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Varaha Temples

Sweta Varaha Temple
In this temple is a beautiful white Deity of Varahadeva (Vishnu in His boar incarnation). Varaha is the second incarnation of Lord Vishnu. Lord Varaha appeared as a giant boar to save the earth planet and to kill the demon Hiranyaksa, who was terrifying the universe. Varaha is often seen as a half-man, with the face of a boar engaged in picking up the earth (Bhu). After lifting the earth, Lord Varaha rested at Visrama Ghata.
The Deity of Sweta Varaha is in a house, which the owner does not normally allow “non-Hindus” to enter. I was invited into this temple. Down the same street that this temple is located on, there is the Adi Varaha temple, a Balarama Temple and a few other temples.

How To Get Here If you are facing the Dwarkadish temple there is a small road on the right side of the temple. You walk down this road about 225m (750 feet), about a three-minute walk, passing two roads that go to the right. You turn right at the third road. On your left side, when you reach this road, is a small Siva temple. This temple is the second door on the left. You cannot tell it is a temple from the outside. The Deity can be seen from the street.

Adi Varaha Temple
The Deity in this temple is one of the oldest in Mathura. Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Maharaja visited the Adi Varaha temple and they can show you his signature at this temple. This Deity is also called Lal Varaha. Lal means “red” and this Deity of Varaha is a red color.

According to the Adi Varaha Purana, the story of this Deity is that Kapila Muni made this Deity of Varaha by his mind. Kapila gave this Deity to Lord Indra in Satya-yuga. Indra worshiped this Deity in his kingdom. When Ravana took over Indra’s kingdom, Ravana took this Adi Varaha Deity to his capital, in Lanka. When Lord Rama killed Ravana he installed Ravana brother, Vibhisana, on the throne of Lanka. Vibhisana offered everything to Rama. Rama said he did not want anything, except the Varaha Deity that was taken from the city of Indra. Vibhisana gave Rama this Deity. He carried the Deity back to Ayodhya and worshiped the Deity there for 110 years. When Satrughna, Lord Rama’s brother, went to Mathura, to kill some demons, he brought this Deity with him and the Deity has been here every since.

How To Get Here The Adi Varaha temple is located further down the same street that the Sveta Varaha temple is located on. You keep going further down the road, about 40m (120 feet) and the road ends. When the road ends you make a left and the door of the temple is in front of you, about 15m (45 feet) away. From the outside, this temple does not look like a temple.

Story of Varaha
Thus, seeing the earth merged in the water, Brahma gave his attention for a long time on how it could be lifted. Brahma thought, “While I have been engaged in the process of creation, the earth has been inundated by a deluge and has gone down into the depths of the ocean.”

All of a sudden, while Brahma was engaged in thinking, a small form of a Boar (Lord Varaha, Varaha means “boar”) came out of his nostril. The measurement of the creature was not more than the upper portion of a thumb. While Brahma was observing Him, that Boar became situated in the sky in a wonderful manifestation as gigantic as a great elephant. Lord Varaha dived into the middle of the ocean. He saw the earth and He personally lifted it. Lord Boar very easily took the earth on His tusks and got it out of the water. Then He immediately killed Hiranyaksa, although he tried to fight with the Lord. (Srimad Bhagavatam)
According to Srila Jiva Gosvami, the Vedic literatures describe the incarnation of Lord Varaha (Boar) in two different devastations, namely the Caksusa devastation and the Svayambhuva devastation.

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