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Vrindavan

Vrindavan (Vrindaban) or Vraj in Mathura district is a town on the site of an ancient forest which is believed to have been the region where Lord Krishna, from Hindu scriptures spent his childhood days. It lies in the Braj region.

It is about 10 km away from Mathura city (said to be Krishna's birthplace), near the Agra-Delhi highway. The town includes many hundreds of temples dedicated to the worship of Radha and Krishna. While in the past Vrindavan was considered the most beautiful of forests in the whole of India (Kalidas)in the last 250 years it has been subjected to urbanization first by local Rajas and in recent decades by more and more apartment developers. At present the number of trees in the area are meager and the local wildlife, including peacocks, cows, monkeys and a variety of bird species have mostly been eliminated or are in severe danger of such. A few Peacocks and many monkey's are freely found but cows are now mostly found in the gosalas of all the Major Ashrams of Vrindavan.

History

Vrindavan has always remained as a part of the Hindu folklore, and an important Hindu pigrimage, in 1901 it had a population of 22,717 and one of its oldest surviving temples is the Govind Deo temple, built in 1590, the modern town is said to have been founded earlier, in the same century.

Religious heritage

Vrindavan is often considered to be a holy place by all traditions of Hinduism. The major tradition followed in this place is Vaisnavisisim; and is a center of learning with many Ashrams functioning from Vrindavan. Its a center of Krishna worship and the area is including places like Govardhana and Gokula that are associated with Krishna from the time immemorial. Many millions of bhaktas or devotees of Radha Krishna visit these places of pilgrimage every year and participate in a number of festivals that relate to the scenes from Krishna's life on Earth.

According to tradition and recorded evidence, Krishna was raised in the cowherding village of Gokul by his foster parents Nanda Maharaj and Yasoda. The Bhagavata Purana describes Krishna's early childhood pastimes in Vrindavan forest wherein he, his brother Balarama, and his cowherd friends stole butter, engaged in childhood pranks and fought with demons. Along with these activities, Krishna is also described as meeting and dancing with the local girls of Vrindavan village (and especially Radharani) who were known as gopis. These pastimes were the source of inspiration for the famous Sanskrit poem, Gita Govinda, by the Orissan poet, Jayadeva.