During the summer of 2015, we visited some holy places in North India. We will tell you about the places we visited for future reference for other people going on a pilgrimage in North India. All of these places are in the state Uttar Pradesh.
Mathura:
Mathura is famous as the birth place of Lord Shri Krishna and for lassis. We reached there on June 30, 2015 by the train called Grand Trunk Express. The huge tourist attraction is the jail where Krishna was born to Devaki and Vasudeva, which is known as Janmasthan. Mathura is not too far away from Vrindavan, another popular place in Uttar Pradesh. Mathura is also famous for the place where Krishna and Balarama killed Mushtika, Chanura, and other wrestlers, along with Kuvalayapida, the elephant, and the evil son of the king of Mathura, Kamsa.
Not too far from Mathura is a town named Gokula. Gokula is the place where Vasudeva, Krishna's father, took Krishna to his half brother, Nanda and his wife, Yashoda. There is a mountain in Gokula called Govardhan. You can walk around Govardhan, which is called Parikrama. It takes a few hours to walk around, but you can go in an electric rickshaw if you cannot walk the 21 km.Another Gokula landmark is Nandababa's palace. You should not be fooled; you have to go inside to see the village. Gokula has a village-like feel so you will know if you are there. Also, a little distance away, is a town named Barsana. There are five mountains there. Radharani grew up in Barsana. There are 89 steps to climb to the top. The legend is that when Lord Brahma, the creator, asked Krishna to take birth on earth, Krishna asked Brahma to take the form of a hill. People say that the four mountains around the center hill, who is Brahma, represent his four heads.
Vrindavan:
Vrindavan is just as famous as Mathura is. You can stay there in some small temples that have a few lodging rooms. We stayed in a temple called Andavan Ashram. Krishna first lived in Gokula, but demons regularly visited in trying to slay Krishna so the elderly clan decided to move to Vrindavan. Krishna stayed in Vrindavan until he went to Mathura to kill Kamsa and became the lord of Dwaraka. There are a few temples where Krishna did his pastimes. One of those temples we visited was where Krishna ate mud. The story is that Krishna ate mud. His brother, Balarama, reported this to Mother Yashoda. She asked Krishna to open his mouth to see if Balarama was telling the truth. Instead of seeing some mud, she saw the whole universe! Yashoda fell in a faint. Nandababa told Yashoda that he has the powers of Vishnu when she regained consciousness. The temple has a specific room to see the place where Krishna opened his mouth.
You can take a bath in the river Yamuna. The river Yamuna is one of the holiest places to take a bath in India. We took a bath in Shringar Vat. A boatman took us across and back. It is very popular there. You have to be careful about the place you take a bath, however, as some places are polluted and the sewers are emptied into there.
Ayodhya:
Ayodhya is the place where Shri Rama, the sixth incarnation of Vishnu, was born. You can stay in a few temples there. We stayed in the Shankara Mutt. Ayodhya is connected to other transportation, so you can there by train. However, you are unlikely to find a train from your starting place there as Ayodhya has a very small station. You can take a bath in your room, but the other option is to take a bath in the river Sarayu. You can also see the tree Bharata, Rama's brother meditated under because Bharata's mother sent Rama to exile. The place is called Nandigram. My son sat under that very tree. There are even some temples dedicated to Bharata. However, Rama is the angel of the citizens' hearts.
Naimisaranyam:
Naimisaranyam is the place where the goddess Lalitha Devi protected from flooding. The story is that many rishis came to Lord Brahma and asked where they should perform their meditation and yagna. Lord Brahma, in reply, made a huge wheel and dedicated it to Lord Shiva. He told the rishis to do their penance and yagna where it landed. Lord Brahma threw the wheel down. The sages followed the wheel. It landed in Naimisaranyam. The water emerged from it in the shape of a Shiva linga, threatening to flood the forest. The sages were scared. That was when Lalitha Devi protected the forest. In the place where Lalitha Devi appeared is a temple dedicated for her. The body of water is called Chakra Theerth. You can only take a bath on the outside, though.
Naimisaranyam is also said to be the center of the universe. Since it is not very connected to modern transportation, you can only get there by car, rickshaw, taxi, share auto, etc. However, there are a lot of roadside shops so you might be able to get what you want.
Akshardam:
Akshardam is in Delhi. You can go there in a lot of trains and take the metro in stations such as Rajiv Chowk, Yamuna Bank, Karol Bagh, etc. that will take you to Akshardam's metro. Akshardam's famous temple is heavily guarded. The biggest Hindu mandir outside India is in London, but the biggest Hindu temple is in Akshardam. It has a huge entrance with a lot of gold and silver with many gods and their consorts inside. The temple is so big that there is even a food court and a shop the size of a store! However, the only things you can take inside are a purse and some other things.
We hope this information will help you for future reference choose your pilgrimage places. If you have any questions, please write it in the comments box.
