Vrindavan
We arrived in Vrindavan on a bright, sunny morning in the sweltering 40 degree North Indian summer heat.
It was a 3 hour drive from Delhi, and we had left early in the morning in order to avoid the morning traffic. Soon, Delhi melted into Noida, and Noida spilled into the Uttar Pradesh countryside. We were surrounded by endless fields on both sides of the highway. A drive through the Indian countryside is pure bliss; one cannot miss it. Here is a shot of it, and this was when we were going through a place called Jewar.
It was a 3 hour drive from Delhi, and we had left early in the morning in order to avoid the morning traffic. Soon, Delhi melted into Noida, and Noida spilled into the Uttar Pradesh countryside. We were surrounded by endless fields on both sides of the highway. A drive through the Indian countryside is pure bliss; one cannot miss it. Here is a shot of it, and this was when we were going through a place called Jewar.
After a while we reached Mathura, the district in which Vrindavan lies in. Before I go on, I must give some introduction about these places. Mathura and Vrindavan are both very ancient places. Lord Krishna was born in Mathura where his father Vasudev was a king, but He was sent discreetly to Vrindavan to His foster parents to avoid being killed by His evil uncle. Vrindavan was where Krishna grew up and there are lots of iconic spots there that stand to this day, echoing His pastimes. Now, back to the topic. Mathura looked like any other rural Indian town, with short, colourful buildings, farmers walking everywhere and cows and bulls mulling around. I also spotted the occasional camel, which I guessed must have been brought from Rajasthan to help farmers carry their load. These are some glimpses of Mathura:
We went further into Mathura district, towards Vrindavan, and that was when we spotted the unmissable Yamuna River. Yamuna looked vast and serene. I will talk more about Yamuna later.
When we finally reached Vrindavan, I noticed two things: first, the narrow lanes, and second, the monkeys. There were monkeys everywhere – on the buildings, at the corners of roads, and even some dangling from exposed wires (now, if you have ever been to India, you’ll know what I mean by exposed wires). People had warned us that these monkeys can be a real nuisance to visitors, but don’t get me started on that now. I’ll come to it all in good time.
There are many, many temples in Vrindavan, but one of the most iconic ones is perhaps the Krishna Balram temple, which is at the heart of the city in a place called Raman Reti. It is a colossal temple built by ISKCON, and it has a splendid architecture.
There are many, many temples in Vrindavan, but one of the most iconic ones is perhaps the Krishna Balram temple, which is at the heart of the city in a place called Raman Reti. It is a colossal temple built by ISKCON, and it has a splendid architecture.
The next day we visited the other ancient temples in Vrindavan, and these have been standing for centuries. Some of them include the Vrindavan Chandrodaya mandir, Radha Damodar temple and Madan Mohan mandir. The header photo is a snapshot from the Radha Damodar temple. They were all interesting, but not too different from one another. We commuted along the narrow, dusty lanes of Vrindavan on a tuk-tuk, which is a lot like an auto-rickshaw, but only slightly larger and with two panels where people sit facing each other. An interesting thing to add here - tuk-tuks are usually meant for four people, ideally a family, but I saw around 10 people loaded on one. You'll see such things only in India. Our driver warned us about the notoriety of the monkeys, saying they are bade shaitan, and we only realised the value of his words when a monkey appeared from nowhere while we were on the tuk-tuk and snatched my spectacles and leapt to the top of a building. Then a man came from behind and said, “sau rupay do aur main chashma lekar aunga,” (“Give me a hundred rupees and I’ll get your spectacles back,”). So we did, and he threw some fruit to the monkey. The monkey immediately threw down my glasses upon receiving the fruit, but not before giving the hook of my specs a good chew. My glasses still have its teeth marks. Perhaps the man and the monkey were a team, but who knows for sure? Hence, word of caution - avoid wearing hats/caps and spectacles. You can always wear contact lenses instead. In fact, when I went to buy groceries from the main street in Vrindavan, a monkey came from nowhere, tore the plastic grocery bag and stole a cucumber. It then leapt to the top of a building and starting biting into it smugly. So, you get the idea of how shaitan or naughty these monkeys can get.
Moving on, we visited the Yamuna bank after that. Krishna had spent countless hours playing there. Legend has it that the Yamuna was much more vast in Krishna’s time than it currently is. I remember how cool the Yamuna felt as I waded my feet into its waters. Before we left, we took some grains of sand on the Yamuna’s bank. Nearby the Yamuna there is a tree on which Krishna sat while he was hiding after playing a trick on the cowherd girls of the village.
