God’s Favorite is my Vrindaban

8/14/2019 Gods Favorite is my Vrindaban

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Gods Favorite is my Vrindaban

From an acute atheist to a pious believer of God, no one can escape the immutable universal

truth that theres no way one can ever get completely disjoint from the God.

About:

Vrindaban (Vrinda meaning Tulsi leaf and Ban means a forest ) is the best known place in the

world for its divinity and connection with the Lord Krishna. It creates the divine connection with

the lord for an acute atheist and maintains and nourishes the same connection for a pious

believer.

Called as the crown of the whole Brij family (Brij is a name that means all major cities that are

connected with Krishan ji in one way or the other. Prominent include Mathura, Vrindaban,

Goverdhan, Barsana, Kosi).

Vrindaban is known as the land Krishnas Lilasthali (act of the Lords supreme powers and

magical deeds), that he did here, some 6000 years ago. But even after thousands of years, you

can still feel the manifestation of the holy place.

About its diameter, you hardly need to travel more than 12 km to discover the last point that

stretches from inside this town. Locked by other town of brij, namely Mathura and Kosi, it

internationally supplies Gods clothes, affectionately called as Poshak in the town and outside,

and Krishnas laminated and hand made pictures and statues, finished with the artistry of gold,

silver and precious pearls..

What to see in here: God, God and more forms of the same God Lord Krishna.

Amazingly, a place barely 6-8 km in diameter house over 5000 temples of all sizes, carrying all

kinds of majestic and divine beauty you could ever imagine. The major temples of Vrindaban

being.


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Temple of the Lord Bihariji. A place thats known to have a magical spellbound over the

entire tourist community that came here from as far as Mexico, US, New Zealand, Australia

besides in-country tourist from all over the India. The temple lay past a majestic history, besides

consisting of a captivating air inside. Legend had it that it was Shri Haridas, a pious Krishna

devotee and a great saint, who, by the powers of his Bhakti and devotion towards the Lord,

impressed him deeply. As a result of his prayers, Krishna created himself out of the stone and

thats how the breath taking statute of the Bihariji temple came into being.

The statue, with big black mesmerizing eyes adorned with a long kajal tika that spread far

corners somewhere between the eyes and ears to protect him from long stares of his devotees, hishands carrying the silver flute in a playing position, the holy feet crossed twice in Gods own

exquisite style, heartily adorable Lords head under the Tulsi Mukut thats made up of 100s of

pure diamonds and rare maniks and red stones crafted in gold and silver from all the corners

and Lords blackish face whose divine charm let your heart instantly fall in love with every part

of the statue you manage to see amid the rush. Like a very fast poison, you encounter with the

Lord transforms your belief held for a lifetime and leaves nothing in your mind but a fearful

thought that no matter what you do and what you think, youre being watched by him constantly

and closely and some words of prayers that you have never ever made before. In a position

where you find him in the Bihariji Temple, the standing Lord surely watches you, longer than

you do. And when you leave the place, you are bound to feel the rest of your life, that you have

not come alone. You have taken some part of the divinity of the 5000 year old temple with you.

Time : The temple if off during days. Visit either between 9:30-12:30 morning or best between

8:00-9:30 pm. Beside festival occasions, mentioned below, best time to visit is Holi. The Lord

himself plays holi with his devotees.


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The next temple that one must go is the temple of Shri Rang Nath Bhagwan ji . Its 400 m

from chungi ka chauraha, a famous spot inside the town. It has its own history, long enough to

be written down here. But the height of the temple is just one thing to gaze at for minutes.

ISKON temple is what you must visit third. Best time is from 6:30 to 8:30 pm. You are sure to

feel the magnetism and the purity of the alluring songs and Bhajans of ISKON.

Besides above three the Temple of Shri Radha Ramana ji, Shri Radha Damodar ji, Shri

Rasik Bihari ji, temple of Shri Gopeswar bhagwan (the name of the lord Shiva, made up of

ice) are some prominent names, one must visit.

How to reach:

Pre-requisite is you make it sit in you mind that you are going to visit a place where the almighty

himself lived for thousands of years. So get pure and feel lucky and blessed. If that sits in your

heart as well, youre stay can be a memory of a lifetime and chances are that the citys divine

eminence get you rehabilitated here forever. Vrindaban is 12 km from Mathura, the birth place of

Lord Krishna and 225 kms from Delhi. The town does not have a proper railway connectivity

from outside Mathura but tempos, regular buses and some benevolent passengers can always

drop you inside the holy soil within 20 minutes or so from Mathura.

You have two ways to reach here

1} Anywhere Delhi Mathura Vrindaban

Trains to Delhi are available from every place. If youre coming from outside Delhi you caneither look for a train that reaches Mathura first or if none is available, look for a route that lands

you at Delhi first. Reaching Mathura from Delhi is simpler. Trains like the Puri express (runs

weekly and leave 10:00 am for Mathura ), Utkhal express, Dehradoon express (GT express), and


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every up train that leaves for Punjab, Haryana enroute Mathura. Besides, buses from Sarai Kale

Khan ISBT directly head for Mathura every now and then.

Or

2} Anywhere Mathura Vrindaban

Mathura is now fast recognized as strategically important place so no eyes-up if your train

happen to pass from Mathura directly. After reaching Mathura, follow the steps as given above.

Divine Stay @ Vrindaban:

If you come by your own conveyance, you can chose to stay at Mathura in a hotel and come to

Vrindaban as per your time and schedule or you may chose to stay in Vrindaban only. The town

is small so in a season of festivity parking could be a hitch. I suggest the former option. Its

hassle free. and its pleasure walking in the streets of the town without barefoot. There are plenty

of hotels in Mathura. Hotel Brijwasi Royal, Hotel Sheetal Regency, Hotel Madhuban, Hotel

Mukund Palace are some good and respected names.

