Ter Kadamb, Nandgaon
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Ter Kadamba is a very important place in Vraja Mandala, Vrindavan. This is near Nanda Grama. Anybody in the village can tell you about the location of Ter-kadamba. Ter means to call, Krsna used to call the cows, gopis and gopas from the Kadamba tree at Ter Kadamba.
On the day of Gopashtami, Mother Yasoda first sent Krishna to herd the calves. She dressed Him as a prince with jeweled ornaments, beautiful turban and silken clothes. When the friends of Krishna saw Him, they started making fun of Him. They said, “Look at Him. He has come dressed, as though He has come to take care of the kingdom. He has simply come to graze the calves, but in the dress of a King? We should remove His ornaments and royal clothes! The cowherd boys decided to dress Krsna like the cowherd boy He is. They then removed the gorgeous dresses and ornaments of Krsna and dressed Him nicely to their satisfaction and decorated Him with the flowers available there. They gathered varieties of colorful flowers and then put them on Krsna.
Relishing these acts of His friends, Krsna also planned to make some fun with them. There is a lake near there which is called Shyam Talaiya. Through His potency, He covered that lake with small green floating leaves. And then pointing out towards the other side of the lake, He told His friends, “Oh My dear gopas, look on that side. Many flowers are blooming there. Why don’t you all pick them and bring to adorn Me?”
Listening to Krsna’s words, all the gopas started running towards the other side not knowing they have to cross a lake in between to reach them. As they approached the lake, not noticing it covered by Krsna with the leaves, they all started falling into it, thus giving pleasure to Krsna. Ter in Vraja means ‘call’.
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Many Kadamba trees grow at this beautiful spot. Hence it is called Ter Kadamba. Krishna used to call there three times a day. Everyday morning after getting ready and having breakfast, Krsna used to guide the calves to this place for grazing. Mother Yasoda used to put Krsna’s lunch in a cloth. She would then send Him early to herd the calves with a heavy heart.
Krsna arrived at Ter Kadamba before the other cowherd boys. He would climb on the Kadamba tree and call (first ter of the day) all His friends. Oh Sudama, Subala, Mansukha, Dhansukha, Madhu, come soon. I am waiting for all of you to play. Please don’t delay. Hearing the call of Krsna, all the gopas would start worrying and start walking towards ter-kadama, thinking that Krishna will be alone and will not get any pleasure without our company. So they hurried along to play with Him. They used to come running hearing Krsna’s call. After going there, they used to tie their lunches on the branches of the trees there. Since the lunch of all the gopas would be tied on the branches that tree, the tree got bent and they could easily reach the tree since it was low in height. All of the cowherd boys were still very young. This tree is still like this today. All throughout the day, Krsna would play with His friends here. While Krsna and the boys would play there, the gopis would cry in the separation of Krishna.