Two famous mythical and mystical towns. Subject of grandmother’s lore, of artistic interpretations, themes of Meera bhajans, creative muse of poetry, dance, theatre, films. Mathura and Vrindavan. The Brajbhoomi where Lord Krishna was born and spent his childhood years. 

These magical towns reverberate with the sounds and colours of an era gone by. And if you are willing to allow your imagination run riot, you will see in the narrow lanes, a bal Krishna and his Gopas running from irate neighbours with stolen butter; dancing the rasalila with his gopikas; romancing Radha in the groves; and playing his divine flute, after stealing the clothes of gopikas bathing in the river.     

We had been told that the temples close at 12.30 p.m and we had to start early. Only our informers had got it all wrong. Most of the temples close at 12 noon and only some are open till 12. 30 p.m.

We did start early, yet probably because of the rains the previous day, the journey through several twisting, turning lanes, muddy puddles, rubbles and loose stones — took us more than two hours from Agra. Mathura is 58 km from Agra in Uttar Pradesh and 145 km from Delhi and Vrindavan is around 15 km from Mathura.

On the road leading to Mathura and Vrindavan, on both sides are several temples built for the Lord, each more spectacular than the other. The grand Gita Mandir which houses the Gita Stambh, a pillar with the entire Bhagavad Gita carved on its surface has been built by the Birlas. Opposite is the multistoreyed Pagal Baba Mandir.

Some three kilometres away from Vrindavan is also the ISKCON temple, where the main deities are Krishna and Balaram. But there was no time to stop and stare, leave alone enter and take in their beauty, for the temples were nearing closing time at Mathura and Vrindavan, as the driver kept reminding us, so we went straight to Vrindavan.

The infant Krishna was spirited away soon after his birth to Gokul, the village of the gopas and gopikas in Braj, so as to save him from the murderous intent of Kansa, the ruler of Mathura. In Gokul, he grew under the tender care of his foster parents Nand and Yashoda.  Krishna spent his early childhood here, but he had to soon leave Gokul to escape Kansa’s attempts to kill him to Nandgaon, from where he wandered to the Vrindavan forests to play with the gopas, so the story goes. 

Legend goes...

Vrindavan got its name from the name Vrinda or Tulsi. Legend has it that the entire Vrindavan comprised of tulsi groves, where Krishna danced away the night with Radha. But very little remains of these groves now.

A small town, like any other small town in the rest of India, Vrindavan has tourist guides coming literally out of the woodwork. One elderly man, resplendent in a silk kurta and pyjamas and a chandan tilak raced to our car, ahead of all the others. He offered to take us around for only Rs 20. Seemed a good bargain, so we went along. 

Our guide walked briskly and with a no-nonsense air. He knew his myths and knew everything that was to know about Vrindavan. There are hundred of shrines in the town, according to some accounts it is 200, according to others its 4000, if one counts all the small shrines at homes.

“Every family yearns to build a temple in Vrindavan and those who can afford, do so, the others buy plaques with their names on them.” Naturally as we couldn’t visit all the temples, we went where he took us.

Expensive affair

The most famous temple in Vrindavan is that of Govinda Deva, built in 1590. A sculptured lotus flower decorates the main hall ceiling. Built by Raja Man Singh from Jaipur, it is said to have cost Rs 10 million and several thousand men worked on it for five years before it was completed.

Emperor Akbar donated the red sandstone for its construction. In 1670, during the rule of Aurangzeb, it was plundered and destroyed leaving only three storeys of the original seven storeys of the temple, when the original Govinda deity was spirited away to Jaipur. Now a replica of Govinda is worshiped in a new temple behind the original temple.

South Indian touch

Opposite is the Ranganath temple built in the South Indian style by the Seth family of Mathura in the year 1851. Dedicated to Lord Ranganath, this is a depiction of Lord Vishnu lying on the Sesa Nag. This temple has a traditional South Indian gateway and is surrounded by high walls.

Unfortunately, the temple had already closed, but there was nothing to stop us from admiring the architecture of the temple which was awe-inspiring.

