Appearance of Radha Kunda and Snana Dana

What is the Appearance of Radha Kunda?

Near Govardhana lies Radha Kunda, the sacred lake of Srimati Radharani. The appearance of Radha Kunda is the day Vaishnavas remember how the lake came to be, and the calendar marks it with snana dana. In 2027 it falls on Tuesday, 20 April.

Significance

After Krishna killed the bull demon Aristasura, the gopis teased Him that He must atone for killing a bull. In his Radha-kundastakam, Srila Raghunatha dasa Gosvami writes that Srimati Radharani and Her friends then joyfully dug the kunda and filled it with their own hands. Later, Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu found it in two paddy fields and bathed there. The Caitanya-caritamrta quotes the Padma Purana on the gift that a bath in the kunda brings:

Indeed, Lord Kṛṣṇa gives ecstatic love like that of Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī to whoever bathes in that lake even once in his life.

Caitanya-caritamrta, Madhya-lila 18.10

How to observe it

At Radha Kunda itself, devotees bathe in the lake and give in charity, which is what snana dana means. Those far away can hear the pastime of the kunda and read the Radha-kundastakam. Its last verse promises a vision of Radha and Krishna to the devotee who reads it with a wish to serve Her.

The same day marks the appearance of Sri Syamananda Prabhu, who, his biography says, received Radharani's tilaka at the kunda. It is also the day of Sri Balarama Rasayatra and Sri Krishna Vasanta Rasa, and the appearance day of Sri Vamsivadana Thakura.