Now, I have more or less given you an idea of Vrindavan. You can see some photos on my Instagram account. Before we continue, I need to tell you that there are several places surrounding Vrindavan but not quite in its jurisdiction, and the places I visited are: Nandgaon, Barsana, Baldeo and Kokilavan. They are all related historically. Before I describe each of them, I will talk about my harrowing experience in Mathura.
Moving on, we visited the Yamuna bank after that. Krishna had spent countless hours playing there. Legend has it that the Yamuna was much more vast in Krishna’s time than it currently is. I remember how cool the Yamuna felt as I waded my feet into its waters. Before we left, we took some grains of sand on the Yamuna’s bank. Nearby the Yamuna there is a tree on which Krishna sat while he was hiding after playing a trick on the cowherd girls of the village.
Now, I have more or less given you an idea of Vrindavan. You can see some photos on my Instagram account. Before we continue, I need to tell you that there are several places surrounding Vrindavan but not quite in its jurisdiction, and the places I visited are: Nandgaon, Barsana, Baldeo and Kokilavan. They are all related historically. Before I describe each of them, I will talk about my harrowing experience in Mathura.
Mathura
There are 2 major temples/landmarks in Mathura - the Krishna Janmabhoomi temple, which was the exact location Krishna was born at, and the Dwarkadish temple. It was late afternoon and the heat was mellowing. Mathura was more densely populated than Vrindavan, with visitors thronging the road-side shops, with souvenir sellers, snacks vendors and locals moving about everywhere. This was a point before entering the Janmabhoomi temple:
By the way, the above picture will give you an idea about the exposed wires I was talking about earlier. So, the temple was brilliant from outside itself - it had a towering red structure and there were many more buildings in the temple complex. I would have loved to explore them all, but the trouble started here. If you have been to any major temple in India in recent years, you'll know that they have become extremely stringent with security measures. This temple was no exception, but it was a total hassle. Before entering the temple, we had to deposit our bags at one counter on this side of the temple complex. But the catch is - bags only had to be deposited there. To deposit phones and electronic devices, we had to go to another counter on the opposite side of the temple complex. Mind you, ancient Indian temple complexes are HUGE. We had to walk all the way around it. When we reached that counter, the people there said, no, this wasn't the counter for it, we had to go elsewhere to another counter where we were coming from. All in all it was too much, and we lost our spirits after that. But eventually I did enter the temple complex. It had a completely different feel inside the temple. The ancient buildings were spectacular; it was marvellous to stand near buildings that were over 5000 years old. Now, the most interesting part - the prison in which Lord Krishna was born (yes, prison, because Vasudev and his queen Devaki, Krishna's real parents, were imprisoned) still stands, but there was such a long queue and it was already beginning to become darker, so I couldn't go for it. I couldn't even take a picture of it, because my phone was already deposited outside the temple. But let me describe how it looked: it was a massive, reddish, dome-like structure. I'm definitely going back to Mathura someday to check it out.
Next, the Dwarkadish temple was also nice, but much smaller and much more crowded. After finishing with that, we got back on an auto-rickshaw (after dodging an annoying man dressed like a saint proclaiming some ancient philosophy; we knew he was a pakhandi, a pseudo saint). Now it was already dusk. As we were commuting out of Mathura, we got stuck in an awful medley of motorbikes, auto-rickshaws, and bicycles. Honks were going off everywhere incessantly. Again, if you have been to India, you'll know what I'm talking about. Now, we need to acknowledge that in these rural towns, there are no proper roads nor directions that vehicles follow. So we were all stuck in a mess, each vehicle directed in a direction different from the other, trying to make its way out. I was intensely irritated at this point because I had never been stuck in a jam like that. I have travelled in different cities in India and I know how common traffic commotions like these are, but there was always some way we would thread our way out of the choke-up. This time, it seemed like there was no way out. But finally, something moved, and we got back on the road back to Vrindavan. I was so happy to be back in Vrindavan I kissed the ground when we arrived. Phew!
Next, the Dwarkadish temple was also nice, but much smaller and much more crowded. After finishing with that, we got back on an auto-rickshaw (after dodging an annoying man dressed like a saint proclaiming some ancient philosophy; we knew he was a pakhandi, a pseudo saint). Now it was already dusk. As we were commuting out of Mathura, we got stuck in an awful medley of motorbikes, auto-rickshaws, and bicycles. Honks were going off everywhere incessantly. Again, if you have been to India, you'll know what I'm talking about. Now, we need to acknowledge that in these rural towns, there are no proper roads nor directions that vehicles follow. So we were all stuck in a mess, each vehicle directed in a direction different from the other, trying to make its way out. I was intensely irritated at this point because I had never been stuck in a jam like that. I have travelled in different cities in India and I know how common traffic commotions like these are, but there was always some way we would thread our way out of the choke-up. This time, it seemed like there was no way out. But finally, something moved, and we got back on the road back to Vrindavan. I was so happy to be back in Vrindavan I kissed the ground when we arrived. Phew!