Another popular temple is the Banke Bihari Temple, built in 1864. There are curtains in front of the richly decorated murti. What was fascinating was that the curtain before the deities is not left open like at other temples but is drawn and opened every few minutes when a devotee appears before it.

The story goes that the brilliant eyes of Banke Bihari will make you unconscious if seen for too long a stretch. Mangala-arati is performed only one day a year and only once a year can the lotus feet of the deity be seen, on Akhyaya Tritiya.

When we went in, a pujari explained the story behind the deities in a fast staccato tone and gave us flowers to shower at the feet of the deities. Then he drew the curtains, as we got up to go and pulled it open again, as other devotees walked in. 

Some of the other famous temples in Vrindavan are the Jugal Kisore Temple also called the Kesi ghata temple built in 1627. After Akbar’s visit to Vrindavan in the year 1570, he gave permission for four temples to be built and these were the Madana-mohana, Govinda, Gopinatha and Jugal Kisore temples.

The Radha Damodara Temple is another important temple in Vrindavan. There are so many temples and so many stories and legends attached to them, that it was obvious that we would need a whole week to see all that there was to see in Vrindavan and experience the true magic of the place.

Wherever we looked into the lanes of Vrindavan were marble plaques with names etched on them. The guide took us to a yard, which was full of these plaques.

Mysterious grove

At the end of the yard, was a stone bench and we climbed on it to look at probably one of the last remaining unruly Tulsi groves. “This grove is cleaned by only the women here and nobody dares to enter the grove at night, for the Lord dances through the night with Radha here.

It is said that whoever enters the grove at night never returns.” He told us of a temple near the grove, where the priest keeps prasad for the lord at night and in the morning, only half of it is left behind. “The Lord comes and eats it in the night after his rasalila in the grove.”

We had no time to check out this temple, but no way were we leaving Vrindavan without tasting Krishna’s favourite drink. We stopped at a wayside stall to drink from tall khulads, the rich creamy milk with strands of kesar floating on the foamy cream. The milk was so delicious and yummy, it was easy to see why Krishna stole milk from the Brijvasis.  

The driver was hurrying us on and there was no more time to loiter, and we were soon speeding away to Mathura. Mathura is a small town on the river Yamuna, and is as small as it can get. A narrow lane leads to the Krishna Janmabhoomi complex, a high security place, streaming with gun-toting cops. 

Being a disputed religious site, a lengthy process of body search, scanning of handbags, confiscation of mobiles and cameras followed, before we were finally able to enter the complex. 

There were more security men than tourists at the temple complex and the row of souvenir stall owners fought over each and every visitor who made an entry into the complex. One stall owner told us we could keep our shoes inside his stall and with that swell move, he had scored over the others. For now we would be obliged to buy from his stall, on our return.   

The mosque adjutant to the wall of the temple is the red sandstone Katra Masjid. Behind the mosque is where the Krishna Janamsthan or Janmabhoomi complex now stands. Directly behind the mosque, approached through a corridor, a shrine marks Krishna's exact birthplace or janamsthan.

Its a steep climb down and we were in a cave like structure, with pale brown rivets over the walls. There was only one pujari in attendance, no fuss and no elaborate pujas here.

With all the appearance of a prison cell, it was thus not difficult to imagine Devaki giving birth to the Lord in captivity. There were paintings of the baby Krishna and then of Vasudev’s travel through the stormy night, carrying the precious burden of the Lord in a basket over his head to Gokul, away from the murderous intent of the tyrant king Kansa.   

Back in daylight, it was time to collect our shoes and buy our souvenirs from the stall owner. There were figurines of  Krishna and Radha in sandstone, in marble, in wood and several shiny metal Krishna pendants. The most fascinating were the tiny clothes for idols. These were in bright silk, resplendent with tinsel, lace and ric-rac. They can dress up any dull puja room.   

What is fascinating about the busy lane leading to the Krishna Janmabhoomi complex is that it is lined with eating joints and stalls selling souvenirs. There is even a south Indian idli point. We chose to have lunch at a small stall where a simple meal of dal, roti, sabji, pickle and rice made a delicious meal.