Vrindavan Place where Krishna Spent Childhood

Located on the banks of the Yamuna River in the state of Uttar Pradesh, the town of Vrindavan is the site of an ancient forest where the Hindu deity Krishna spent his childhood days. Approximately 15 kilometers from Mathura, the city of Krishna’s birthplace, the town has hundreds of temples dedicated to the worship of Krishna and his consort Radha.

Krishna, an incarnation of Lord Vishnu, was born in the long ago era of the Dwapara Yuga as the eighth son of the Yadava prince Vasudev and his wife Devaki. To save him from the murderous intentions of his maternal uncle Kansa, Krishna was taken soon after birth to Gokul, the village of cowherds in Vrindavan. There he was raised in the care of his foster parents Nanda Maharaj and Yasoda.



A Hindu scripture, the Bhagavata Purana, describes Krishna's childhood pastimes in the Vrindavan forest where he, his brother Balarama and his cowherd friends engaged in youthful pranks. Krishna danced with the local girls known as gopis, hid their clothes while they bathed, spread the message of divine love with his lover Radha, and subdued various demons. These pastimes were the source of inspiration for the famous 13th century poem, Gita Govinda, by the Sanskrit poet, Jayadeva.

It is believed that the spiritual essence of Vrindavan was lost over time until the great saint Chaitanya Mahaprabhu rediscovered it. In the year 1515, Chaitanya visited Vrindavana, and wandering through the sacred forests located the holy places associated with Krishna's divine actions.



Vrindavan is an important Hindu pilgrimage site, especially for the followers of the Vaishnava tradition, which maintains numerous temples and monastic dwellings known as ashrams. Many millions of devotees of Krishna and Radha visit these places of pilgrimage every year and participate in colorful festivals that relate to the scenes from Krishna's life.

One of the most important temples is the Govinda Deo, built in 1590. Other popular temples include: Madan Mohan, Banke Bihari, Radha Vallabh, Jaipur, Jaigurudeo, Sri Radha Raman, Shahji, Rangaji, Govinda Deo, Sri Krishna-Balarama, Radha Damodar, Shri Maa Katyayni, Chintaharan Hanuman, Shree Radha Ras Bihari Ashta Sakhi, Kesi Ghat and Seva Kunj.

Vrindavan is also known as the City for Widows because of the thousands of widows who seek refuge there. By Hindu tradition, widows may not remarry but should devote their remaining years to spiritual liberation. Some widows leave their families after the death of their husbands (or their families leave them) and make their way to the holy city of Vrindavan. In exchange for singing sacred hymns known as bhajans in the temples these women are given meals and a little money.

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Vrindavan Place where Krishna Spent Childhood

Located on the banks of the Yamuna River in the state of Uttar Pradesh, the town of Vrindavan is the site of an ancient forest where the Hindu deity Krishna spent his childhood days. Approximately 15 kilometers from Mathura, the city of Krishna’s birthplace, the town has hundreds of temples dedicated to the worship of Krishna and his consort Radha.

Krishna, an incarnation of Lord Vishnu, was born in the long ago era of the Dwapara Yuga as the eighth son of the Yadava prince Vasudev and his wife Devaki. To save him from the murderous intentions of his maternal uncle Kansa, Krishna was taken soon after birth to Gokul, the village of cowherds in Vrindavan. There he was raised in the care of his foster parents Nanda Maharaj and Yasoda.



A Hindu scripture, the Bhagavata Purana, describes Krishna's childhood pastimes in the Vrindavan forest where he, his brother Balarama and his cowherd friends engaged in youthful pranks. Krishna danced with the local girls known as gopis, hid their clothes while they bathed, spread the message of divine love with his lover Radha, and subdued various demons. These pastimes were the source of inspiration for the famous 13th century poem, Gita Govinda, by the Sanskrit poet, Jayadeva.

It is believed that the spiritual essence of Vrindavan was lost over time until the great saint Chaitanya Mahaprabhu rediscovered it. In the year 1515, Chaitanya visited Vrindavana, and wandering through the sacred forests located the holy places associated with Krishna's divine actions.



