About the destination
Always wanted to cover the religious destinations of Vrindavan, Mathura, and Gokul. My colleague had a wishlist for Agra. Then, built the trip accordingly.
Trip Plan
Trip members: Karthik, Nandha
Trip date: 23 June 2019
Trip Plan: New Delhi - Vrindavan - Mathura - Gokul - Agra - New Delhi
Start from Gurgaon
I went to Gurgoan on an official trip, there was a day on the weekend available and planned to visit Vrindavan, Mathura, Gokul, and Agra. With scorching heat all around in New Delhi and surrounding states, we tried to give the best effort of things to see and move on rather than the regular type of cover all possible things in the area!
We started the day by 4 AM from Gurgaon and reached Vrindhavan around 07:15.
Trip date: 23 June 2019
Trip Plan: New Delhi - Vrindavan - Mathura - Gokul - Agra - New Delhi
Start from Gurgaon
I went to Gurgoan on an official trip, there was a day on the weekend available and planned to visit Vrindavan, Mathura, Gokul, and Agra. With scorching heat all around in New Delhi and surrounding states, we tried to give the best effort of things to see and move on rather than the regular type of cover all possible things in the area!
We started the day by 4 AM from Gurgaon and reached Vrindhavan around 07:15.
Vrindavan
Vrindavan is 12 km ahead of Mathura, one of the oldest cities and known for Lord Krishna spending his childhood days. The town hosts thousands to temples dedicated to Lord Krishna and Radha. Very popular old temples include Banke Bihari Temple, Madan Mohan temple, Radha Govinda temple, Rangji Temple, and some more. It is advised to take a local auto to cover all popular temples.
At 7:15, it was highly humid and hot. We first visited the Banke Bihari Temple. The temple was established by Swami Haridas. The temple was very crowded and queue management was poor by the temple authorities as well as police. Lots of elders and newborns were part of the crowd and suffered. There are 4 small doors, which are used for both entry and exit and no regulation. We squeezed in through one and came out through the other!
At 7:15, it was highly humid and hot. We first visited the Banke Bihari Temple. The temple was established by Swami Haridas. The temple was very crowded and queue management was poor by the temple authorities as well as police. Lots of elders and newborns were part of the crowd and suffered. There are 4 small doors, which are used for both entry and exit and no regulation. We squeezed in through one and came out through the other!
Beware of Monkey Menace!
Also, be aware of monkeys, they pick up glasses/specs that are being worked by people and throw it back when some food is offered. It also looks like a trained practice! So, horrible for tourists!
We came out of Banke Bihari temple and it was already hot. We planned to go to Mathura next, maybe, we should have visited Rangji temple. There are several websites claiming Krishna Janmabhoomi as Divya Desam and so as this temple.
Mathura
We drove next to Mathura - Krishna Janmabhoomi. We got dropped at a parking space and took the western entrance. There was no crowd here. Mobiles and cameras are not allowed. Cloakrooms are available for Rs.2 per device. Krishna Janmabhoomi has 2 major things to see - one, the place where Lord Krishna was born and the other, the main temple. The temple had been destroyed and rebuilt several times - every time it was pulled down by Mughal emperors. There is a Muslim prayer area created by Aurangazeb. The small room where Lord Krishna was born to Devaki and Vasudeva in a prison cell is a worship place. This is next to the main temple. The timings are 5 AM - 12 PM and 4 PM to 9:30 PM.
We had hot kachori, puri, and sabji - street food is quite popular in Mathura. It was a good simple breakfast!
Gokul
Next, we reached Gokul. Gokul is around 10 km from Mathura. Sri Navamohana Krishna Perumal Temple (Thiruvaaipaadi) is a Divya Desam temple located in Gokul (known as Ayarpadi). Sri Krishna born in Mathura was brought up by Nandagopal and Yasodha in Aayarpadi (Gokulam). This is the place where Sri Krishna spent all of his childhood days. It was difficult to locate this temple as per the maps as the streets and walkways are narrow and going around and around. Nand Mahal is the name mostly being referred locally. Temple timing is 6.00 AM to 8.00 PM.
One can visit the Gokul barrage, Yamuna river, and then visit the temple. Govind Ghat is the Yamuna river ghat near the temple. There are tourist boat rides offered here. Car parking is difficult, needs to be stopped by the ghat and not within the town of Gokul as what Google maps show. It was sweltering heat here and we had some lemon-pudina juice.
Agra
We came out of Banke Bihari temple and it was already hot. We planned to go to Mathura next, maybe, we should have visited Rangji temple. There are several websites claiming Krishna Janmabhoomi as Divya Desam and so as this temple.
