Mathura

Clothing Language Temples In Mathura Fairs & Festival Excursion

The city of Mathura, in Uttar Pradesh, the nucleus of Brajbhoomi, is located at a distance of 145 km southeast of Delhi and 58 km northwest of Agra. Covering an area of about 3,800 sq. km, today, Brajbhoomi can be divided into two distinct units - the eastern part in the trans-Yamuna tract with places like Gokul, Mahavan, Baldeo, Mat and Bajna and the western side of the Yamuna covering the Mathura region that encompasses Vrindavan, Govardhan, Kusum Sarovar, Barsana and Nandgaon.

Area 3780 sq. km. (Mathura District)

Season Max (Average) Min (Average)

Summer 48 C 22 C

Winter 26 C 6 C

Clothing Summer Cottons
Winter Light Woollens

Language Hindi, English and Brajbhasha

Access :

Air : Nearest airport is Kheria (Agra), 62 km, also Delhi Airport 155 km.

Rail : Mathura is on the main lines of the Central and Western Railways and is connected with all the important cities of the state and country such as Delhi, Agra, Mumbai, Jaipur, Gwalior, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Chennai, Lucknow, etc.

Road : Mathura is connected to all the major cities, either historical or religious, via the National Highways. It is linked by the regular state bus services of Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Haryana.

Local Transport :

Private buses, tempos, rickshaws, cycle rickshaws, taxis and tongas are also available.

Temples In Mathura

Krishna Balrama Mandir

This beautiful temple was established in 1975 by His Divine Grace A.c. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, founder-acharya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKON) and has now become Vrindavan's most popular temple and has one of the highest standards of Deity worship and cleanliness. Hare Krishna devotees from around the world can be seen here throughout they year, bringing a truly international flavour to this ancient holy city.

Kalya Ghata (Kaliya-Hrada)

Here, Lord Krishna jumped from a big Kadamba tree into the Yamuna River, in order to chastise the ?Kaliya? serpent who was poisoning the waters of the river, in order to chastise the ?Kaliya? serpent who was poisoning the waters of the river. The kadamba tree that Krishna climbed is still here, even though the Yamuna does not flow here anymore, except during the rainy season when the river floods.

Radha Madana-Mohana Temple

This famous temple was established by Srila Sanatana Gosvami and was the first temple to be built in Vrindavana, which at that time was just a forest. The original Deity of Madana-mohana was taken to Karauli in Rajasthan for safety during the attack on Vrindavana by the soldiers of the fanatical Muslim Emperor, Aurangzeb.

Jaipur Temple

This temple was built by the Maharaja of Jaipur, Sawai Madhav, in 1917 after thirty years of hard labour. It is one of Vrindavan's most opulent and grandiose temples. The fine hand carved sandstone is of unparalleled workmanship, the huge pillars that hold up the roof are each carved from one solid rock, and the intricately fashioned marble on the alter is reminiscent of the Mughal period. The Maharaja financed the railway line that connects Vrindavana with Mathura, just for the purpose of hauling the huge pieces of sandstone used in the temple construction. The Deities worshiped here are Sri Sri Radha-Madhava, Ananda-bihari and Hansa-gopala.

Banke-Bihari Temple

Banke-bihari means Krishna, the Supreme Enjoyer. This is one of Vrindavana's most popular temples and famous all over India, it was built in 1864. Swami Haridasa discovered the Deity of Banke-bihari in Nidhuvana. A contemporary of the six Gosvamis, Swami Haridasa known for his devotional bhajanas, was the guru of the famous musician Tansen.

Radha Vallabha Temple

Another very popular temple of Vrindavana whih was founded by Hit Harivamsa Gosvami, who started the Radha Vallabha sect emphasizing devotion to Radharani. In this temple, there is no deity of Radharani, but a crown has been placed next to Krishna to signify Her presence. The Muslims destroyed the original temple of Radha Vallabha in 1670 and a new temple was built at the side of the old one.

Seva Kunja

This is the sacred place of the rasa dance and also where Lord Krishna offered service to Radharani by decorating Her hair with flowers, as well as massaging and painting Her lotus feet. Radha and Krishna would sometimes spend the night here, dancing with the gopis and enjoying various transcendental pastimes. There is also a small temple dedicated to Radha and Krishna's pastimes called Rang Mahal. Near the entrance to this garden is a kunda created by Lord Krishna. He pushed His foot into the ground just to please Lalita devi when she was feeling thirsty and wanted to drink water.

Radha Damodara Temple

This is one of the most important temples in Vrindavana. The original Deity was hand carved by Rupa Gosvami and given as a gift to his beloved disciple, Jiva Gosvami, who later built a temple here. The Deity now being worshipped is the pratibhu-murti (replica) and is considered no different from the original Deity. Formerly this spot was in the middle of Seva-kunja and it was the bhajana place of Rupa Gosvami. One can have darsana of the sacred govardhana-sila by asking the pujari and giving a small donation.

