I visited Mathura , Vrindavan and Gokul sometime back. Mathura, the land of divinity and home of Shri Krishna, the ever adorable Hindu God, is a must visit tourist place for every Hindu and every world citizen as the whole philosophy of live and let live and unconditional love for everyone went into whole world by preachings of Shri Krishna from this place when a great soul was born here and lived here.Its a divine place, u feel enchanted just by thinking that God Krishna was born here, lived here, played here, played the inimitable flute here.The moment you enter the boundaries of Mathura, you have this magical feeling of being in Lords own place just by looking at the wide expanse of land, roaming cows and peacocks playing, it remininsces us of the ever enchanting photographs of Shri Krishna with cows and peacocks.
A must visit in Mathura is Shri JanamBhoomi Mandir of Sri Krishna which shares the wall with a mosque displaying the ever secular image of India.You get stoned standing in front of the chabutra and the prison where Shri Krishna was born.The adjacent beautiful mandir of Shri Krishna is huge and just by standing in front of charming idols of Radha Krishna placed inside it gives you eternal peace.
Some nearby places I would recommend to visit are Vrindavan and Gokul. Gokul where Shri Krishna was brought from prison after delivery .It has a huge palace perched on a muddy hill where God was kept and brought up, the palace has 108 pillars and has excellent architecture.Nearby is temple of Yogmaya, sister of God who disappeared as lightening.Gokul has a Kadamb tree under which God sat and played the flute magically and drew everyone towards him.The sandy earth and kadamb trees gives a mysterious feel of how God would have spent his childhood there running here and there.
Vrindavan has many temples to visit, but a must are Dwarkadhish temple and BankeBihari temple.Both temples have retained their old architecture and one of the temple has a shower in between which gives respite to devotees in summer.
Vrindavan also has mysterious NidhiVan Forest where God is believed to doing Raslila everynight, it houses samadhi of great indian poet Haridas and has a well which is believed to be dug by Gods flute for his sweetheart Radha.The banks of Yamuna still have the old kadamb trees from where God teased Radha and their friends.
Vrindavan also has a huge SouthIndian Temple of Shri Krishna (Ranganath Mandir)where a lot of gold is used in its making and also houses a big pond.Beware of monkeys in this temple especially. One must be beware of monkeys in Vrindavan also who can be really nasty especially at NidhiVan.Also I would recommend to wear loose cotton clothes if u visit it in Summers.Also be beware of pandas who can pester you to donate money at each and every temple.Do not donate money in all temples or you would be out of cash soon:)
I recommend visiting these places mentioned above to everybody especially who believe in God and faith In God as it will make the journey to this place more memorable and touching.Even if an atheist visits Mathura, Gokul and Vrindavan, I believe he will be touched by the innocence of Localites especially the tourist guides who take you to every temple at measly rates and still smile ...the poor kids who roam there and the rickshawallahs who talk in terms of radhey radhey even if they try to overtake their colleagues politely.I have not seen such innocence in local people there in anywhere in world, they are so poor and even when they smile, the sparkle in their eyes and innocent charm and warmth on their faces tells me , they are Gods own children, I believe God lived there and played there once upon a time and still lives there invisibly...
Thanks for reading my review.