Mathura-Vrindhavan-Gokul trip - Part 3 - Gokul

 Gokul

Gokul has a lot of temples. I could not really figure out which ones were the genuine historic temples and which one, specifically, was the vaishnavite divya desam (part of 108 Thirupatis). I had noted two places in Google Maps, but the driver took me to two different places. I believe the ones that we visited were the ones to be visited, but that’s more of a guess.

 

Mahaban Vasudeva Bhavan

The driver called the first temple as Vasudeva Bhavan. Google maps calls it Shri Krishna Garbh Grah Temple -> https://goo.gl/maps/Chabw6dy1yvTtM416. It was in a place called Mahaban. A colleague of mine, who’s hometown was Mathura, had said that Mahaban is the temple that people visit in Gokul; so had some sort of confirmation on being in the right temple.

The annoyance of the local guides started at the entrance of the temple. I was not surprised. But I was surprised when they, a group of 5 of the guides, took turns and kept harassing me inside the temple. They did not even allow me to have a look at the deity without disturbing. There were comments like, “Look, he is staring at the deity but does not want to pay us”.

The temple looked like a big house. There was a cow shed/GoShala before entering the temple, and there were many rooms/shrines inside. One shrine had big statues of Vasudevar and Krishnar. I wish I had some undisturbed time to go around in peace.

Once outside the temple, my driver said that I could walk in the road beside the temple and see the village. I started to walk. Then heard and noticed many monkeys around, and very few people. Decided to play it safe and return to the car.

Entrance to the temple

 

GoShala near the entrance of the temple

Temple - side view

GoShala

Vasudev Bhavan, photo from the internet

Nanda Bhavan

The next stop was Nandha Bhavan - https://goo.gl/maps/vDiGmAds6MjznCjs6. My driver said that it was a place that people visit but he was not sure what it was. The minute that we stopped the car, the “guides” started pestering. I asked them where Navamohan temple (Ayarpaadi) was, and they said that it was right there. It was a mere ploy to get me to enter the place and I fell for it. Once again bargained the guides down to Rs.20 and went to the temple with them. The temple was about 10 minutes’ walk from the parking place, through narrow lanes.

The guide showed us, through a window, the place where Vasudevar crossed the Yamuna with baby Krishna.

Place where Vasudeva crossed Yamuna

We then went to the first shrine. We were asked to sit at the initial spot in the shrine, and then move while seated toward the Lord. While moving slowly, the guide kept giving info like – Nanda baba donated 9 lakh cows to celebrate Krishna’s birth; the Muslim invaders never attacked Gokul (really?); 80% of families in Gokul are brahmins (then what about the yadavas?); etc.. The shrine had Nandagopan, Balram, Krishna and Sathyabama. By the time we reached closer to the Lord, the process seemed clear – the priest ask for each person’s name, their parent’s names, gothra, district, and then say that they will have to pay Rs.3600 to the temple in their parents’ name. When one person said that he could not, he was asked to pay Rs.1800. Some preferred not to pay inspite of the heavy insistence of the priest. I ended up succumbing to the pressure but at a lower amount. I do not mind giving to temples, but the pressure of the priests is something that I have not seen in South Indian temples.

Receipt for the donation

The second, third and fourth shrines applied more pressure. They even had UPI codes for the money transfer. Anyways, core objective was still on – visiting the temples and feeling the environment where Krishna played as a kid. All the shrines had Krishna, depicting different events of his life.

Nanda bhavan deities in the main shrine, photo from the internet

The guide guided us back to the car park, and left after another bargain on his fee.

I am happy that I visited the 2 places in Gokul. I felt warm at the sight of the gods. If only the pestering of the locals was reduced, if not eradicated fully, it would have been a more content visit.

There is Raman Reti, a place where people roll in the sand where Krishna played. I asked my driver to take me there and he mentioned that there are many Raman Retis, and he was not sure as to which the genuine one was. We ended up not visiting the place.

I wanted to go to Govardhan and Barsana on the way back but the driver was very reluctant. He said that roads are bad and there are no lights. I was too tired to argue and we started the drive back to Gurgaon.

I am a bit disappointed in missing some of the places, but overall content. I visited the main places that I wanted to, and now understand the area better. I am hoping that I get to visit these holy places again.