Radharamana Temple

This is the famous temple of Gopala Bhatta Gosvami. Radharamana means "one who gives pleasure to Radha", and is one of the many names of Lord Krishna. The seva puja of Radharamana was established in 1542, after the Deity self-manifested from a saligram-sila. Also kept in this temple is the wooden sitting place (hoki) and shawl (chaddar) or Lord Chaitanya that he gave as a gift to Gopala Bhatta Gosvami. There is no deity of Radharani in this temple, but a crown is kept next to Krishna signifying Her presence

Jugal Kishore Temple

This is one of the oldest temple of Vrindavana and was completed in 1627. After Emperor Akbar's visit to Vridavana in the year 1570, he gave permission for four temples to be built by the Gaudya Vaisnavas, which were Madana-mohana, Govindaji, Gopinatha and Jugal Kisore. It is sometimes called the Kesi ghata temple, as it is located next to this ghat

Kesi Ghata

This is the place where Lord Krishna killed the Kesi demon who appeared in the form of a gigantic horse and then took His bath in this very same ghata. This is also very famous bathing place in Vrindavana. An arati to Yamuna Devi is held here every evening.

Rangji Temple

This South Indian style temple was built by the wealthy Seth family of Mathura in the year 1851, and is dedicated to Lord Sri Ranganatha or Rangaji - a form of Lord Vishnu lying down on the Sesa Naga (celestial serpent). This temple has a traditional South Indian gopuram (gateway) and is surrounded by high walls. It is one of Vrindavana's largest temples. Once a year a grand car festival (Ratha Yatra) is held known as Brahmotsava, during the month of Chait (March - April), this festival lasts for 10 days.

Dwarkadish Temple

The Dwarkadish Temple, built in 1814, is a popular temple in the center of town. This is the most visited temple in the center of town. This is the most visited temple in Mathura. Followers of Vallabhacarya manage this temple. Once you enter this temple from the street, it is fairly interesting architecturally and there is a lot of activity inside. It is located in the eastern part of Mathura, not far from the Yamuna River.

Fairs & Festival

Unique Attractions of Mathura - Holi

Holi is celebrated on the full moon day in the month of Phalguna (Feb-March). Holi in Braja is celebrated for several days, at different places around Braja, before the actual day of Holi.

People throw colored powdered dye and colored water on each other. This is joyfully celebrated in Braja, especially at Varsana, Nandagram and Dauji. In Varsana the festival includes colorful processions with music, song, dance, and some boisterous scenes around the temples. If you go to these festivals you should expect to be totally covered in dye and never to be able to use the clothes that you are wearing again, at least until next year's festival. This is celebrated at the same time as Gaura Purnima.

Varsana Groups of visitors go around in small and large groups here. In the afternoon gopas (men) from Nandagram come to Varsana and play Holi with the local gopis (women) of Varsana. The women hit the men hard with 2 ?m (7ft) long bamboo staffs. The men have shields, which they protect themselves with. During this time local songs are sung. This festival is celebrated on the ninth day of the month of Phalguna (Feb-March).

Nandagram The day after the Holi festival at Varsana, Holi is celebrated in Nandagram. The gopas (men) from Varsana come to Nandagram to play Holi with the gopis (women) there. The flag of the Larily Lal Temple in Varsana is carried in an elaborate procession to Nandagram. At this time the residents of Nandagram attempt to capture the flag, but their attempts are foiled. After this, women play Holi with bamboo staffs. This festival is celebrated on the tenth day (dasami) of the month of Phalguna (Feb-March).

On the full moon night in Feb/March a huge bon-fire is burned. One of the local priests walks through the fire unscathed. One story about Holi is that Prahlada Maharaja refused to worship his father and wanted to worship his father's enemy, Lord Vishnu instead. His father's sister Holika, who was immune to being burned, sat with the boy in a big fire. Prahlada's devotion was so great that Holika was burnt to death and Prahlada was unharmed. The Holi festival a re-enacts this event.

Excursion Agra

Once the capital of the Mughals and the city of the Taj Mahal, Agra is just 50 km from Mathura. Emperor Shah Jahan built The Taj Mahal, the in memory of his wife Mumtaz Mahal, a symphony in white marble, a tribute to eternal love.

Fathepur Sikri (60 Km from mathura)

The Emperor Akbar built the wonderful city of Fatehpur Sikri. The marvellously preserved fort, palaces and the tomb of Salim Chishti with its delicate lacy marble screens are worth seeing.

Deeg (Rajasthan)

An eighteenth century stronghold of the Jat rajas with its picturesquely contrived garden-cum-water palaces, Deeg is a popular tourist rendezvous today. Located at a distance of 11 km from Mathura, Deeg is easily approachable by road.

The fairy-tale palaces of Deeg are set at the edge of reservoirs of water. A central ornamental garden with water bodies, canals, and fountains, ordered lawns, beautiful trees and pavilions is a charmingly green retreat. The principal palaces include the Keshav Bhavan, the Gopal Bhavan, the Sawan and Bhadon pavilions with their attractive curving roofs.