MHOW: Gopal Mandir occupies a place among the main temples of the city. It is not only a temple but has also been the centre of consciousness, culture and religious activities of the city. Before independence, it was an education and medical centre.
The temple started in 1882. It took 12 years to be constructed. The entire construction was done in three phases. In the first phase, the temple was prepared, while in the second and third, a dispensary and school came up respectively.
The school was established in the year 1907. From the very beginning, Gopal Mandir was operated jointly by the Maheshwari Samaj and Marwari Agarwal Samaj. People of both societies are natives of Rajasthan. From there they came to then Mau. About 150 families were on Mau. Most of these families used to live in tents and did their business on Singh Street from the very beginning.
The land was given to the families and houses were constructed there. Then the huge Gopal Mandir came up. Before independence, the city was the centre of many social activities. Many meetings were organised in the enclosure. To address these, from time to time, Vidarbha Kesari Brijlal Biyani, played an important role in the freedom struggle.
Programmes were organised for encouraging speeches of Jamnalal Bajaj, Arjun Lal Sethi, Seth Govind Das etc. In this enclosure plays promoting national sentiment were also staged. Many programmes were organised in the enclosure for a long time. The branch of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) was also planned in the evening for many years. After the construction of Gopal Mandir, a school and a dispensary were built on its premises. At that time the population of Mhow was hardly 20,000. The facilities related to medical education in the city were very limited. In such a situation, schools and dispensaries began in society. All arrangements were free of cost in the school and dispensary.
After becoming the centre for medicine, the dispensary closed down only about 45 years ago.
About Gopal Mandir: The arrangement of food for the poor every morning was going on for many decades before independence. There will be fewer such temples here for the public interest. For many decades, this arrangement has been given free of cost. Now after 140 years, the Gopal Mandir has been newly built. More than Rs 4 crore has been spent on giving it a new avatar. The magnificence of the new temple has increased its beauty. Not only for the citizens of Mhow but also for travellers and devotees coming from outside, it will be a major centre of attraction. On the upper floor of the temple, facilities are there for the devotees to stay. The vastness of the temple can be estimated from this. In the temple, hundreds of devotees can sing hymns, do kirtan, perform aarti collectively and can enjoy the religious discourse. The marbled design and the entire work have been done under the guidance of Khurshid Bhai and Narendra Sompura. Both of them are residents of Rajasthan. The latter’s family is associated with many laurels. Painting of the temple was done by Tejpal Singh of Kuchaman City, Rajasthan.
