Braj Gopi Dal is a narration, dance and music department of the Maan Mandir Sewa Sansthan Trust. The main objectives of the department are:
- Present the 5000 year age old culture of the Braj Dham region throughout the India and abroad.
- Present the culture with the medium of narration, music and dance
The supreme personality of Godhead Shri Shri Radha Krishna descended in Braj and performed many pastimes. Braj Gopi Dal visits the various parts of the India and world to explain the importance of Braj region through the combination of dance and music and using narration from the various scriptures. Braj Dham is the birth place of many native dance and music forms, which is unique in the world.
Braj Gopi Dal is carrying forward this great ancient culture and trying to protect it from getting lost.
The Braj Gopi Dal department of Maan Mandir Sewa Sansthan is chaired by Kishori Devi Sharma.
The office bearers of this department are as follows:
Kishori Devi Sharma
Director of this group which does the narrative description of the Braj culture through music, and dance. Kishori Devi is B.A, B.Ed. M.A. and holds more than 20 years of experience in music and dance. She guides the group in music, dance and narration.
Being native of the Braj, Kishori inherited this age old tradition through the Guru-disciple succession from the Shri Ramesh Baba Maharaj. She has been taking this group on a tour to the various cities in India from the last 3 years, where thousands of people assemble to listen to this unique combination of Braj culture through the music and dance.
Bhanuja Sharma – Lead Singer
Bhanuja Sharma is a celebrated singer who sings beautiful Bhajans. She narrates the Braj culture through the Bhajans and beautiful songs. She has learned these from Kishori and from Shri Ramesh Baba Maharaj, who himself is one of the topmost singer having a deep knowledge of the Braj classical music, various Raags and musical instruments. When she sings Radha Kripa-Astak, the atmosphere becomes calm and fills with the mercy of Shrimati Radha Raani.
Murlika Sharma – Lead Narrator
Muralika SharmaMuralika is a prodigy who mesmerizes the audience with her deep knowledge of Braj, various shastra like Srimad Bhagavatam, Ram Charitra Manas, Garg Samhita, Bhakta-Maal etc. When she deliveres her narration along with Bhanuja and Radha, the audience gets mesmerized by her talents in a very young age. This has been possible only with the grace of her Guru-Maharaj Shri Ramesh Baba ji who has revealed to her the deep and secret meaning of the various Shastra and Braj culture which can not be understood without the mercy of a Guru.
The recent episode is an example her talents where this group was invited at the Gita Press, Gorakhpur where 7 days narrtaion of Srimad Bhagavantam was arranged. This is the renowned Sapataha arena, the Vyasapitha of the famous Rādhā Bābā and Hanuma Prasad Poddar. Only the most popular Vyasa’s are invited to this function in a year long celebration of the 100th anniversary of Radha Babaji. Sri Radhey Shyama Banka was the organizer of this celebration.
At such a prestigious event, there was opposition that a mere young girl was going to sit on the Vyasapitha, a first in the history. Many objected and were going to leave the function complaning that how can a young girl speak here in front of such a large learned audience? Will she be able to present the Bhagavat philosophy in front of so many Pandits who have spent their whole life reading and understanding the shastras? Sri Radhey Shyama Banka, the sponsor, said “I have invited them all the way from Barsana, they can not go back and she will speak as I have promised.”
Murlika was then allowed to sit on the very same seat of Radha Baba, available to only a rare few, and as soon as she began to speak, the entire crowd was mystified and the detractors silenced. After each chapter, she would make a commentary, extracting Radha Tattva from the verses, never been done there before. Her whole presentation was simply a ‘mouth piece’ to Shri Ramesh Babaji Maharaja, repeating whatever he has taught her.
One elderly lady, who attended Saptaha for the last 40 years mentioned that she has never heard anyone speak like this. Radhey Shyama Banka wrote a letter to Maan Mandir afterwards saying, ”Many of the biggest Vyasas have come and spoke on Kṛṣṇa Tattva, but this girl’s exposition has shown that Radha Tattva can be found in every verse of the Srimad Bhagavatam.”
As Vyasadeva’s description of Shri Radha is hidden in the pages of the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, only the special devotees of Radharani can brings things to light.
Murlika’s concluding words were “I know that you think that I am a simple village girl, but I can only see that it is the mercy of Radha Baba that I have been able to come here and speak.”
In the following picture, Murlika is describing Braj culture to an audience which is spell bound due to her vast knowledge at a very young age.
Shriji Devi – Lead Instrument Player
Shriji Dev is an integrated part of this group who accompanies and makes the event very lively by playing of different musical instruments such as Keyboard, Harmonium, Tabla and Dholak. She has been learning music from Shri Ramesh Baba Maharaj from the very young age. She is an accomplished musical instruments player.