In Vrindaban, there are about 50 big guest houses that can let you in for days at nominal charges.

You may find vacant Rooms from 50 to Rs 2000. Air conditioned and nearly all the facilities you

could ask for. Some good names include Baanke Bihari Guest House, Shri Radha Guest

house , Athithi guest house etc. Good hotels include The Shubham Hotel and Baanke Bihari

Hotel. Better if you look for a guest house, they are cheap and are plenty inside. Both hotels and

guest houses are available within 2-3 kms from the main temples. Again, since the town itself istoo small to be worried about the distance, so dont worry about the location of the hotels. Find a

suitable one and as said, a rikshaw puller will drop to from anywhere to everywhere in just 15

minutes.


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Cousins: No drink, no non veg, no bear. Remember where you are now. South Indian, all

kinds of junks, and typical north Indian is served every where. Plenty of restaurants are there that

offer good services.

Some Mouth watering stuffs include : Dhabas and chaat-tikkies , particularly near the Ranga

nath Temple. Brijwaasi ke pede and its kesar Milk doodh. Brijwaasi shop is located near a

place called Harini kunj. In Vrindaban, every famous place is suffixed with a kunj (meaning

Brij ), Bihariji ki lassi etc. a shop called Ram Sweets is particularly good so must taste some

ghewars and rabri there.

Special Occasions: In a city where once Lord himself walked in flesh and blood, played and

lived with ordinary men and demonstrated how powerful is the bondage of love that can bow

down the lord himself in front of you, every day is a season.

Specificallythere are a few occasion you can plan to witness.

Janamastami- the celebration of the Lords birthday. Usual crowd above 20,000

visitors / day for about 4 days.

Radhastami- nightlong celebration of the Goddess Radha. Usual crowd above 15,000

visitors / day for about 3 days.

The Charan Darshan season- a specific time that come once a year when you can see the

naked lords feet completely. Usual crowd above 30,000 visitors / day for about 6 days.

The Holi and Deewali. Usual crowd above 40,000 visitors / day for about 2 days.

and Rakshabandhan also gather crowds of 8000-10,000 in the town.


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People and Culture: You dont address your friend or a stranger by his name or Mr. or Mrs.

You prefer Jai Shri Radhe ! (praise to the Goddess Radha). A God is born with everyone here.

Every house here has a temple or the other way round, every house is a temple here. Thats how

the figure touch over 5000.

Brij Bhasa- the tongue of the Lord Krishna is followed mostly, with some English. People are

interested in their work they do, and are more interested in their work too. About 10 schools and

a population of over 1.5L make it a place always live and busy. Usually the town sleeps at 9:30

but in case of an occasion that concern God, theres no night at all.

Very recently, eve teasing has become a bit concern. So need to check it. A police station is

however always vigilant to handle all sorts of public cases.

Beware: Some points you need to mind for your pleasant stay

1. Tour guides are available but take them with much precaution. Small shops spreading all

over the town that sell 35 pages books you can read while travelling will tell you more

about the temples and routes with illustrious figures.

2. Parking is available inside the town. But when you visit in a festive season, you may be

lucky if you could park close to 2 km from your visiting or resting place. So make it a

point that you come here at least 5 days prior to any festivity.

3. Rikshaw s are fast available from every nick and corner of the place. But you need to be

aware of the price. They can ask you double or triple if you seem to be a tourist to them.

Know that no place in the town is far then the diameter which is hardly 8 km, so one

should be very careful while paying more than 30 Rs for a particular spot.


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4. Beware of chain snatchers inside the heavy rush of temples. It could be too late to ask for

a police protection. Wear no anklets or jewellery while visiting a temple. God never looks

to what you wear outside but what you wear inside.

Summing up tips :

1. Book you hotel 5 days prior to any festivity.

2. If you have your conveyance, stay in Mathura. This way you can enjoy places both in

Mathura and Vrindaban and can escape the traffic and parking troubles of Vrindaban.

3. Never wear any jewellery and keep you eyes open.

4. Always buy something. Memories are cheap in money, priceless though.

5. Always wear low quality sandals or sleepers. Since you need to take it out at every

temple so you may not get it back.

6. Be very very alert and intelligent while taking a guide. Do some home work about places

here and test him before taking him as you guide.

Things you can kept for life time :

1. Kanthi mala, Tulsi Mala, rare rudraksha Mala.

2. All kinds of religious books, epics and upnishads and books written by great saints of the

century,

3. Laminated wall posters and photo of the Lord with goddess Radha, brother Balraam in

100s of shapes, sizes and decorations. Vrindaban lustrous showrooms are known to sell

these photos to far off places, nationally and internationally, at prices in lakhs and

sometimes in crores to foreign tourists.

4. Besides, the best buy would be (1) audio and video tapes that contain 1000s of devotion

songs, aarties of every lord of India,100s. of mesmerizing bhajans and short to full story


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videos of the life and times of Shri Krishna, in beautiful acts and local voices that you

would love to rewind-loud back home and (2) T-shirts and clothes with paintings of Gods

embossed upon them. Such are available at shops adjacent to the ISKON temple.

Vrindaban is a place where if a family is having two pieces of breads to feed their three children,

it will chose to feed only one of them, and the other part will go to the deity.

I am living in Vrindaban since my birth. My father never forgets to visit the Bihariji Temple, a

habit that I am still trying to learn.

Rest I can assure you about a promise Vrindaban makes with you:

Come in as you may, leave spiritually transformed.

For more details, visit www.vrindaban.com

Jai Shri Radhe !

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God’s Favorite is my Vrindaban