Mathura , Vrindavan- Uttar Pradesh

Mathura and Brindavan are two ancient towns  related to life of Lord Krishna . Mathura is the birth place and Brindavan is the place where Krishna spent his early childhood .

Mathura has many small shrines dedicated to Krishna and there is also a cell (Krishna Janma Bhoomi) where he was born . This temple draws thousands of devotees everyday and security arrangements are very tight here and frisking is done twice before pilgrims are allowed inside. The Mathura temple and a mosque share a common wall here. No cameras are allowed near the temple and I do not have any picture to share of Krishna Janma Bhoomi.

 Banke Bihari is the  most popular temple in Brindavan; built in 1921. This temple is situated in a crowded narrow  by- lane and one has  to really wade through a sea of people , cattle, vehicles and what not.

The Krishna is  known here  as Banke Bihari ; the idol is bent at 3 places i.e it is  in a dance posture.  The beauty of the idol here is, it has  large expressive eyes which are believed to be powerful and magnetic. It is believed that looking at his eyes for a long time will make one swoon hence curtains are drawn and opened  every few seconds. Monkeys are plenty here and one has to be careful about their belongings, specifically their spectacles and locals keep reminding visitors about the same.

Our  guide took us to Nanda -Yasodha's house,  situated near river Yamuna and we also saw the sacred tree where Krishna used to play his flute mesmerizing all Brajvasis .  Nidhi Van, is yet another holy place where there are lush green groves which was once a Tulsi Van. It is believed that every night Radha and  Krishna visit this place to play Ras.

 Mathura- Brindavan echoes only Krishna's name. It makes one feel Krishna is right among us.They greet each other in Krishna's name..'Radhe, Radhe"  Every heart here beats only Radhe..Radhe Every activity here is dedicated to Lord Krishna here. Some thing different and great.

Mathura is situated at a distance of 160 Kms. from Delhi. The distance between Brindavan and Mathura is only 15 Kms.

Mathura can be easily approached by road or rail from Delhi. 

Banke Bihari temple

Radhe Radhe

Nidhi Van

Nidhi Van

Nanda's house ,a shrine now.

Hanuman

The tree where Krishna  used to play his flute

My Pilgrimage, North India.

I set on a pilgrimage cum sight seeing tour of some of the North Indian temples and covered Amritsar the Golden temple,  Mathura and  Brindavan, the birth place of Lord Krishna and where he spent his childhood;  Sarnath, the place where Gautham Buddha gave his first sermon , Varanasi, one of the char dhaams where every Hindu devotee likes to visit at least once in his/her life time, Then  to Allahabad, we followed the  Ganges and Yamuna and  met them at the confluence of Triveni Sangam where river Saraswati flows as Gupt Saraswati. Shall be giving details when I post about these places separately. I Could visit colurful Rajasthan -Jaipur and Jodhpur. The Pink city- Jaipur and Jodhpur transported us to the era of great Rajput rulers . The visit to various forts was a great revelation of the life and culture in the days of yore. The workmanship in stone was awe inspiring and the love for precious artifacts still displayed in the great palaces threw some light on the kind of life lead by the then rulers. Among all this we also visited Jalian Walah bagh and  could participate in Wagah - Attari border closing ceremony-  the highly charged atmosphere made me realise how much I worship my motherland, really a great experience.

I shall be posting about the temples, I visited in various cities  and here are a few glimpses of what is in store. It was a well spent vacation and every minute spent was really worth, something to savour for the rest of my life.

There still more to see and that is proposed for yet another trip.

I feel so refreshed and rejuvenated.