Mathura-Vrindhavan-Gokul trip - Part 2 - Vrindavan

Mathura to Vrindavan 

After the Dwarkadhish temple, I wanted to go to Gokul but the driver insisted on going to Vrindavan. Bad idea since the temples in Vrindavan close in the afternoon but the ones in Gokul are open throughout the day. I will suggest travelers to cover Mathura in the morning, Gokul (and Govardan and Barsana) during early-afternoon, and Vrindavan in the evening. If travelers have less time, then start early and cover Mathura and Vrindavan before noon and then go to Gokul, Govardan and Barsana. 

Cars are stopped at the entrance of the Vrindavan city from where one is forced to take local transport. I later heard from a friend that there are alternate roads to Vrindavan that avoid the check-post where cops force people to park their car. Car parking costs Rs.100 at the multilevel parking, regardless of the time. Took a share auto through bad roads, which is a forgettable experience. The cost of the share auto is variable. The auto driver inside the multilevel parking asked Rs.100 per person and was willing to go for Rs.50 per person. I stepped outside the parking lot, got a share auto for Rs.20 per person, and thought that I had a bargain. The next set of people who boarded the share auto got in at Rs.10 per person! 

Banke Bihari Temple 

The Banke Bihari temple was very close from where the auto dropped. There were places to leave footwear but my driver insisted that he knew a better place closer to the temple. The crowd is like a mob and we were drifting with the crowd. Peda sellers and other hawkers made the already narrow street even narrower. Once we reached the entrance of the temple, the driver took me to another street where we left our footwear for Rs.10 per pair. When we came back to the entrance, I was nervous about getting in with the crowd again. But once again, I did not have to do much as the crowds pushed me into the temple. I understood why some of my colleagues had warned about stampede. I got a view of the Krishna, made of black marble, from afar. As I waded through the crowd and climbed the stairs to get closer to the lord, I realized that I was on one side and there was no view of Krishna. Went back down the steps to get another glimpse of Krishna before leaving through the exit. 

The entrance and exit gates are different, and one cannot get to the entrance from the exit. Why was that an issue? Remember the footwear that were closer to the entrance? Had to go around many streets to get back to the place where we left our footwear. Not a big deal but the time spent ensured that there was no chance of covering another temple in Vrindavan since it was noon already. Call back: Bad idea to visit Vrindavan close to noon; should have gone to Gokul first. 

Photos from the internet

Entrance of Banke Bihari Temple

Inside the temple

Banke Bihari

If planned better, or if the driver had listened to my plans, I would have likely covered the Ranganathaswamy temple, Radha Raman temple, Iskcon temple and maybe Nidhivan. https://goo.gl/maps/yAXVnSfHj3FtqUsZ8

The Vrindavan plan that was... did not happen

The return auto to the car parking again cost Rs.20/person, which was again bargained down from a higher ask.

Mathura-Vrindhavan-Gokul trip - Part 1 - Mathura

I was visiting Gurgaon and thought of using the opportunity to take a day off and visit the divya desams of Mathura and Gokul. Here’s my 1-day trip details, which I hope will help others shape their travel plan Forewarning: Though I did a day trip, I will strongly suggest planning for multiple days. It is better to spend more time and let the visuals register in the mind better.

 

     Plan

I booked a taxi for the day from Gurgaon. The driver was “supposed” to be a knowledgeable person who would take me to the places that I wanted to visit. My primary destinations were Krishna janam bhumi in Mathura and Thiruaaypaadi/Ayarpaadi in Gokul. Secondary destinations were Dwarakadeesh temple in Mathura, Banke Bihari temple, Prem mandir, Ranganathaswamy temple, Iskcon and Nidhivan in Vrindavan, Raman Rethi in Gokul, Govardhan and Barsana.

Note that Ayarpaadi is not a name that the locals understand. I am still not very sure which place it is. Wait for my post on Gokul for more details.

 

     Mathura

I started the day at 5:30 AM from Gurgaon. Reached Mathura at around 7:45 AM. The driver parked the car in a parking lot and came along with me. The parking lot was 350 meters from the temple. I did not note the spot in maps and can’t find it now. Believe it was in Rina road. The parking was Rs.100 for 4 hours (or Rs.200 for the day). We walked to the temple - about 5 minutes.

Janam Bhumi

Phones were to be deposited in a locket place outside the temple complex, and cost Rs.4 for 2 phones. Note that car keys with remote lock also had to be deposited. Footwear can be worn inside the complex, and deposited in a separate place for free. I visited in December, a cold month in Mathura, so wore the footwear until inside the complex.

