Bhaktivedanta Narayana Gosvami
From the book “Sri Vraja-maṇḍala-parikramā”:
Śrī Harideva, the presiding deity of Girirāja-Govardhana, is present on the southern bank of Mānasī-gaṅgā. Śrī Kṛṣṇa took one form as Giridhārī (the lifter of Govardhana hill) and held His second form, Girirājajī, on His palm. The pastime of lifting Govardhana (govardhana-dhāraṇa) will be described later, when we come to Ānyora-gaon.
Rajashekhara Dasa
From the book “Chaurasi-kosa Vraja Mandala Parikrama”:
When Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu came to this temple, He chanted the holy names of Krishna and danced for many hours in ecstasy in front of the Deity. Large crowds gathered to see Lord Chaitanya and everyone was amazed at His ecstatic love for Krishna. This Deity of Lord Harideva is one of the four Deva-murtis of Vraja and was originally established by Vajranabha Maharaja, who installed a total of four Deva-vigrahas in Vraja including: Harideva at Govardhana, Govindadeva at Vrindavana, Keshavadeva at Mathura, and Baladeva at Mahavana. It is said that this Deity of Lord Harideva was established here because of the pastime where Radharani and the gopis had been waiting for Krishna to meet them at Manasi-ganga and began to feel great anxiety because Krishna had not arrived. Hoping that Krishna would soon arrive there, the gopis began chanting over and over again, ‘Harideva, Harideva, Harideva.’ Suddenly, a beautiful Deity of Lord Harideva holding Govardhana Hill in his left hand and a flute in His right hand appeared there before them. The gopis were ecstatic and immediately began worshiping that transcendental form of Lord Harideva, the lifter of Govardhana Hill.
The temple of Harideva that can be seen today was built by Maharaja Bhagavana Singh, the former king of Jaipur, who was Raja Man Singh’s father. During the despotic rule of the Mughal tyrant Aurangzeb, the Deity of Lord Harideva was moved elsewhere for safety and presently the pratibhu-murti can be seen in this temple. The original Deity of Lord Harideva is presently being worshiped at Badhauli village near the town of Rasadhan in the Kanpur District of Uttar Pradesh.
