Vrindavan

Vrindavan is the forest of Braj where Krishna is said to have lived as a boy and danced with the gopis, and it has accumulated temples ever since, counted in the thousands, from the sixteenth-century Madan Mohan and Govind Dev built in red sandstone to Banke Bihari, where the curtain before the image is drawn and closed every few minutes so that devotees are not overwhelmed by the sight. The Prem Mandir and ISKCON temples are modern additions. Kirtan and the name of Krishna sound from open doorways at all hours, monkeys work the lanes for spectacles and phones, and the Yamuna runs past the ghats.

History

The name comes from the Sanskrit vrinda, holy basil, and vana, grove. The saint Vallabhacharya visited Vrindavan at the age of eleven in the 15th century, and in 1515 Chaitanya Mahaprabhu came here to locate the lost holy places of Krishna's life, after which the town grew in the 16th and 17th centuries into a major place of Hindu pilgrimage; it now has about 5,500 temples (Wikipedia, Vrindavan).

What you'll find

• Banke Bihari - the temple where the curtain opens and closes every few minutes.
• Govind Dev and Madan Mohan - sixteenth-century red sandstone temples.
• The kirtan - devotional singing sounding from lanes at all hours.
• The ghats - steps to the Yamuna at the town's edge.

When to go

October to March; Holi in Braj, in February or March, is spectacular and overwhelming, with widow and flower Holi celebrations here. Janmashtami also brings enormous crowds.

Things to know

Monkeys snatch glasses, phones and bags routinely and are the main practical hazard. Lanes are crowded and touts persistent. Photography inside main shrines is prohibited.

Nearby

Mathura lies south; Govardhan is west.