Mathura - Vrindavan trip

After lots and lots of analysing and planning about where all to go in Mathura and Vrindavan, I pushed myself to make this trip happen all by myself again, as noone else was keen in coming. I had booked a tour thru one site - radhekrshn.com for Rs. 2k (expensive, but couldn't help!) for the whole of saturday the 25th, as I didn't want to take a risk of not finding anyone on arrival at Mathura.

On Saturday, I woke up as early as 5 in the morning and set for Mathura. I took a rick to Nizamuddin Rly Stn, and caught the Taj Express just in time at 7:08 AM. 2 mins later, the train started and I stood for the whole journey in the general compartment. And the bogie was so full, I didn't have a place to stand too! Dont ask!

I finally completed the journey and arrived in Mathura in exactly 2 hours. Mathura, or Braj Bhoomi is the land of Lord Krishna, as everyone knows. The cab was waiting for me and he took me straight to Sri Krishna Janma Bhoomi first. I had to deposit my camera and mobile along with my bag, and entered the temple after thorough security check (they touched all parts of my body and checked my wallet too!).

Here, I first went to the Krishna Janmasthan, which is a very small room and there is a huge stone and a little grove on top of it which has the footprints of the Lord, and which marks the exact birth location of Sri Krishna. I'm sure everyone knows the birth story of Krishna. My long standing wish of seeing this place came true finally.

Next, I went to the huge temple complex nearby, called Bhagavat Bhavan. Here, a very beautiful lifesize idol of Radha-Krishna is present in the centre, with Lord Jagannath in one side and Lords Sri Ram, Sita & Lakshmana on the other side. The inside of the temple is very colourful with paintings all over including the roof. At the back of the sanctum sanctorum of the main diety, there is a huge wall on which the whole of Bhagavad Gita is placed, which is written on copper plates. After seeing this, I went to a shop in the same area and bought a packet of Peda, as I heard that Mathura ke Pedas were very famous.

I also saw the Idgah adjacent to the main wall of the temple complex and thought of the plunderings the Mughals had done. This area was very sensitive, just like Ram Janmabhoomi. Next, I went to Keshav Bhavan, where in some verses of the Gita were painted all over the walls and there was a very small idol of Krishna.

I had one cooldrink from the same place as it was very hot and got back to the cab. I told him to take me to Dwarkadheesh Mandir, but instead he took me to Birla Mandir, also called Gita Mandir. This temple is situated on the Mathura-Vrindavan road. This temple looked exactly the same as the one in Delhi - same colors and architecture. But only difference was, I was allowed to take photos of it. It has a very huge prayer hall, with Lord Krishna in the centre and 2 Gods in either side (forgot who were there, one was Sri Ram, the other one I dont remember). On the ceiling here too, were nice paintings of Krishna.

I went around the temple and saw the pillar on which the Gita was inscribed on the right side of the temple. This pillar is located in the centre of garden next to the temple.

It was already 12 and the driver took me to Vrindavan. I told him to take me first to Govardhan, as I had checked out in the net that the temples in Vrindavan would close by 12:30 PM, but he insisted to go to Vrindavan, which was only 10 kms from Mathura. In Vrindavan, itseems there are more than 5000 temples and one would require an entire month if they were to cover all the temples. On the way to Vrindavan, I saw the famous Pagal Baba Mandir. I had already jotted down few temples which are a must see from net.

The streets of Vrindavan are so small that I remembered the streets of Dwarka. Only one vehicle could pass by in one direction at a time. The whole of Vrindavan was painted with the names of Radha-Krsna. Each and every shop, wall, tree, had this name. This temple town is so small, but it has a large number of temples.

The driver first took me to ISKCON, which was on the very small main road. Again I had to deposit my camera and mobile. The security guards were so rude here, I had never experienced in any of the ISKCON temples I have seen. As I entered the temple, on the left side is the Samadhi of A.C Prabhupada, the founder of ISKCON. A little further down, there is the main temple with Sri Krsna-Balarama in the centre (the same one in the calendar), Sri Gaura Nitai on the left and Sri Radha Krsna on the right side. The Gods were no doubt very beautifully decorated. There were many people chanting the Hare Krsna Maha Mantra, and the Maha Mangalarati was being performed. I prayed and left the temple. For some reason, I dont know, I thought this temple was a little let down as compared to other ISKCON temples, as it was not very clean, rude people, fully commercialised, and not situated in a proper area.

We left the temple at 12:15 PM and I was immediately joined by a guide from the tourist office which I had booked thru the net. He came in his bike and picked me up and hurried to the Banke Bihari temple, which is very famous in Vrindavan, as cars cannot go to this place as the roads are very very narrow. We reached the temple at 12:30 PM, but unfortunatly, the door of the sanctum sanctorum just got closed. This temple had an open hall in the centre which was very crowded. I just came out of the temple and took its snap from the outside.

We came back to the cab, and the guide parked his bike nearby and he too joined me in the cab. He took me to Nidhi Van, on the banks of River Yamuna, where there were lots of Tulsi plants, where the legend has it that Krsna and Radha used to come here and play. This place has a small path, which has to be covered barefooted. There were many small temples along the path and different stories associated with it. One temple was dedicated to Radha Rani, which was very unique as she was holding the flute along with her friends, and this is the only temple in the world wherein She is holding the flute.

This place was fully smelling of Tulsi, but when I asked the guide if I can eat this, he told not to eat, as this was of the forest breed. The once which is eatable and has medicinal value is of some other breed.

Next to Nidhi Van was the Shahji temple, which was very big, but was closed.