Vrindavan is an important Hindu pilgrimage site, especially for the followers of the Vaishnava tradition, which maintains numerous temples and monastic dwellings known as ashrams. Many millions of devotees of Krishna and Radha visit these places of pilgrimage every year and participate in colorful festivals that relate to the scenes from Krishna's life.

One of the most important temples is the Govinda Deo, built in 1590. Other popular temples include: Madan Mohan, Banke Bihari, Radha Vallabh, Jaipur, Jaigurudeo, Sri Radha Raman, Shahji, Rangaji, Govinda Deo, Sri Krishna-Balarama, Radha Damodar, Shri Maa Katyayni, Chintaharan Hanuman, Shree Radha Ras Bihari Ashta Sakhi, Kesi Ghat and Seva Kunj.

Vrindavan is also known as the City for Widows because of the thousands of widows who seek refuge there. By Hindu tradition, widows may not remarry but should devote their remaining years to spiritual liberation. Some widows leave their families after the death of their husbands (or their families leave them) and make their way to the holy city of Vrindavan. In exchange for singing sacred hymns known as bhajans in the temples these women are given meals and a little money.

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Banaras Varanasi

Banaras is the most visited pilgrimage destination in all of India. One of the seven Holy Cities, one of the twelve Jyotir Linga sites and also a Shakti Pitha site, it is the most favored place for Hindus to die and be cremated. Myths and hymns speak of the waters of the Ganges River as the fluid medium of Shiva's divine essence and a bath in the river is believed to wash away all of one's sins. The particular river-side location of Banaras is considered especially potent because, in less than six miles (ten kilometers), the Ganges is met by two other rivers, the Asi and the Varana. Commenting of this specific location of Banaras along the river Ganges, the Hindu scripture Tristhalisetu explains that,

There whatever is sacrificed, chanted, given in charity, or suffered in penance, even in the smallest amount, yields endless fruit because of the power of that place. Whatever fruit is said to accrue from many thousands of lifetimes of asceticism, even more than that is obtainable from but three nights of fasting in this place.

Known in different eras as Avimukta, Varanasi and Kashi, meaning “where the supreme light shines”, this great north Indian center of Shiva worship has had more than 3000 years of continuous habitation. Few standing buildings are older than the 16th century, however, as Muslim armies raiding from the 11th century onward destroyed the ancient Hindu temples and erected mosques on their foundations. Qutbuddin Aibak's armies were said to have destroyed more than a thousand temples in 1194, and Shah Jahan, the builder of the Taj Mahal, had seventy-six temples demolished. The city's primary Shiva shrine, the Jyotir Linga Visvanatha or ‘Golden Temple’, was rebuilt in 1776 across the road from its original location (now occupied by the Jnana Vapi mosque). Adjacent to this mosque is the Jnana Vapi well, the ritual center and axis mundi of Banaras. The Jnana Vapi, or Well of Wisdom, is said to have been dug by Shiva himself, and its waters carry the liquid form of Jhana, the light of wisdom. The imposing Alamgir mosque stands on the site of another of Kashi's most ancient and sacred shrines, the temple of Bindu Madhava.

In Hindu Kashi, it is said there are thirty-three hundred million shrines and a half a million images of the deities. Since a pilgrim would need all the years of his or her life to visit each of these shrines, it is considered wise to come to the holy city and never again leave. While this enormous number of shrines is perhaps a trifle exaggerated, Kashi does indeed have many hundreds of beautiful temples. Some of these temples are named after the great tirthas, or pilgrimage centers, in other parts of India - Rameshvaram, Dwarka, Puri, and Kanchipuram, for example - and it is said that merely by visiting Kashi one automatically gains the benefit of visiting all other sacred places. Most pilgrims make only short visits of days or weeks to Kashi, while others come to spend their remaining years in the holy city. Those who come to live in Kashi with the intention of dying there are called jivan muktas meaning those who ‘are liberated while still alive’.

