours Balarama and his wife Revati. Tradition holds that Krishna's grandson Vajranabh founded it, and the pilgrimage site is said to have been renovated in 462 under the Gupta king Skandagupta. It is under the special care of the Gujarat government.

The temple is built of pink sandstone in two parts, the sanctum, whose spire rises 65 feet, and the Saloha Mandap; the temple has 84 carved pillars and 32 arches. Devotees bathe in the Damodar Kund believing it brings salvation, and the poet-saint Narsinh Mehta is said to have bathed here daily before worship. Thousands gather for ancestral rites on the new-moon day of Bhadra, and a Vishnu Yagya is held at Janmashtami.