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.

Delhi Darshan - 4

Another weekend. Another outing. I must have been really crazy to step out in the sun, but some spirit in me kept me going. On Saturday, we 3 from the guest house left for Delhi Haat, at the peak time of 1:30 PM to have lunch, as in the guest house lunch wasn't served anyday. We took a direct bus to Kidwai Nagar, which is only 3 stops from Hauz Khas and walked 2 mins to reach Delhi Haat. The entry ticket was Rs. 15 per head. There was little security check, and as we entered, there were rows of handloom and handicrafts exhibition. This place is basically an open exhibition which runs thru out the year, where people from different states come and sell their stuffs.

As we were damn hungry, we set out to eat first. At the rear end, foodstalls of majority of states of India were put up. There were Kashmiri, Oriya, Assamese, Rajasthani, Kerala, Tamilnadu, Andhra, Gujrati, Maharashtrian and Delhi foodstalls. But I couldn't see a Karnataka food stall anywhere. Deepti had been telling that Rajasthani food here was good. So, we took Rajasthani Special Thali, which was Rs. 120. They served dal-bati-churma, 2 types of rotis, 2 curries, rice, 2 sweets, raita & pickles. It was amazing, and very filling. After having that in the shades, I felt like sleeping over there itself!

After having lunch, we set out to explore the market. Apart from the normal handicrafts, the special things which I saw were the Kashmiri carpets and miniature paintings. They were so good, and when I spoke to a carpet merchant, he told that the cost of a 2ft x 4ft carpet was Rs. 8k, where as in Bangalore if they had sold, it would be Rs. 25k!

There were not many guys stuffs here, and out of which were available were too costly. The bargaining policy never worked here, and so I didn't buy anything, while the girls bought some stuffs.

We left Delhi Haat by 4 PM or so and took a rick to Ansal Plaza. This is a mall around an amphitheatre. The place was cool, but the same shops everywhere was boring. Over there, on a huge screen, the first match of IPL Season 2 was being played, and I watched it while the girls went on a shopping spree. We left this place by around 5:30 PM and reached the guest house by 6.

At around 7 PM, myself and Deepti went to Jagannath Mandir, which is very close by to our guest house. This temple was awesomely cool, calm and free from city's traffic. I wish I had taken my camera. Probably sometime later, I will revisit this temple and take some snaps.

On Sunday, I had all set plans to coverup the Humayun's Tomb and Jama Masjid. I left by 10:30 AM, changed 2 busses and reached Sarai Kale Khan ISBT, as this was the place on Google Maps which appeared to be close to Humayun's tomb. But when I landed there, people told that I had taken the wrong route and I had to cross the Nizamuddin station and take a rick or walk down from there, else from ISBT it would cost Rs. 70 by rick. So I walked down the Nizamuddin station (badly maintained!) and went on the opposite side. From there, I took a rick and went to the tomb. The rick guys didn't understand what a Tomb was, and then I had to explain what it was and how it looks, and then they gave their local name - Humayun ki Maqbara.

Well, I reached the world heritage monument by 12 PM and bought the ticket. I entered 2 big Darwazas to have the first look of the tomb. The paths & gardens were very well maintained. But it was only damn sunny.

According to the place description here, Humayun's tomb was built by his grieving widow Hamida Banu Begum. This is the precursor to the Taj Mahal and it stands on a platform of 12000 sq mt and reaches a height of 47m. This is also called 'Dormitory of Moghuls' as it has more than 100 graves within it.

To enter the tomb, there were about 20 long sized stone steps. The view of the gardens from the top was superb. Mughals had a great taste in architecture indeed. I went around the huge area on top and I found the entrance to the tomb.

I went in and found a number of small tombs here and there. The Mughal family rested here. In the centre was Humayun's tomb.

