Glories
Lord Hanuman is also known as Anjani Putra (s/o Mother Anjani), who appeared from this kund to give darshan to mother Yashoda during Krishna’s time. It was not Hanuman Ji but Krishna Himself who appeared in the disguise of Hanuman Ji to cheat His own mother.
Chameli Van is the forest where Krishna was performing Ras Leela (group dance) with His female friends (called Gopis). So he got delayed and did not reach home at his usual time. Mother Yashoda started searching for Krishna, she went from one forest to another till she finally reached at Chameli Van. On seeing Mather Yashoda, Krishna got nervous, He instantly jumped into the neighboring Kund and came out as Hanuman Ji and stood like a god blessing his devotees.
Mother Yashoda was bewildered by this unexpected appearance of Lord Hanuman. Attracted by the aura of Hanuman Ji, she along with her maids offered their devotional service at the feet of Hanuman Ji. In this process she completely forgot the purpose for which she had come all the way and returned back to Nandgaon because it had already become dark. Since then the kund is known as Anjani Kund.
For the past 5,500 years devotees from neighboring states regularly come to Anjani Kund to offer prayers to Hanuman Ji. Here there is a Hanuman Temple along with an Ashram , where some saints reside permanently. On every Tuesday and Saturday huge crowds of devotees come to this place and dozens of feasts are hosted by the devotees.
The Book named ‘Braj Bhakti Vilas’ also mentioned about Anjani Kund-
Anjanisnansambhoot tapah siddhiswaroopine,
Vayuvaimalyrupay tirthraj namohstute.
Iti dwadashabhirmantram majjnachmanai narman,
Mantrasiddhi samayukto pardo jayto muvi.
-Braj Bhakti Vilas 11/47
For decades this sacred site of Braj was in the state of total neglect. There used to be about 1,25,000 Kadamb trees in Chameli Van, which have completely disappeared, dried or dead , due to the absence of any irrigation facility.
Anjani Kund within Chameli Van had also dried up because of the lowering of the ground water table and blockage in the minor irrigation canal which used to bring water into it.
In 2007, we surveyed the entire area of Chameli Van and decided to restore both Anjani Kund and Chameli Van. We also wanted to add value to the existing ashram and create some pilgrimage facilities for night stay etc. Our in-house team of Architects and Landscape Designers prepared a DPR to this effect. It came out very beautifully but we did not have the budget for the same. However, with the financial support of Shri Kamal Morarka, our earth movers moved into the Anjani Kund and started desilting the same. Dozens of tractor trolleys from neighboring villages were hired to shift the silt from Kund to Chameli Van. This exercise prolonged was undertaken to improve the soil fertility of Chameli Van.
We invited the Secretary Tourism and Secretary Forest of Haryana Government to visit Chameli Van. When these senior officials came with their entourage, we too joined them with our technical staff. Together we surveyed the entire area and gave them useful ideas to improve pilgrimage infrastructure in Hodal. Subsequently on their request we prepared a comprehensive DPR of the whole area, without charging any fee from the Haryana Government. After that we had several meetings back and forth in Delhi & Chandigarh but nothing substantial came out.
Meanwhile, after finishing the desilting of Anjani Kund, our technical team presented the restoration plan of Anjani Kund to the CSR Department of Engineers India Ltd. They sanctioned Rs 22 lakhs. The amount was not sufficient yet we worked with full dedication and made best use of the money available. We constructed a stone cladded bathing ghat, opened the water channels, made a parikrama path, fixed some stone benches and monkey feeding area. Two large size stone plaques were fixed to glorify the importance of Anjani Kund and the donor.
A small inauguration ceremony was enthusiastically organized by the village community in which senior officials of EIL also participated and expressed their joy and satisfaction for the restoration work done by TBF.
We are a non-profit organization, established in December 2005 to restore and revitalize the environmental and cultural heritage of Braj Bhoomi (land of Braj)
