Visiting Mathura - Birth Place of Lord Krishna in India

The Northern part of India is full of historical places of pilgrimage. One such famous holy place is Mathura. Mathura is the city where Lord Krishna was born. This city of Mathura was built by Shatrughana, youngest brother of Lord Ram. Mathura is situated between the famous cities of Delhi and Agra. As this was the birthplace of Lord Krishna, it is considered the holiest place of India.

The tourists can easily reach Mathura either from Delhi or Agra by train or hired car or taxi. Mathura is around 50 miles away from Delhi and only 35 miles away from Agra. Mathura remains full of pilgrims all throughout the year. Mathura is situated at the shore of famous River Yamuna. Yamuna is also considered very Holy River in India, almost equivalent to the river Ganga. Mathura is the place of pilgrimage for the Vaishnavas. There is a big and most prestigious Dwarkadhis temple here. There is a Vishramghat at the shore of River Yamuna. Taking a bath here washes away all the sins of human beings. That is why there is always a heavy rush here at this ghat. There are many turtles of very large size, here in the water of River Yamuna. However, they are totally innocent and do not cause any harm to the pilgrims taking a bath. The place where Lord Krishna was washing his clothes at the ghat is earmarked separately and is called Potara khand. There are twelve forests situated near Mathura. Though, these forests have now been removed as the city of Mathura has been extended due to increasing population. One of these forests has been still preserved as Bhakta Dhruv performed tapa here for 24 years by standing on only one foot. This place in the forest is called Dhruv forest. The ghat known as Dhruvghat is also built on the River Yamuna for taking a bath.

The pilgrims visiting Mathura invariably visits Gokul and Vrundavan. Vrundavan is 4 miles away from Mathura and Gokul is 6 miles away. There are regular bus services available at the time interval of 30 minutes. However, hired car or taxis are also available very easily. There is a famous temple of shree Rangji god at Vrundavan. There is a solid gold pillar behind this famous temple. There are many other famous temples in Vrundavan. It can easily take one full day for visiting all these temples at Vrundavan. Gokul is the place where Lord Krishna passed his childhood days. The famous incidents of making love to gopis by Lord Krishna were taking place here. This was the place where Lord Krishna killed the large cobra, known as Kali Nag in the River Yamuna. There is a famous Gita Temple between Mathura and Vrundavan. This Gita temple must not be missed. This temple has complete Bhagavad-Gita engraved on all the walls. The meditation room of this temple is superb and many pilgrims come here to do Yoga and meditation. As the cities of Mathura and Vrundavan are full of temples, you need to stay for around 3 days here to completely enjoy this holy place. The evening artis of River Yamunaji at the Vishramghat are really worth attending. The complete atmosphere gets charged with spiritual energy at this time for around an hour.

There are good hotels like Hotel Quality, Hotel Agra, Hotel Pran, and Modern hotel etc available for comfortable stay. These hotels charge around Rs.1000 ($25) per day for a nice double room with all the amenities like colored TV with cable connection, running hot water, and wall to wall carpets. There is also a five star hotel available at Mathura, which charges around Rs. 6000 ($150) per day. All types of restaurants are available where you can get all types of food. However, the nonvegetarian food items and the alcoholic drinks are not permitted within city limits of Mathura. The best season to visit Mathura is in winter months from October to March. The summer months are extremely hot here.

It shall be a unique experience to visit these holy cities even if you may not have faith in Lord Krishna. One visit to Mathura/Vrundavan shall surely bring lot of faith of Lord Krishna in you.