After going around it again and taking some rest under a tree, I left for Jama Masjid. After enquiry, I took a bus straight to Jama Masjid at around 1:15 PM. I had told the conductor to let me know when my stop comes, but the idiot forgot and I had to get down at the last stop. He told me a route to go to the Masjid though. I followed his advice and walked down. The area was very shabby, bad roads, and very dirty. This was the other side of Delhi, its like K.R Market of Bangalore. And worse, this was the real Delhi 6.

I moved down and surprisingly saw a Cafe Coffee Day. I was damn hungry and had a pizza. I continued and I saw the lanes having the name of Chandni Chowk. I heard the food over here was very good, but I didn't feel like having anything looking at the dirty area. There was one Gurudwara too on this road.

I continued my walk to Jama Masjid by enquiring every other person and finally reached the place, only to find that to enter the place, one had to remove shoes and if holding a camera, we had to pay Rs. 200! What the heck! Now, who wants to go over this place barefooted in this scroching sun! And the place also looked very dirty. I felt it was not worth entering it, so just took the pic from outside and thought of where to go next.

At the Jama Masjid bus stop, I thought I'll go to Karol Bagh, where I was told that there were lots of tours n travel operators. I just had to enquire about any tour to Mathura-Vrindavan, and all operators told that Agra also would be included. I collected their pamphlets and started back to guest house at around 5:30 PM. I changed 2 busses and finally reached the guest house by 7 PM.

With this, I covered all the major attractions of Delhi, baring a few like Raj Ghat, Teen Murti Bhavan etc, which is not in my tour list anyways. And this being summer time, I dont think I'll consider visiting these places. But still one thing remains in my list - Akshardham temple, which is in pipeline, as all our folks also havn't visited yet.

In the coming weeks, we are planning to have long trips (2 days max) over the weekends. Some tours which have been jotted down are: Jaipur-Ajmer-Pushkar, Agra-FatehpurSikri-Mathura-Vrindavan, Udaipur, Chandigarh-Shimla, Amritsar and Rishikesh-Haridwar. Lots of places to see, hope we can see! Looking forward for it to happen..!

!

P.S.: Oh Surya Devta, thoda hum par reham karo!

Delhi Darshan - 3

Continuing my outings in Delhi, yesterday I had made up my plans to visit ISKCON temple and Lotus temple on Sunday. Google maps has indeed become very handy in locating places. In the map, both the temples were close by, so I decided to cover both in the same day. There were no direct busses to both places, according to DTC bus route finder, and the closest place nearby to both was the Nehru Place terminal, according to Google map.

Today morning, I started at around 10:30 AM, and took a bus to IIT gate. From there, I changed bus and took another one to Nehru Place (bus No. 764). From Nehru Place, I took an auto to ISKCON. By the time I reached ISKCON, it was around 11:30.

3 big Gopuras of the temple stood before me. As I entered the temple's main gate, there was Govinda's restaurant on the left side and I noted down the timings of lunch, as I had already decided to have todays lunch here.

This temple is on Hare Krsna hills, so had to climb a few steps.

I proceeded towards the main temple and I saw Garuda idol directly opposite the main diety.

I proceeded furter towards the main temple. All thru the way, chanting of 'Hare Krsna Hare Krsna Krsna Krsna Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare', the Hare Krsna Maha Mantra was heard aloud in different tunes. I was surprised to know that people were allowed to take snaps inside the temple, unlike many other temples where photography was not allowed.

As I entered the temple, a few people were dancing in one side. There were the idols of Sri Gaura Nitai on the left, Sri Radha Parthasarathi in the centre and Sri Sita Ram Lakshmana Hanumana on the right. At the entrance was the idol of the founder of ISKCON, A.C. Swami Prabhupada.

All the 3 dieties were so beautifully decorated that I couldn't take my eyes off them. They were so colourful and blissful. I dont have many words to explain the feeling, but it was such a great experience!

In the centre of the roof was a huge beautiful chandelier. All thru the roof on all sides, paintings of Radha-Krsna and Chaitana Prabhu were done.

