Mathura Vrindavan in Delhi Your loving city

 Mathura is famous as the birthplace of beloved Lord Krishna. It is a sacred city located on the banks of river Yamuna  in Uttar Pradesh and attracts great numbers of Hindu pilgrimages and tourists every year who visit the multiple temples & holy places around Mathura -Vrindavan. Devotees throng here to experience the pious beginnings of the Hindu God. The city has numerous small and big temples along with 25 ghats on the river Yamuna where people taking a dip in the evenings would not be an unusual phenomenon.

I planned for a quick trip along with family during the closure of the year. We decided to travel via train till Mathura and boarded Taj Express in the Morning from Hazrat Nizamuddin Railway Station. Shatabdi was another good option but considering the short route & associated cost we preferred Taj Express which started little later than scheduled departure of 07:00 AM however, was  good to recover during the other half and brought us in Mahura Junction around 08:55 AM.

Shri Krishna Janma Bhumi 

 The first thing that caught our attention was the adjacent Mosque wall which reminded us that Mughal emperor Aurangjeb demolished the Janmbhumii Temple and erected a mosque over it. Though Priests and Saints resurrected the Shri Krishna Janm Bhumi temple, yet there is a adjoining wall. The temple is said to have been destroyed and rebuilt 17 times in its history. Today the temple is one of the most frequently visited temples in India. We deposited our foot wears at the designated place, washed our hands and feet before starting to see all temples. First we visited the Kesava Deo temple which is  situated beside the main Krishna janm bhoomi complex. after that we went to see smaller temples and then went to the main Birthplace of deity of Lord Krishna. The Prison where Lord Krishan was born. It was a quick passage through prison cell Like Temple but was truly divine to have witnessed the place itself. Post that we went towards the "Radhe Krishan" Temple which was the most beautiful among all in the campus with adorable statues of Radha Rani & Lord Krishna. In the same temple there were smaller set of temples of all Hindu Gods & Goddesses. The most beautiful factor was the paintings on the ceiling and wall which are said to be done by artists over the years using natural colors.

We were fortunate enough to have gotten the glimpses of God at every temple and also got "Prasad" ( Butter & Misri). Once we came out of the temple we also got "Khicri" distributed by one of the trusts inside the complex. We took one round of the entire complex to see and observe and then moved out of the complex by 10:30 AM. We boarded our cab towards Dwarkadhish Ji Temple. It took only 10 minutes to reach around the close locality and we left the cab to save time and hired battery Rickshaw that took us to Dwarkadhish Ji Temple. 

Govardhan - Giriraj

It is believed that Lord Krishna held Govardhan Hill on his little finger to save the town from wrath of the rain God Indra. There are many temples around this place. Devotees come and worship and perform pooja(prayers) with milk and flowers. There are many temples in this town Haridev Mandir, Daan-Ghati Mandir and Mukharbind. The temple god is another form of Lord Krishna. The town is also famous for its 21 kilometer long parikrama that devotees offer once their wishes are fulfilled. Govardana Parikrama is a sacred ritual performed by many believers as spiritual purification by going around the Govardhan Hill which is a narrow sandstone hill known as Giriraj with a length of about 8 KM. It was extremely crowded with devotees. We were told that during Janmsahtami the aerial round about could be completed by helicopter as well. Mansi Ganga, Radha Kund and Shyam Kund are along the way while people go for  parikrama of Govardhan. One needs to complete parikrama of them as well since they are considered the integral part of the sacred Govardhan parikrama ( Round about )

We prayed at Danghati Govardhan temple and then started towards Barsana.

Prem Mandir

This is a place which took us back to all mythological stories associated with Lord Krishna. I must say that we could spend hours here provided we had enough time. Though we managed to get in well before the gates were closed. ( We made the second visit next Morning as well :) .  This temple has been founded and shaped by Jagadguru Shri Kripaluji Maharaj in the year 2001. Known as "the temple of God's lovePrem Mandir is beautiful not only for values depicted but for maintaining the essence of love propagated by Lord Krishna. The temple campus is huge and spread across in acres of land with eye catching and splendid depiction of Life events from the life of Lord Krishna. Statues and large scale monuments coupled with lush green garden and flowers keep you in awesome company. Idols in the main temple are adorable and that's a sight and treat to eyes. It is recommended that you visit during night to see the lovely campus and fountain show. You got to be there before 8:30 PM as by that time gates are closed.Not a place to skip if you are in Vrindavan! Must go and indulge in Spiritual love.

After spending about an hour in the temple Complex we were told to vacate as it was the closure time. We took an auto and came back to our hotel, took our dinner and went on to catch some wonderful sleep with lovely and devotional memories of the day. Next Morning we paid another visit to Prem Mandir and then went on to see the Vaishno Dham and then managed to board the bus to Delhi from bypass  ( Chhatikara ). This concluded our short yet amazing trip to the Gokul, Brij Bhumi.