Temple Timings

Temple entrance. Took the photo after coming out.

Inside the Janam bhumi, there is 1 main temple and many sub-temples/places. The main temple is where there used to be a jail where Krishna was born. I tapped the walls of the main temple to check the hardness. Can definitely believe that it used to be a jail!

There are about 30 or so stairs to be climbed to reach the main temple. I did not see an elevator but may be there is. Midway on the climb, there is a place to go around the temple. In that pradakshanam, there is a sanctum for baby Krishna.

In the main area, there are many sanctums. The Krishna is made of white marble and stands aside Radha. To the left is the Sanctum of Baldev, Subhadra and Jagannath, similar to Puri. To the right is the shrine of Ram parivar. There are also shrines for Hanuman, Durga and some form of Shiva. The inside of the roof of the temple is adorned by beautiful art representing events in the life of Krishna. I felt that they were painted in reverse because one would have to face away from the god and lookup to see the paintings. Since the temple was not crowded early in the morning, I spent a good amount of time to absorb the feeling there and appreciate the paintings. While ding pradakshanam, an elder pointed to me that the walls were adorned with the Bhagavad Gita.

Once outside the main temple at the top, I went around to have a view. Peeping down from the top, I saw many plastic bottles in the sunshades. People fought hard to claim the land of Krishna, but are not maintaining it well! Or, maybe, I am too eager to pass judgement. Let us just blame it on the monkeys! That reminds me… beware of monkeys. They apparently steal spectacles and mobile phones and return them only if you buy them…. Fruiti! Guess they evolved from bananas as I saw many banana shops outside that the monkeys did not bother.

Outside the main temple, and still inside the temple campus, there is a Keshavji temple.

Inside the campus, there is also a long cave where events from Krishna's life are depicted with statutes. There was an entry fee of Rs.10 per person. Kids will definitely enjoy the place. For adults, I will suggest to skip it and save some time.

Outside the temple campus there is the temple pond called Potra Kund/Pavithra Kund, which was apparently used by Vasudevar.

Potra Kund, photo from the internet

Reaching the Dwarkadhish temple,

We took an auto-rickshaw (like a share auto) to travel to the Dwarkadhish temple from the Janam Bhoomi since the roads are too narrow for cars. The rick cost Rs. 25 per person. The rickshaw ride was bad due to the bad roads. The rick dropped us closer to the temple, but with still some way to walk – probably about 5 minutes of walk. We reached the temple around 9:30 AM and were informed that the temple would reopen only at 10 AM. By this time there were too many “guides” who started pestering us. They started with an ask of Rs.150 and eventually came down to Rs.20 as we kept ignoring them. At Rs.20, I wanted to check what they offered.

 

Yam-Yamuna temple

The guide took us through narrow lanes to the Yam-Yamuna temple aka Brother & Sister temple. I did not realize it then but the temple is apparently 5000 years old. The shrine had Yama and Yamuna, made of black marble/stone, with their hands raised to bless everyone. The pujari explained that Yam is Yamaraj for bad people and Dharmaraj for good people. He explained that once Yam had granted Yamuna a boon on Bhaituj, and Yamuna had asked that he bless anyone who comes to her ghats.

Yamuna and Yam, photo from the internet

The guide then started pestering us to buy Pooja stuff from the nearby shops. We did not intend to, and wanted to go to the ghat. At this time, the guide vanished. My driver explained that the guides make more money through the commissions from local sellers, than from the guide fee; so our guide had decided to ditch us since we were not buying anything from the shops!

 

Vishram Ghat

Vishram Ghat was only a stone’s throw away from the Yam-Yamuna temple. A Ghat (Tamil: படித்துறை) is a broad flight of steps leading down to a river. I was excited for my first visit to the Yamuna but was a bit disappointed with the blackish water that was close to the steps. There were boat rides in the water but I skipped them and headed back to the Dwarkadhish temple.

Vishram Ghat

 

Dwarkadhish temple

It was 9:50 and there were 10 minutes for the shrines to open. The temple was already bustling. Too many people in a small temple. By the time the clock hit 10, the crowd doubled. With some difficulty, I stayed put in a spot from where I could see the Lord. Krishna was made of black marble.

Dwarkadish, photo from the internet