Kashi is also traditionally called Mahashamshana, ‘the great cremation ground’. Hindus believe that cremation at the holy city insures moksha, or 'final liberation of the soul from the endless cycle of birth, death, and rebirth'. Because of this belief, dying persons and dead bodies from far-off places are brought to Kashi for cremation at the Manikarnika and other cremation sites (five principal and eighty-eight minor cremation/bathing sites lie along the Ganges). In her book, Banaras: City of Light, Diana Eck writes:

"Death in Kashi is not a feared death, for here the ordinary God of Death, frightful Yama, has no jurisdiction. Death in Kashi is death known and faced, transformed and transcended."

Encircling the holy city at a radius of five miles is the sacre d path known as the Panchakroshi Parikrama. Pilgrims take five days to circumambulate Kashi on this fifty-mile path, visiting 108 shrines along the way. If one is unable to walk the entire path a visit to the Panchakroshi Temple will suffice. By walking round the sanctuary of this shrine, with its 108 wall reliefs of the temples along the sacred way, the pilgrim makes a symbolic journey around the sacred city. Another important Banaras pilgrimage route is the Nagara Pradakshina, which takes two days to complete and has seventy-two shrines.

Today, a crowded, bustling, noisy, dirty city, Banaras was in antiquity an area of gently rolling hills, lush forests, and natural springs bordered by the magical waters of the river Ganges. A favored hermitage site for many of India's most venerated sages - Guatama Buddha and Mahavira, Kabir and Tulsi Das, Shankaracharaya, Ramanuja and Patanjali all meditated here - Banaras has been and continues to be one of the most visited holy places on the planet. First-time visitors to Banaras may find themselves initially overwhelmed by sensory stimulation, yet just beneath the surface is a presence of peacefulness and spiritual wisdom.

Lovely Thoughts for Lovely People Just Like You

Banaras Varanasi

Banaras is the most visited pilgrimage destination in all of India. One of the seven Holy Cities, one of the twelve Jyotir Linga sites and also a Shakti Pitha site, it is the most favored place for Hindus to die and be cremated. Myths and hymns speak of the waters of the Ganges River as the fluid medium of Shiva's divine essence and a bath in the river is believed to wash away all of one's sins. The particular river-side location of Banaras is considered especially potent because, in less than six miles (ten kilometers), the Ganges is met by two other rivers, the Asi and the Varana. Commenting of this specific location of Banaras along the river Ganges, the Hindu scripture Tristhalisetu explains that,

There whatever is sacrificed, chanted, given in charity, or suffered in penance, even in the smallest amount, yields endless fruit because of the power of that place. Whatever fruit is said to accrue from many thousands of lifetimes of asceticism, even more than that is obtainable from but three nights of fasting in this place.

Known in different eras as Avimukta, Varanasi and Kashi, meaning “where the supreme light shines”, this great north Indian center of Shiva worship has had more than 3000 years of continuous habitation. Few standing buildings are older than the 16th century, however, as Muslim armies raiding from the 11th century onward destroyed the ancient Hindu temples and erected mosques on their foundations. Qutbuddin Aibak's armies were said to have destroyed more than a thousand temples in 1194, and Shah Jahan, the builder of the Taj Mahal, had seventy-six temples demolished. The city's primary Shiva shrine, the Jyotir Linga Visvanatha or ‘Golden Temple’, was rebuilt in 1776 across the road from its original location (now occupied by the Jnana Vapi mosque). Adjacent to this mosque is the Jnana Vapi well, the ritual center and axis mundi of Banaras. The Jnana Vapi, or Well of Wisdom, is said to have been dug by Shiva himself, and its waters carry the liquid form of Jhana, the light of wisdom. The imposing Alamgir mosque stands on the site of another of Kashi's most ancient and sacred shrines, the temple of Bindu Madhava.

In Hindu Kashi, it is said there are thirty-three hundred million shrines and a half a million images of the deities. Since a pilgrim would need all the years of his or her life to visit each of these shrines, it is considered wise to come to the holy city and never again leave. While this enormous number of shrines is perhaps a trifle exaggerated, Kashi does indeed have many hundreds of beautiful temples. Some of these temples are named after the great tirthas, or pilgrimage centers, in other parts of India - Rameshvaram, Dwarka, Puri, and Kanchipuram, for example - and it is said that merely by visiting Kashi one automatically gains the benefit of visiting all other sacred places. Most pilgrims make only short visits of days or weeks to Kashi, while others come to spend their remaining years in the holy city. Those who come to live in Kashi with the intention of dying there are called jivan muktas meaning those who ‘are liberated while still alive’.

