Vrindavan is located just 15 kilometers from Mathura. The place is also connected to the life and times of Krishna. In fact, Vrindavan boasts of the largest cluster of temples in the Braj region. Many of these temples are very old and can be easily classified as 'Ancient Temple'. The place had a large Jungle in the days of Krishna. The town includes many hundreds of temples dedicated to the worship of Radha and Krishna and is considered sacred by a number of religious traditions such as Gaudiya Vaishnavism, Vaishnavism, and Hinduism in general.
► Prime Attractions of Vrindavan
Vrindavan is a city of temples. One of the most important and sacred temples is the Bankey Bihari Temple, where one can expect to see devotees engaged in simple acts of worship such as ecstatically clashing small cymbals together as they move in time to ancient rhythms. T
■Pagal Baba Temple
Founded by Late Pagal Baba, this gleaming white temple has eleven stories in all. One of the modern architectural examples, the temple retains the playfulness of Pagal Baba in the spirit of his disciples who are ready to welcome the visitors into the temple's interior. One can get some good views of the surrounding area from the ninth storey. The main attractions are the puppets exhibited in the temple. Some of them are mechanized and depict scenes from Ramayana and the Mahabharata.
■Bankey Bihari Temple
One of the most important and lively temples is the Bankey Bihari, which houses a sacred image of Krishna known as Thakur Ji, which shows Krishna embodied in almost black color. Devotees can be seen playing amall cymbals to timeless tunes of worship and singing hymns to its rhythm and offering garlands of flower petals and offer them to the statue while Brahmins occasionally draw across the curtain to let the devotees catch the glimpse of the great Lord.
■ Govind Dev Temple
Built in 1590 by Raja Man Singh, the upper layers of this temple was torn down during the time of the Mughal emperor, Aurangzeb, who considered it the place of idolatry, a sin in his religion. Since then, it is empty. Yet beggars sit on the outside and call for alms while monkeys play amidst the sculptured stonework of it's interior. Even the ruins of this red sandstone edifice impress the visitors with their artwork and in particular, the vaulted ceiling.
■ ISKON Temple
Newly constructed ISKON temple is one of the most impressive ones with funds coming from devotees overseas. The marble buildings exude their own brilliance and present an example of intricate carving. It owes its existence to Swami Prabhupada, a Hindu devotee born in Bengal in 1896. Today, ISKON is a worldwide movement with followers from many different ethnic backgrounds.
► How To Reach
BY AIR - The nearest airport is Agra around 67 km away from Vrindavan. There are regular flights to other important tourist destinations of India such as Delhi, Mumbai, Varanasi, and Khajuraho. The nearest international airport is Delhi, which is connected to almost every important city in the world with major airlines.
BY RAIL - Though Vrindavan itself is a railway station, the major railway station nearby is Mathura on the Delhi-Chennai and Delhi-Mumbai main line. Several express trains connect Mathura from other major cities of India like Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Bangalore, Kolkata, and Agra.
BY ROAD - Vrindavan is connected to Mathura and all other places of interest in Braj. We would provide you all India tourist permit vehicles for the local transportations and also for the intercity drives too.