Barsana
We visited this place called Barsana, which is a small village outside the periphery of Vrindavan. Barsana is the birthplace of Radha, Krishna's eternal consort, and there is a temple there situated on top of a mountain dedicated to her. It wasn't too high a climb, but because of the crazy heat, the stone floors of the temple were boiling and my feet were roasted. Luckily they had made some carpeted areas for us to walk on. The temple's sanctum was beautiful, (no photos, mind you, because cameras weren't allowed as usual) and it was in a large, square-shaped sheltered hall with - thankfully - marble flooring. This is a view from the temple. You can see the countryside clearly because it was taken from the top of a mountain.
Kokilavan
Kokilavan was another village outside the periphery of Vrindavan, and in here there is a major temple dedicated to Hindu god Shani. Now, the legend behind this place is pretty sweet. Shani has been jinxed for centuries because he metes out suffering and punishment to wrongdoers. People generally think of him as a trouble-giver. When Krishna was born, all the deities flocked to see Him, but Shani was banned from entering the household where baby Krishna was, because people thought the mere glance of Shani would bring ill fortune. However Krishna established Kokilavan, which is near the forest where Shani prayed to Krishna resentfully after the people of Vrindavan drove him away, as a dham or abode specially for Shani, who was a sincere devotee of Krishna. Often whoever visits Vrindavan doesn't miss Kokilavan.
The main temple sanctum was nice, with a black stone representing Shani. You can pour sesame oil as an offering there. Note, there are a lot of people who will ask you for money and recite some mantras at the entrance of the temple, and you can't really avoid them. Give them some money - it's not that much - and you'll get a pack of things which you can use for the offering in the temple sanctum later. Also, be sure to not wear too much jewellery in rural temple towns like these. The locals are more or less illiterate and poor, and you don't want to risk getting attacked or your things being stolen.
The main temple sanctum was nice, with a black stone representing Shani. You can pour sesame oil as an offering there. Note, there are a lot of people who will ask you for money and recite some mantras at the entrance of the temple, and you can't really avoid them. Give them some money - it's not that much - and you'll get a pack of things which you can use for the offering in the temple sanctum later. Also, be sure to not wear too much jewellery in rural temple towns like these. The locals are more or less illiterate and poor, and you don't want to risk getting attacked or your things being stolen.
Nandgaon
Nandgaon was the exact place where Krishna grew up. In Hindi, 'Nandgaon' means village of Nand Maharaj, who was Krishna's foster father. It is a small town with very narrow lanes again, and several temples. Apparently, the house of Nand maharaj is still there, but we couldn't go there because we were running out of time. This is why I say I'm going back to these places one day. Here as well, you'll see people trying to loot you of money. One man wanted us to pay 200 rupees for the maintenance of a cowshed, which as you know, is a very holy act since Lord Krishna was a cowherd boy Himself. This kind of looting was different from the kind of thing they asked for at Kokilavan, because the amount they asked there was firstly less, and secondly, they gave us some goods in return. Here we had no idea whether the money really went in taking care of cows or not. So, try to dodge these people. Often they situate themselves at temples to prey on innocent visitors. This is a shot of Nandgaon:
Baldeo
Coming to the last bit, we went to Baldeo. It's pronounced as Bal-dev, not Bal-dee-yo. Balram was the older brother of Krishna, and at Baldeo there is a temple dedicated to him. Krishna used to call him 'Dauji', and Balram is still referred to with that name at Baldeo. I thought the temple there was the most serene of all the temples we had visited, because the heat was mellowing, the crowd was less, and the temple was spacious and cool. It was lovely.
Before I end it off, I must add in that there are several places in and around Vrindavan of great significance, not all of which I covered. I didn't visit this place called Gokul, where Krishna spent His other pastimes, and Govardhan, the hill deeply associated with Krishna and Balram. Visiting them would be fantastic too. By the way, if you walk around the Radha Shyam Sundar temple in Vrindavan 4 times, it is considered that you have done a parikrama or circumnavigation of Govardhan itself.
Adios Vrindavan, till next time!
Before I end it off, I must add in that there are several places in and around Vrindavan of great significance, not all of which I covered. I didn't visit this place called Gokul, where Krishna spent His other pastimes, and Govardhan, the hill deeply associated with Krishna and Balram. Visiting them would be fantastic too. By the way, if you walk around the Radha Shyam Sundar temple in Vrindavan 4 times, it is considered that you have done a parikrama or circumnavigation of Govardhan itself.
Adios Vrindavan, till next time!
April 2017