Kashi is also traditionally called Mahashamshana, ‘the great cremation ground’. Hindus believe that cremation at the holy city insures moksha, or 'final liberation of the soul from the endless cycle of birth, death, and rebirth'. Because of this belief, dying persons and dead bodies from far-off places are brought to Kashi for cremation at the Manikarnika and other cremation sites (five principal and eighty-eight minor cremation/bathing sites lie along the Ganges). In her book, Banaras: City of Light, Diana Eck writes:

"Death in Kashi is not a feared death, for here the ordinary God of Death, frightful Yama, has no jurisdiction. Death in Kashi is death known and faced, transformed and transcended."

Encircling the holy city at a radius of five miles is the sacre d path known as the Panchakroshi Parikrama. Pilgrims take five days to circumambulate Kashi on this fifty-mile path, visiting 108 shrines along the way. If one is unable to walk the entire path a visit to the Panchakroshi Temple will suffice. By walking round the sanctuary of this shrine, with its 108 wall reliefs of the temples along the sacred way, the pilgrim makes a symbolic journey around the sacred city. Another important Banaras pilgrimage route is the Nagara Pradakshina, which takes two days to complete and has seventy-two shrines.

Today, a crowded, bustling, noisy, dirty city, Banaras was in antiquity an area of gently rolling hills, lush forests, and natural springs bordered by the magical waters of the river Ganges. A favored hermitage site for many of India's most venerated sages - Guatama Buddha and Mahavira, Kabir and Tulsi Das, Shankaracharaya, Ramanuja and Patanjali all meditated here - Banaras has been and continues to be one of the most visited holy places on the planet. First-time visitors to Banaras may find themselves initially overwhelmed by sensory stimulation, yet just beneath the surface is a presence of peacefulness and spiritual wisdom.

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The Golden Temple Amritsar

The Golden Temple, located in the city of Amritsar in the state of Punjab,is a place of great beauty and sublime peacefulness. Originally a small lake in the midst of a quiet forest, the site has been a meditation retreat for wandering mendicants and sages since deep antiquity. The Buddha is known to have spent time at this place in contemplation.Two thousand years after Buddha's time, another philosopher-saint came to live and meditate by the peaceful lake. This was Guru Nanak (1469-1539), the founder of the Sikh religion. After the passing away of Guru Nanak, his disciples continued to frequent the site; over the centuries it became the primary sacred shrine of the Sikhs. The lake was enlarged and structurally contained during the leadership of the fourth Sikh Guru (Ram Dass, 1574-1581), and during the leadership of the fifth Guru (Arjan, 1581-1606), the Hari Mandir, or Temple of God was built. From the early 1600s to the mid 1700s the sixth through tenth Sikh Gurus were constantly involved in defending both their religion and their temple against Moslem armies. On numerous occasions the temple was destroyed by the Moslems, and each time was rebuilt more beautifully by the Sikhs. From 1767 onwards, the Sikhs became strong enough militarily to repulse invaders. Peace returned to the Hari Mandir.



The temple's architecture draws on both Hindu and Moslem artistic styles yet represents a unique coevolution of the two. During the reign of Maharaja Ranjit Singh (1780-1839), Hari Mandir was richly ornamented with marble sculptures, golden gilding, and large quantities of precious stones. Within the sanctuary, on a jewel-studded platform, lies the Adi Grantha, the sacred scripture of the Sikhs. This scripture is a collection of devotional poems, prayers, and hymns composed by the ten Sikh gurus and various Moslem and Hindu saints. Beginning early in the morning and lasting until long past sunset, these hymns are chanted to the exquisite accompaniment of flutes, drums, and stringed instruments. Echoing across the serene lake, this enchantingly beautiful music induces a delicate yet powerful state of trance in the pilgrims strolling leisurely around the marble concourse encircling the pool and temple. An underground spring feeds the sacred lake, and throughout the day and night pilgrims immerse themselves in the water, a symbolic cleansing of the soul rather than an actual bathing of the body. Next to the temple complex are enormous pilgrims' dormitories and dining halls where all persons, irrespective of race, religion, or gender, are lodged and fed for free.

