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List of Places to Visit in Mathura, Vrindavan & Barsana
Mathura
Mathura is one of the most revered religious places of Hindus, situated at about 150 kms south east of the Indian Capital New Delhi. Known as the birthplace of Krishna, the Hindu God, it finds a unique place in the heritage, historical and religious place of Indian cities which matters to the Hindus and those who believes or are equally interested and inquisite in its rich heritage. It has the privilege of being one of the seven most revered religious place of Hindus.
- Varanasi : One of the most visited Religious Destination in India
- Maa Vaishno Devi Temple : A bliss on top of the Hill
Mathura has all around the aura of Lord Krishna, His stories of Radha and her friends, the Gopis, His birth, childhood and the other stories associated with the deity. The territory where Lord Krishna spent His life and time is known as Brij Bhumi or Brij Pradesh. It consists of Vrindavan, Goverdhan, Gokul, Baldev, Nandgaon, Barsana, Mahavan and Kusum Sarovar besides the city of Mathura. In fact the city is better known as His birth place—Shri Krishna Janm Bhoomi. This campus is thronged by the visitors and His followers from all over the country and different parts of the world. The city is so ancient that the holy book of Hindus Ramayana has got a big chunk of its glory devoted to the place. The excavations found in the areas also testify to its age. Mathura also has the privilege of being the Capital of Kushan dynasty in that era.
Vrindavan
About 11 kms before Mathura from New delhi is situated the town of Vrindavan, better known as city of temples of Brij. It has hundreds of magnificient temples, which mostly are dedicated to the folklore of Radha and Lord Krishna. Although basically a place of worship for Hindus, Vrindavan is equally a sacred place for Vaishnavs and other sects devotees. Govinddev Temple tops in the list of Vrindavan’s most ancient surving temple. Newer temples are being built in and around Vrindavan almost on a continuous basis. A few of them are so amazing piece of architecture that people find themselves mesmerised at their beauty and architecture. Shri Radha Krishna Temple & Shri Lord Shiva temple, Meera Bai temple and Madan Mohan temple and Bankey Bihari Mandir also represents rich heritages of the Radha-Krishna era. Of late, Radha Raman Mandir, Jaipur Mandir, Chandrodaya Raman temple, Prem Mandir have become centre of attractions for the visiting devotees.
Other Important Temples of Vrindavan-
Radha Raman Mandir, Shahji Mandir, Rangaji Mandir, Krishna Balram Mandir, Radha Damodar Mandir, Maa Katyayni Mandir, Chinta Haran Hanuman Mandir, Shri Radha Ras Bihari Astha Sakhi Mandir, Shri Vrindavan Chandra Mandir, Shri Bhuteshwar Mahadev Mandir are some of the worth visiting places of worships amongst the exhaustive list of hundreds of temples of Vrindavan.
Vrindavan is also known for its tradition of running shelter homes for widows who either join this place for their remaining life as per their traditions or unable to find living after their spouse’s demise. The Government has also provided the honourable living places, medical facilities and food for them. Some private organizations, NGOs and religious trusts etc. also contribute their resources for them. These women also get widow pension, an amount per month to cover their personal day to day expenses.
Barsana
The place of Barsana is known as the village of Radha, the Lord Krishna’s childhood friend or Gopi, as known in local parlance. The sect of Vaishnavs rever Radha as the Godess Shakti and hold her in high esteem. It is the holy place for them. The unique features of festival of Holi is famous here where ladies batter sticks to the men and sprinkle colourful water on them. Known as latth mar holi, it is so popular that people around the world visit here to witness to it in the month of March every year.
Barsana temple, located on one of the four hills of the town is also a well known and revered place of worship which is devoted to the God Brahma. Nandgaon and Gokul are the places where the God Krishna was believed to be lived till his childhood years. The home of famous Hill Goverdhan, the place is also known as the 21-kilometer parikrama marg. Mahavan and Kusum Sarovar are also the places which one can not miss if he or she visits the Mathura. These are the places which are associated with the journey of Lord Krishna and Radha. Radha alongwith her Gopis used to have bath in the famous Kusum Sarovar.
How to Reach ?
Mathura is about 150 kms from New Delhi and is covered by railway network from New Delhi and Nizamuddin railway stations, as well as buses which ply from ISBT Sarai Kale Khan, New Delhi to Mathura via NH-2. The trains and buses cover route from two and a half hours to four hours. Train routes are connected with Banglore, Chennai, Kolkata, Varansi, Lucknow, Jaipur besides New Delhi. They offer luxury I AC, II AC, III AC, Chair Car and ordinary accomodation to the travellers.
Alternatively, travel by road is facilitated through Yamuna Expressway, via Noida, a high speed corridor for travelling by road. The clusters of towns around Mathura such as Vrindavan, Barsana, Gokul etc. could better be visited by locally available tour operators or pre-arranged tour operators.
Nearest airport is although Agra but one can hardly find any connecting flights from there so better avail services of Indira Gandhi Airport, New Delhi which is an international, as well as domestic airport and has a number of flights operating from different parts of the country and globally.
Temperature
Mathura is a typical north Indian city and temperature almost varies as New Delhi’s temperature. The summers usually remain from March to June, Monsoon from July to September and Winters from November to February.
Accommodation and Food
Mathura being a tourist destination is not devoid of good hotels. Though not so luxurious but nice hotels with continental foods have come up recently. A large number of budget hotels, dharmshallas, private guest houses attached near the places of worships also cater to the devotees’ needs. A word of caution: since it is a religious place, one may not get good non-veg restaurants here.
Those interested in top end five star accomodation can head for Agra which have a number of top luxury hotels having tie ups with international hospitality groups and offer tasteful accomodation and best veg, non-veg every kind of cuisines. Budget and economical hotels are also available in plenty there.
Hope you liked to read about the list of places to visit in Mathura, Vrindavan & Barsana. You may leave your comments below to share your experiences.
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