I was about to go round the sanctum sanctorum of all the 3 Gods, but it was 12 PM and they had to close the Garbh Gudi. They told that it would again open at 12:30 PM. So, I came out and checked out what else could be done. I saw a building on Vedic Expo and went there. There the Prabhu told that there is one Gita Saar show which would start in 5 mins, and had to purchase ticket of Rs. 50 for it. I bought the ticket and went in. There was a huge model of Godess Lakshmi worshipping Lord Vishnu.

Behind it was the pics of GOD (Generator - Brahma, Organizer - Vishnu, Destroyer - Maheshwara)

The show started and we were taken to a dark room. This show is unlike the one which is in Bangalore's ISKCON, here we were asked to move from one room to another. In all the rooms, splendid laser shows were there describing Mahabharata and the Gita Saar. They explained about the soul prelimenary and other aspects of life. It was such a superb show, which lasted for half an hour.

I came out of the show and over there was a photo of the 10 Avatars of Lord Vishnu.

I came back to the main temple where Maha Mangalarti was being done. A huge crowd had gathered and now many people were dancing to the tune of Hare Krsna Maha Mantra. I took the Mangalarti and proceeded to go round the sanctum sanctorum, which was called the Krsna Art gallery. Over here, photos of all main dieties of ISKCON all over the world are put up. I was amazed to see the photo of Lord Krsna-Balarama, which is in Vrindavana, as this was the same pic in the calender which Vandana had given.

After seeing this, I began to feel hungry and thought of going to the Govinda's restaurant below. I went there, but was shocked to see that the Prasad was being served there at a rate of Rs. 270/-, which was a buffet meal with 56 dishes. I decided not to go there, and instead have a pizza or a burger. I went above again where there was some confectionaries sold and had a pizza. Over there I saw another board which said thali would be served in the new confectionary built, which was near the parking lot. I proceeded towards it and found it, and had the lunch over there at Rs. 75. I thought lunch would be served as Prasad on sundays, but my guessing went wrong. But the food was damn tasty - no onion, no garlic.

After having lunch, I asked for the route to Lotus temple, and the guard over there told me a short cut to reach the place. The Lotus temple was visible from the ISKCON temple campus only. It took around 20 mins to reach the place, and I had a very rare view of Lotus temple, from the backside, and it looked superb. I dont think this photo of Lotus temple is published anywhere, as many people take the snap from the front.

I reached the Lotus temple grounds, or the Bahai grounds at around 2:15 PM in the scrotching sun. From here, I could see the Gopura of ISKCON temple too.

The crowd was heavy in the Lotus temple and a huge garden was present over there. I proceeded towards the temple where they asked me to remove shoes. The ground was so hot that I had to hop around!

At the entrance to the temple on the side, there was a little queue. The temple's people came and gave a brief introduction of the temple and Bahai faith. The Bahai Houses of Worship is open to all regardless of religion or any other distinction. Here, people of all religions may worship God without denominational restrictions. This is a pure white marble and is also known as the Taj of modern India. We were asked to go inside the hall and pray, and no photos to be taken inside. Insite were a row of seats placed in a semicircular fashion and nothing else. I entered, and sat for a while and exited. From the top, the garden looked very splendid.

I came out of the temple campus and proceeded towards Nehru Place, when I remembered that someone had told me about Kalika temple nearby. I just checked it out and it was very close. I walked down to enter it, but on seeing the rush I decided not to go further. As I opened my camera for a group of small children surrounded me and asked me to take their photos and of their families. I had seen this kind in films and TVs, and for the first time I experienced it. I told them that I wasn't a journalist and took a few snaps of theirs and their beedi smoking granny.

They were so pleased with me that they offered me tea, and I must say, the chai was so good!

After this thrilling experience, I set out to return to my guest house, and walked down to Nehru Place. Immediately I got the same bus and got down at IIT Gate and took another bus to Hauz Khas. I finally reached the guest house at around 5:30 PM.

Today again, I had a wonderful time touring Delhi's landmarks. Finally, an eventful weekend ended with this.

Looking forward for plenty more..