Have you ever been to the city which is known as the “Birthplace of Lord Krishna”? Have you ever visited the beautiful temples and ghats of Mathura & Vrindavan? Have you ever tried Mathura Peda? If you are curious to know all these, then this blog is just for you. In this blog, we will take you through the Janmashtami celebration at Mathura and Vrindavan.
In case you don’t know who we are…
We call ourselves Travel Freaks…
We reached Mathura the previous night. Read our previous blog on how we planned Mathura. You will be amazed to know how we ended up in Mathura.
Returning to our story, we stopped at a local shop in the morning to have our breakfast. The area had many small local shops and all of them seem to be there for so many generations. Our driver insisted on having the famous aloo poori.
Tip: This is a must-try while you are in Mathura.
After our sumptuous breakfast, we booked an auto-rickshaw to explore Mathura & Vrindavan. Though we already visited those places earlier, it was something different this time as the city was immersed in festivity vibes.
The first on our list was…..
Table of Contents
1. Shree Dwarkadhish Temple of Mathura
This temple is dedicated to Lord Krishna. Beautiful wall paintings depicting various aspects of Lord Krishna’s life and carvings were adding to the beauty of this temple. Festivals such as Holi, Diwali and Janmashtami are celebrated with fanfare.
Thousands of devotees arrive here every day. It was no different. We loved the vibe of the temple.
Next, we moved to……
2. Vishram Ghat of Mathura
Vishram Ghat was hardly 550 metres from Shree Dwarkadhish Temple. The Ghat is considered one of the holy or pious ghats in Mathura.
We observed many pilgrims from various parts of India taking a dip in the Yamuna River.
The ghat is named Vishram Ghat because, as per local belief, Lord Krishna rested at this place after killing Kansa, his maternal uncle. You could also plan to visit this ghat in the evening hours for Arti.
After spending close to an hour at the ghat, we headed for Vrindavan, which is around 15 km from Mathura. Vrindavan was also equally immersed in the celebration of Krishna Janmashtami.
The first on the list of Vrindavan was…….
3. Prem Mandir of Vrindavan
It was approx 11 km from Vishram Ghat. Due to the festival, the temple premise was way too crowded.
The temple is dedicated to Radha-Krishna. As soon as we entered the complex, we observed Lord Shree Krishna’s different phases of life were portrayed which was as beautiful as one could imagine.
Intricate carvings and sculptures depicting Ras Lila, the divine love story of Goddess Radha and Lord Krishna.
A light and sound show is held every evening. You could plan if you have time.
It was around 1:30 PM when we finished exploring the Prem Mandir. We headed to have lunch at a local restaurant. As we were strolling down the lanes in the city, we felt as if the lanes were quite narrow. Be careful of monkeys, as they can snatch your belongings. We felt it was better to sit in our vehicle and search for a suitable restaurant. In the meantime, we saw monkeys jumping here and there. They even grabbed sunglasses and food from other visitors.
In no time we reached a narrow lane where our driver mentioned to us that we would have lunch over there. It was a typical Indian meal and was flavourful.
After a sumptuous lunch, we then headed towards………
4. Nidhivan of Vrindavan
It was around 4 km from this place. It was a dense forest area located in Vrindavan. It’s a mystical and spiritual place. Locals believe that every night Lord Krishna performs his Raas Leela (divine dance) with Radha and other Gopis over there. The basil trees present over there are believed to be a form of Gopis.
You will be shocked to know whatever we heard from the local people. They said that entry into the Nidhivan was prohibited after dusk. People who have stayed there overnight have gone blind, mute or insane. Do you feel it is true? We were totally confused after hearing such stories.
Also, they mentioned to us that within the premises, there was a temple known as “Rang Mahal.” Raas Leela is believed to ensue every night. Being curious to know about these, we visited the temple as well.
Our journey continued to…….
5. Banke Bihari Temple of Vrindavan
Banke Bihari temple within walking distance, around 700 metres from Rang Mahal. So we moved towards this temple.
This temple is also dedicated to Lord Krishna. The temple had beautiful architecture and intricate paintings all over. The place was filled with devotees from all over India as well as abroad.
People were offering flowers; temple premises were looking full of festival colours. There were kirtans (prayers) going on.
After this, we visited two more temples: Radha Vallabh and ISKCON Temples.
We thought of having some tea and snacks at one of the nearby stalls as we were done with Vrindavan for the time being.
After a short break, we headed towards……..
6. Shree Krishna Janmasthan of Mathura.
It took us around 2 hours to reach from Vrindavan. We reached by around 5:45 PM, and there was a bit of a queue; we also stood in one of the queues. Fortunately, it was moving quickly. Within around half an hour, we entered the main temple. Words would be short here to describe the captivating site. Prayers and kirtans were going on; people were dancing, immersed in devotion. We didn’t even realise when we joined them. These were the lifetime moments to be cherished.
Tip: You could witness the Janmashtami or Holi celebration at Mathura & Vrindavan, but do plan out in prior as the city receives lakhs and lakhs of devotees during those times.
Wait, we were not done yet with this trip.
Next on the list was the……..
7. Taj Mahal of Agra
Though this was not the first time we were visiting Taj Mahal but as we had our train at night to catch from Agra hence we planned to see this again.
The Taj Mahal was around 70 km from Sree Krishna Janmasthan. It took us around 1.5 hours to reach. As soon as we reached, we tried to book the entry tickets online, but due to network issues we could not do it. Thankfully, we got it booked through one of our friends.
Tip: If you plan to visit the Taj Mahal, get the tickets booked in prior, as you might face network issues at this proximity.
Once we received the tickets, we went through the Grand Monument “Taj Mahal”. The sky was a bit cloudy, and it was drizzling.
We spent some time visiting the entire complex and snapping some shots. We spent around an hour in the place, but as we had our return train to catch, we decided to start for the railway station.
Soon, our driver dropped us at the railway station. We thanked him for this fantastic trip. We hope you also enjoyed it and will be able to plan your itinerary. Yes we are just a click away from any help.
Wait! We are not going anywhere without this last question……
8. What kind of help are we going to provide?
Let us inform you that we prepare itineraries not only for anywhere in India but also for Asia. We have been travelling since we were toddlers. So here in our blogs and stories, we will give you a glimpse of our journey and help you plan your trip.
Read about our Uzbekistan blogs.
Read about our Kazakhstan blogs.
Read about our Singapore blogs.
Read about our Vietnam blogs.
Read about our Cambodia blogs.
Read about our Bali blogs.
Read about our Kuala Lumpur blog series.
Read about our Sri Lanka blogs.
Read about our Nepal blogs.
Read about our Char Dham blogs.
Read about our Ladakh blogs.
Read about our day trip to Hyderabad.
Read about our Madhya Pradesh blogs.
Read about our Andaman and Nicobar blogs.
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by mitkau