Banke Bihari — The Graceful Enjoyer of Vrindavan

"Banke Bihari" is the Lord who stands gracefully bent in three places (tribhanga) and delights in divine play. His famous temple in Vrindavan houses the deity revealed through the devotion of Swami Haridas.

"Banke" means bent or gracefully curved, and "Bihari" means the one who sports and delights in divine play. In Krishna's famous tribhanga pose his body bends gently at three points, the neck, the waist and the knee, as he stands holding his flute. This enchanting form is called Banke Bihari.

According to tradition, Swami Haridas, a great musician and rasika saint, used to worship his beloved Lord with deep love in the Nidhivan grove of Vrindavan. Pleased by his devotion, the divine couple Shyama-Shyam appeared before him, and at his request manifested together in a single deity. That deity is worshipped today as Banke Bihari. Tradition also holds that the legendary musician Tansen was a disciple of Swami Haridas.

The temple's customs of worship are unique. During darshan a curtain is drawn across the shrine again and again, because devotees feel that gazing at Thakurji without pause could make a devotee lose all awareness in love, or that the Lord might simply walk away with a devoted soul. According to temple tradition, mangala aarti is not performed daily but only on Janmashtami, and on Akshaya Tritiya devotees are blessed with darshan of the Lord's feet.

Name Sa

बाँके बिहारी

Name Roman

Banke Bihari

Meaning

the gracefully bent (tribhanga) Lord who delights in divine play

Source

Vrindavan temple tradition (Swami Haridas, Nidhivan)