Mathura
We drove next to Mathura - Krishna Janmabhoomi. We got dropped at a parking space and took the western entrance. There was no crowd here. Mobiles and cameras are not allowed. Cloakrooms are available for Rs.2 per device. Krishna Janmabhoomi has 2 major things to see - one, the place where Lord Krishna was born and the other, the main temple. The temple had been destroyed and rebuilt several times - every time it was pulled down by Mughal emperors. There is a Muslim prayer area created by Aurangazeb. The small room where Lord Krishna was born to Devaki and Vasudeva in a prison cell is a worship place. This is next to the main temple. The timings are 5 AM - 12 PM and 4 PM to 9:30 PM.
We had hot kachori, puri, and sabji - street food is quite popular in Mathura. It was a good simple breakfast!
Gokul
Next, we reached Gokul. Gokul is around 10 km from Mathura. Sri Navamohana Krishna Perumal Temple (Thiruvaaipaadi) is a Divya Desam temple located in Gokul (known as Ayarpadi). Sri Krishna born in Mathura was brought up by Nandagopal and Yasodha in Aayarpadi (Gokulam). This is the place where Sri Krishna spent all of his childhood days. It was difficult to locate this temple as per the maps as the streets and walkways are narrow and going around and around. Nand Mahal is the name mostly being referred locally. Temple timing is 6.00 AM to 8.00 PM.
One can visit the Gokul barrage, Yamuna river, and then visit the temple. Govind Ghat is the Yamuna river ghat near the temple. There are tourist boat rides offered here. Car parking is difficult, needs to be stopped by the ghat and not within the town of Gokul as what Google maps show. It was sweltering heat here and we had some lemon-pudina juice.
Agra
We then started towards Agra. Around 11:30 AM, we crossed Sikandara and stopped by. Akbar's tomb, which is an important Mughal architectural splendor, is located in Sikandara. Akbar's tomb is around 8 km on NH before the Taj Mahal. The main entrance is very grand compared to the inner mausoleum. The main structure is all made of red stones; the minarets and the domes made of marbles resemble the structure of the Taj Mahal. We spent around 25 - 30 minutes here.
We then had lunch in Agra of our choice. I had just curd rice and masala papad in Hotel Udupi Krishna Vilas. It was ok. We then visited the Taj Mahal. The weather was a big horror - sun soaring in 40+ degrees Celsius.
We then had lunch in Agra of our choice. I had just curd rice and masala papad in Hotel Udupi Krishna Vilas. It was ok. We then visited the Taj Mahal. The weather was a big horror - sun soaring in 40+ degrees Celsius.
The Taj
There are three - Eastern, Western, and Southern. We took the Western entrance. Southern was closed when we went and Eastern is mostly where the crowds are heavy. Rickshaws and battery-operated vehicles for Rs.10 each are available from the parking area to the ticketing area - a distance of around 400-500m. The western too had too much of crowd. Common entry tickets are Rs.50 and Rs.250. The Rs.250 tickets are just to bypass the ticket queue as well as the main entrance - nothing more. We took tickets from the counter with the help of a guide who took some commission, which we could have avoided. Rs.250 had no queue at all and we ended up wasting money on the guide. Be careful with the same
Taj - no words required! Just go and enjoy the monument - one the massive and beautiful ones on the planet. We spent around 2 hours inside the premises. We came out by 3 PM - totally exhausted. We had time but the weather was not permitting. We skipped Govardhan in the morning while Agra fort was a possibility and so was Fatehpur Sikri. We returned back to Delhi.
Paranthe Wali Gali @ Delhi
We reached Delhi airport by 8 PM. We took the Airport metro and reached Chandni Chowk through the Yellow line around 9:30 PM. We looked for Paranthe Wali Gali and took help from locals to reach there. There were 3-4 shops selling hot deep-fried Parathas - each shop had around 25 varieties of parathas. We got a place to sit at PT. Kanhaiya Lal Durgaprashad Prashad Dixit Parawthe Wala. Surely, this is one unique place for parathas in the world! They give 6 sides including a chutney, sweet and sour ras with banana, sweet pumpkin sides, and a couple of potato gravies - one mild and one spicy. The parathas were very good and unique - we ordered 5 and shared between us.
We also had lassi and rabadi to finish dinner. We walked down to Red Fort. We witnessed Red fort with lights. We took a few clicks and walked back to Chandni Chowk metro station.
We reached the airport around 11:30 PM and came back to Chennai by 2 AM flight.
It is very nice to share your wonderful experience. I'm visiting mathura on my way to Rishikesh, staying there for a night. I need some help as to exact name and location of divya desam temples in gokulam and mathura. Can you be able help please?
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