Kaamvan:
This is the fifth van amongst the 12 famous vans of Vraj in Puran. Pandavas had spent the time of their exile here. In Mahabharat it is called Kaamyavan. In Saraswat kalp, this too is one Vrindavan. Till age five, Bhagwan did leela in this van.
In Kaamvan Vimalkund, Vimladevi, Madhusudan Kund, Jasoda Kund, Lanka Kund, Setubandh Rameshwar, Chakratirth, Lukluk Kund, Charanpahadi, Gaya kund, Mansadevi Kund, Gopinathji temple, 84 pillars, Shri Gokulchandramaji & Shri Madammohanji’s temple are of major attractions.
Following places are a must see at Kaamvan:
Vimalkund:
There are temples of Vimladevi & Chaturbhuj dev on Vimalkund. The kund is big & deep. It is decorated with Ghats made from stones & umbrellas made from architectural excellence. There are big tortoise here like the ones seen in Shri Yamunaji.
From here there is a bridge (setubandh) between Madhusudan Kund, Shitladevi’s darshan, Jasodakund & Lanka-Parlanka Kund.
Charanpahadi:
This Charanpahadi of Kaamvan is also counted amongst the five small-big mountains of Vraj. It is among the Girimala of Aravali mountain. Bhagwans foot prints are located here. That is why it is called charanpahadi. Steps are built to go up. Nearby there is Lukluk Kund & Lukluk Kandra. Shri Thakorji used to play hide-n-seek here with friends & used to hide in this cave. Then he used to appear on the mountain & play his flute & engross friends with surprise. Gopis used to bring chhaak (butter milk) here.
Mahodadhikund:
This kund comes after climbing down Charanpahadi & coming ahead. Shri Thakorji washed his face after eating curd (dahi)here. That is why this place is called Mahodadhi.
Chatankipanseri:
There are two stones here. They are called Chatankipanseri. Shri Thakorji used to steal butter from the houses of Gopis & eat it himself & give it to his friends & also to monkeys, then break the vessels containing butter & throw the left butter. So the gopis used to gather & go to Yashodaji to complain about Thakorji. At that time Yashodaji used to bring the weigh & tell them that she will give them double-triple of whatever her son had stolen. At this time these stones were used by Shri Yashodaji.
Ahead from here, there is a Bethak of Nandraiji. Ahead from there there are Gopalkund & Mansakund. Ahead from there comes Gyanwaadi of Lalitaji.
In Kaamvan there are huge tamples of Shri Jagannathji etc. There is one place of 84 pillars there. It is very ancient. There are many idols sketched on each pillar. Most of them are in poor state or broken. It is said that it was the courtyard of the king in ancient times.
There are two Pushtimargiya temples in Kaamvan:
- Shri Gokulchandramaji
- Shri Madanmohanji
Kaamvan village is famous by the name Kama. After coming out of village & going towards ShriKund come the temples of Shri Varahaji & Shri Shitladeviji. Surajkund, Gopalkund & Shrikund can be reached from here. ShriKund is also known as Surbhikund. Shrikund is huge. It is surrounded by dense trees. Water is cool & clean. Sand is as soft & white like butter.
When Shri Mahaprabhuji came here he seated under the tree of Chokar. He did Bhagwat Parayan here after taking bath in all the 84 kunds. At that time the tirthgor (Brahmin of that pilgrim) came here & said: A Brahma devil (Brahmaraakshas) stays here. He gives unhappiness to everybody. So don’t stay here overnight. Shri Mahaprabhuji kept the night halt there only. Brahmaraakshas came at mid-night. At that time Krshnadas Meghan was washing the clothes of Shri Mahaprabhuji. He saw the devil & gave the news to Shri Mahaprabhuji. Shri Mahaprabhuji came & ordained: Sprinkle the water of my clothes on him. By sprinkling that his soul left him. Shri Mahaprabhuji then explained that he was a Brahman in his previous birth & was a king of the state too. He had donated a lot of land to brahmans. But then when his mind got spoilt, he took away the land from them. So the Brahmins cursed him. So he stayed like a Brahmaraakshaas. But the sin was so big that he was not liberated even by the sand of Vraj. Not even after seeing Shri Mahaprabhuji Himself but only after sprinkling the water of Shri Mahaprabhuji’s clothes.
There is the Bethak of Shri Gusaiji near the Bethak of Shri Mahaprabhuji. Here Shri Gusaiji had done Bhagwat Parayan. Shri Gusaiji’s sevak Shri Madhusudandas a vaishnav, used to stay here. Everyday after serving Shri Mahaprabhuji & offering him milk, night & day used to do the path of Shri Sarvottam Stotra. Then he used to take the prasad (divine left over) of milk. His manorath was to leave this routine only after Shri Mahaprabhuji gives his darshan Himself. Six months passed by. Shri Gusaiji came here, stayed here for three days. Did Shri Bhagwat Parayan. He explained him not to keep this kind of vrat & cause stress to Shri Mahaprabhuji. But he did not listen. After another six months, Shri Mahaprabhuji gave darshan & said that even after studying Shri Sarvottam Stotra you differentiated between me & Shri Gusaiji. That is why you got my darshan late.
The third Bethak there is of Shri Gokulnathji. He had done Bhagwat Parayan here. He had explained vaishnavas Bhagwadleela at Kaamvan. Here, the fourth Bethakji is of Shri Giridharji. He too had done Bhagwat Parayan here. Here, the fifth Bethakji is of Shri Mahaprabhuji’s Sandhya Vandan. Apart from these, Shri Devkinandji’s Bethakji is also there.
Other places of interest at Kaamvan:
Khisal’s Sheela:
Indrasens mountain comes ahead of Shrikund. Khisal’s Sheela is on that.
Kaameshwar Mahadevji’s temple:
Kaameshwar Mahadev is among the important Mahadevs of Vraj. It is very ancient & historic.
Vyomaasur’s cave:
It is situated on the upper side of Indrasen mountain.
Bhojan Thali:
Shri Krshna had taken Bhojan (eaten food) here with Gopijans. So this place was called “Bhojan Sthali” & then further abbreviated as “Bhojan Thali”
Various Kunds:
Going ahead from here comes Yagnyakund, Gopalkund, Charankund, Gurukund. There is a darshan of Garudji on Gurukund. Ahead from here comes Chandrabhaga kund & Chandrabhageshwar Mahadev. Ahead from here are the darshan of Baldvji-Revati. Ahead from there are Kameshwar Mahadevjis darshan who had been established by the great grandson of Shri Krshna, Shri Vajranathji. Ahead from there are the the temples of Sheshnayi & Dharmaraja.