Amritsar, the original name of first the ancient lake, then the temple complex, and still later the surrounding city, means "pool of ambrosial nectar." Looking deeply into the origins of this word amrit, we find that it indicates a drink of the gods, a rare and magical substance that catalyzes euphoric states of consciousness and spiritual enlightenment. With this word we have a very clear example of the spirit, power, or energetic character of a particular place becoming encoded as an ancient geographical place name. The myth is not just a fairy tale. It reveals itself as a coded metaphor if we have the knowledge to read the code: The waters of Amritsar flowing into the lake of the Hari Mandir were long ago - and remain today - a bringer of peacefulness.

Lovely Thoughts for Lovely People Just Like You

The Golden Temple Amritsar

The Golden Temple, located in the city of Amritsar in the state of Punjab,is a place of great beauty and sublime peacefulness. Originally a small lake in the midst of a quiet forest, the site has been a meditation retreat for wandering mendicants and sages since deep antiquity. The Buddha is known to have spent time at this place in contemplation.Two thousand years after Buddha's time, another philosopher-saint came to live and meditate by the peaceful lake. This was Guru Nanak (1469-1539), the founder of the Sikh religion. After the passing away of Guru Nanak, his disciples continued to frequent the site; over the centuries it became the primary sacred shrine of the Sikhs. The lake was enlarged and structurally contained during the leadership of the fourth Sikh Guru (Ram Dass, 1574-1581), and during the leadership of the fifth Guru (Arjan, 1581-1606), the Hari Mandir, or Temple of God was built. From the early 1600s to the mid 1700s the sixth through tenth Sikh Gurus were constantly involved in defending both their religion and their temple against Moslem armies. On numerous occasions the temple was destroyed by the Moslems, and each time was rebuilt more beautifully by the Sikhs. From 1767 onwards, the Sikhs became strong enough militarily to repulse invaders. Peace returned to the Hari Mandir.



The temple's architecture draws on both Hindu and Moslem artistic styles yet represents a unique coevolution of the two. During the reign of Maharaja Ranjit Singh (1780-1839), Hari Mandir was richly ornamented with marble sculptures, golden gilding, and large quantities of precious stones. Within the sanctuary, on a jewel-studded platform, lies the Adi Grantha, the sacred scripture of the Sikhs. This scripture is a collection of devotional poems, prayers, and hymns composed by the ten Sikh gurus and various Moslem and Hindu saints. Beginning early in the morning and lasting until long past sunset, these hymns are chanted to the exquisite accompaniment of flutes, drums, and stringed instruments. Echoing across the serene lake, this enchantingly beautiful music induces a delicate yet powerful state of trance in the pilgrims strolling leisurely around the marble concourse encircling the pool and temple. An underground spring feeds the sacred lake, and throughout the day and night pilgrims immerse themselves in the water, a symbolic cleansing of the soul rather than an actual bathing of the body. Next to the temple complex are enormous pilgrims' dormitories and dining halls where all persons, irrespective of race, religion, or gender, are lodged and fed for free.

Amritsar, the original name of first the ancient lake, then the temple complex, and still later the surrounding city, means "pool of ambrosial nectar." Looking deeply into the origins of this word amrit, we find that it indicates a drink of the gods, a rare and magical substance that catalyzes euphoric states of consciousness and spiritual enlightenment. With this word we have a very clear example of the spirit, power, or energetic character of a particular place becoming encoded as an ancient geographical place name. The myth is not just a fairy tale. It reveals itself as a coded metaphor if we have the knowledge to read the code: The waters of Amritsar flowing into the lake of the Hari Mandir were long ago - and remain today - a bringer of peacefulness.

Lovely Thoughts for Lovely People Just Like You