Bhaktivedanta Narayana Gosvami
From the book “Sri Vraja-maṇḍala-parikramā”:
Mayūra-kūṭī is situated on the top of Brahmācala-parvata. Here, one can have darśana of the rāsa-maṇḍala where Śrīmatī Rādhikā and Kṛṣṇa danced in the form of a peacock (mayūra) and peahen.
Once, Śrīmatī Rādhikā and Kṛṣṇa came to this place together with the sakhīs. Upon seeing them, the peacocks became overjoyed with ecstasy and began to dance. Clouds gathered in the sky, and a light shower of rain fell. Nature had decorated herself fully, as if she was a beautiful and charming young woman. Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa could not check Their feelings. Taking the form of a peacock and peahen, They danced in an astonishing way along with the circle of peacocks and peahens. All the sakhīs were astounded to see Their skilful dancing. They began to sing different kinds of rāgas, like malhāra, which increased Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa’s pleasure.
suramyāyai mahākuṭyai śikhaṇḍi padaveśmane
namaḥ sakhī sametāya rādhā-kṛṣṇāya te namaḥ
vimalotsava devāya vraja-maṅgala-hetave
Ādi-varāha Purāṇa
Rajashekhara Dasa
From the book “Chaurasi-kosa Vraja Mandala Parikrama”:
The word ‘mayura’ as well as ‘mora’ are both names for a peacock and ‘kutira’ or ‘kuti’ means a ‘small cottage’. This place has become famous because it was here that Shri Krishna danced just like a peacock. One day, due to something Krishna had done, Radharani became overcome by mana and She came to this place and began sulking in solitude. The word mana (pronounced maan) means a kind of ‘jealous anger’ or ‘lovers pique’. In order to break Radharani’s ‘mana’ Shri Krishna came here to this place and standing before Radharani, began dancing just like a peacock. Seeing the incredible display by Krishna as He expertly danced like a peacock, Radharani became so enthralled and overcome with happiness by seeing the ecstatic peacock dance that She completely forgot Her mana and therefore Krishna was once again able enjoy Her company. On another occasion, it is said that Radha and Krishna were sitting at this spot when They were suddenly surrounded by hundreds of peacocks, who, with their exotic plumage in full array, started dancing in ecstasy due to seeing the combined beauty of the ‘divine lovers’ sitting together. Radha and Krishna then got up and also began to dance while imitating the wonderful dancing movements of the peacocks.
This place was formerly situated deep within the celebrated forest of Gahvaravana that used to cover the south-eastern side of Brahmagiri Parvata. There is also a rasa-mandala here and a small shrine known as Mor Kuti commemorating the peacock dancing pastimes. There is also a grove known as Chitra-kunja that belongs to the gopi Chitra-sakhi, who lived in the nearby village of Ciksauli. Within the shrine at Mor Kuti is a famous painting of Krishna dancing as a peacock, said to have been painted by a blind Vaishnava saint, who, while performing bhajana at this spot and believed to have received a special ‘darshana’ of this pastime. The gopi Chitra-sakhi, whose residence is nearby, was herself an expert artist and it is thought that she directly inspired the blind saint to paint this amazing picture.
Another wonderful pastime that occurred here was when Krishna was playing with His cowherd boyfriends, they complained that they were feeling hungry and wanted to eat some sweets. To satisfy the cowherd boys, Krishna began playing on His flute and within a short time many large baskets full of laddus suddenly appeared there in the forest. The boys started eating all the tasty laddus and because there were so many laddus, the cowherd boys, while shouting again and again ‘laddhu koa’-‘laddhu koa’ or, “eat more laddus”, began throwing the laddus at each other in great fun. To celebrate this famous pastime, a festival is held here in the month of August where large crowds of revelers gather and throw thousands of laddus at each other while celebrating this pastime of the cowherd boys. There is also a ‘laddoo-holi’ held at Varsana on the eve of the famous ‘stick-beating’ festival known as ‘latthamar-holi’, where laddhus are thrown to the crowds attending the celebrations.
Some claim there is a baithaka (sitting place) of Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu near Mor Kuti, but that is actually the baithaka of Vallabhacharya. The confusion has arisen due to Vallavhacharya being wrongly advertised by his followers as Mahaprabhu. The title of Mahaprabhu can only be used for a bona-fide incarnation of Vishnu whose name and activities are mentioned in the Vedas. Lord Chaitanya is mentioned in many Vedic literatures including Shrimad-Bhagavatam, whereas there is no mention of Vallabhacharya in any such literatures.