The guide then showed me the tree, where the legend has it that Sri Krsna used to flick the dresses of gopis and keep them on this tree when the gopis were having bath in the river.

We then went near the Yamuna river and the guide arranged for a small boat ride on the river. The river was very narrow, and I dont think it had great depth. The guide told the boatsman to take us to Keshi Ghat, where the legend has it that Sri Krsna killed the Kalinga Naag at this place. The view of the Ghat from the river was very good. I thought, Yamuna river must have been really big at the time of Krsna, as it was very small now.

We got down at Keshi Ghat and walked back to our cab, which was hardly 200 mts. The guide told the driver to take us to ISKCON temple for lunch. On the way, I saw another big temple - Madan Mohan temple and took its snap.

We reached ISKCON's Govinda Restaurant and had lunch. This restaurant, again didn't look like it belonged to ISKCON, as prices were heavy and also the people were not friendly. And the food was also not that good.

After lunch, the guide asked me to pay the money and instructed the driver to take me to Govardhan and Dwarkadheesh temple in Mathura, and if time permits the remaining temples in Vrindavan and left the place. The drive to Govardhan took around 45 mins, though it was only 25 kms from Mathura and 35 from Vrindavan. Near Govardhan, he took me to a place called Radha Kund. In this place, there are 2 Kund's, which is separated by steps on either side. The left one is called Radha Kund and the right one Shyam Kund. One priest came to me and very nicely said that as I had come from a far off place, I ought to know the importance of this place. He told me that the legend is that Radha made this Kund with her bangles and took bath here. The popular belief is that this Kund is the embodiment of Krishna’s love towards Radha. And, once upon a time, there was some Rakshasa(demon) sent by Kamsa to kill Krishna. The demon changed his avataar to a cow and started bullying people of Mathura. When Krsna came to know of this, he killed the cow in human form. As killing of cow is considered to be a sin, Radha asked Him to purify Himself by bathing in all Holy places, to which Krsna told that He would get all the rivers of holy places to this place only and would connect this Kund with Radha Kund. So, with His flute, he created this Kund. I was all ears to the priest and I wasn't aware what would be coming to me. He made me do some pooja and asked to tell some number to contribute. I simply said 4, and he immediately told that I had to pay Rs. 175x4=Rs. 700 bucks as donation! I immediately realized what I was into and got a shock and told that I didn't have much money. Then, he didn't let me go, and I had to settle for Rs. 300 to get out of this! Holy Shit! What nonsense was this! They just looted me within minutes. I thought I need to be careful from next time!

Radha Kund:

Shyam Kund:

On the way further to Govardhan, there was another beautiful Kund, called Kusum Sarovar. One of the important signature signs of Krishna era is the Kusum Sarovar, the sacred tank on whose banks the gopi’s awaits their Lord with handful of flowers.

Still further, he took me to Manasi Ganga Sarovar. This is a masonry tank prettily placed in the center of the town, and bears close association with lord Krishna. The highly enclosed tank encompasses so many steps that were built by Raja Bhagwan Das and Raja Man Singh. Legend has it that this lake came in to existence by the divine intervention of the lord and so in divinity it transcends all other holy kunds. Devotees believe that a holy dip in this sacred kund would gain them divine blessings. It acquires much mythological relevance since it serves as the starting and ending point of Govardhana Parikrama. This tank is considered to be more potent than the holy Ganges.

All thru the way, I was looking out to have the first view of Govardhan, as I was under the impression that its a huge hill and would be able to see it from long distance. But when we arrived at Govardhan, the driver showed me the hill, which looked like on par with land. People do its parikrama and it takes around 2 hours to go round the hill. Again, legend has it that Govardhan has a bane that He would be reducing by a size of a mustard seed every day. Initially, its shadow used to come till Mathura. One of my other long standing wishes was finally fulfilled.

Opposite the hill was the main temple of Sri Giriraj Govardhan. I went around the temple, and here too the poojaris were trying to woo me, but I resisted. Looks like the entire region is only filled with false priests.

After Govardhan, we left back to Mathura and reached Mathura by 5:45 PM. As I had still plenty of time for my train, I asked the driver to take me to Dwarkadheesh temple. He dropped me near Janmabhoomi and arranged for a manual rickshaw to the temple, as it was a very very narrow street and cars wouldn't go thru. I took the rickshaw and arrived at the temple at around 6 PM, and here too the poojaris started to jump on me, but I didn't care. They told that the temple would only open at 6:30 PM. So, I went to Vishram Ghat nearby, where in the legend has it that lord Krsna took rest here after killing Kamsa. This too is on the banks of river Yamuna and there were many small temples, including a temple of Yamunadevi. The poojaris didn't leave me here too, and with great difficulty I managed to get rid of them. I just hate people who make money in the name of God! Here are some pics..

After this, as it was time, I left for Dwarkadheesh temple. The inside door opened exactly at 6:30 PM and there was a very small idol of Sri Krishna, which is similar to the one that is there in Dwaraka. I went around the temple and it was again very crowded. Here too, people were only money minded!

I left the temple at around 6:45 and took the same rickshaw and reached the cab. The driver took me back to train station and I got the tickets to Delhi by the same Taj Express. The train was supposed to come at 7:55 PM, but got delayed by 20 mins. Thankfully, I got a seat this time and finally reached Delhi Nizamuddin at 10:45 PM. From the station, took a rick and came back to the guesthouse by 11:30 PM, had dinner and just crashed.

Finally, my much awaited Mathura-Vrindavan-Govardhan trip happened and it became successful by God's will. A mission well accomplished! Thanks Lord.