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Asia » India » Uttar Pradesh » Mathura March 31st 2023

Before this trip, I had never heard of Nandgaon; according to Hindu mythology, Nandgaon is the birthplace of Lord Khrisna, one of the most revered deities in Hinduism. The town is known for its beautiful temples, narrow lanes and traditional houses. Holi is a Hindu festival of colors, joy, and happiness, and is celebrated on the full moon day in the Hindu month of Phalguna. The Holi celebrations in Nandgaon are unique in many ways, and unlike other parts of India, where Holi is celebrated with throwing of colored powder and water, the celebration in Nandgaon are entered around the Lathmar Holi. In this tradition, women from Barsana visited Nandgaon and carried sticks, and played beating the men, who covered themselves using shields. The Lathmar Holi is a symbolic representation of the playful and flirtatious relationship ... read more
Attendee of the Holi Festival
Celebrated with Flowers
The Celebration of Color

Asia » India » Uttar Pradesh » Mathura March 24th 2023

I could not resist joining a Holi Festival trip after I saw an inviting brochure of cheerful face covered in colored powder. It’s on my bucket list. Arrived at Delhi airport along with other participants, we were picked up by our tour leader, Ranar. During dinner that evening, we were briefed about the trip, which would take place at Vrindavan, Uttar Pradesh district, a city where Lord Khrisna grew up during his childhood. As majority of the people were Hindu, it will be a three night and four-day vegan diet. The next morning, ten of us left for Vrindavan, a three-hour drive from Delhi. Once arrived, we reminded of the danger of the monkeys which had the habit of snatching loose items before we alighted the bus. There were at least 14,000 monkeys live in this ... read more
The sight of people waiting for the temple gate to be opened
The river of people rushing into the gate
Ceremony inside the temple

Asia » India » Uttar Pradesh » Mathura November 29th 2019

History (I would not prefer to call it "Myth"ology as it is History): Mathura - the birth place of Lord Krishna is located 180 km from Delhi. The city in the state of Uttar Pradesh is quaint and religiously significant to date. Krishna was born in Mathura in a jail where his parents Devaki and Vasudev were imprisoned by his uncle King Kamsa. Kamsa imprisoned his sister as he was aware that the 8th child of Devaki would kill him. Having lost their first 7 children, when the divine Vishnu avatar Krishna was born, the gates of the Mathura jail miraculously opened and all guards fell asleep. Vasudev carried his new born child from Mathura to Gokul to the palace of King Nanda. Gokul is 10-12km from Mathura (as per today's GPS) and one needs to ... read more
nand-bhawan-gokul
Keshi Ghat Vrindavan
Govardhan hill temple

Asia » India » Uttar Pradesh » Mathura November 20th 2017

Vrindavan is the holiest place in the world. And you can feel this around every single corner. Lucky enough, it was my 4th and Markus 3rd visit already. Wow, this is a great blessing and we both have a love affair with Vrindavan. It looks terribly dirty on the outside (although it has improved a lot recently), it has such a wonderful feeling and vibe. We always feel like coming home. The first full day of Vrindavan was wonderful, crazy and really special. In the morning we started early with a temple tour with Paramahamsa Vishwananda. For us photographers, the fun started right away. The old part of Vrindavan with its narrox streets is busy with people, cows, garbage and shit. And Paramahamsa Vishwananda is walking really fast. So it was jogging for us to be ... read more
Paramahamsa Vishwananda inside the Radha Ramana Temple in Vrindavan
Paramahamsa Vishwananda giving Darshan
indian cuty being fascinated by our spiritual master

Asia » India » Uttar Pradesh » Mathura December 5th 2016

We left Jaipur early in the morning. At 9.30 am we had to be at Delhi Airport to pick up our luggage. We arrived perfectly on time and even had time for a roadside breakfast and a chai. Once at the airport our first challenge: we had to call the service desk to tell them to bring out the luggage as we were not allowed to enter the airport without a ticket. So we went to different service desks outside the airport to ask if someone could make a call for us (we even offered them to pay for the call). But they all gave us the same answer: during work they are not allowed to make phone calls and they do not have a phone for that. Finally we ended up on one end of ... read more
enjoying a chai
buying some natural oils
procession around Vrindavan

Asia » India » Uttar Pradesh » Mathura November 28th 2015

I, Nina, have been to Vrindavan already in March for Holi. And in November, Markus followed. We both went on pilgrimages around Vrindavan with our spiritual master, Mahamandaleshwar Sri Swami Vishwananda. For both of us, the pilgrimages have been very special. An experience we hopefully will repeat one day. An experience we cannot put in words. Such a pilgrimage is not about travelling in the outside although one visits holy places. It is more a travel within, a travel towards your soul. A way from the mind towards the heart. We both have not taken any pictures of the pilgrimages. And as it was a very personal experience, we will not write a blog about it. But those of you guys who are interested can contact us via a personal message. Nevertheless, we want to share ... read more
Bankhe Bihari Temple
Yamuna River
full moon over the fields surrounding Vrindavan

Asia » India » Uttar Pradesh » Mathura March 5th 2013

To the south-east of Agra, in the city of Allahabad, a mass protest had begun about pollution of the Yamuna River. For years, industrial waste and sewage has been discharged into this river, the largest tributary of the sacred Ganges, from drains on the outskirts of Delhi far away to the north. It has become officially 'dead' by the time it runs beside the Taj Mahal in Agra. Now the masses were heading up to Delhi on foot to voice their concerns to parliament and doubtless to Delhi's Chief Minister herself, the appropriately-named Mrs Sheila Dikshit. By 'masses' I do mean masses! What had started off as 10,000 farmers, sadhus, union activists and members of religious and social groups had already swelled to many times that number. Yesterday morning, they blocked the Agra-Delhi highway with parked ... read more
Faces on the back of a bus
Shri Krishna Janmabhoomi
Papayas the size of ostrich eggs

Asia » India » Uttar Pradesh » Mathura » Vrindavan February 20th 2012

Ich bin früh aufgestanden und stehe vor dem Eingang zum Sri Krishna-Balarama Tempel aus weißem Marmor. Einem der schönsten Tempel in Vrindavan. Der Krishna-Balarama gehört zu den Haupttempeln (in Vrindavan gibt es insgesamt zwischen vier -und fünftausend, so genau weiß das niemand) und liegt am Ortseingang, gleich an der Hauptstraße vom Highway kommend. Da mir das Ganze aus einem früheren Tempelaufenthalt in Deutschland vertraut ist, gehe ich dahin. Ein bisschen Yoga für den Geist, meine neu erstandene Gebetskette nehme ich mit. Die Tempelanlage besteht aus dem vorderen Teil, mit prächtigen weißen Bauten, in dem Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada verehrt und erklärt wird - der letzte Lehrer, der das Singen des Hare-Krishna-Mantra in die Welt trug und die Philosophie des Bhakti-Yoga lehrte. Er war es auch, der diesen prächtigen Tempel 1975 neu erbauen ließ. Im Westen wurden die ... read more
frisch gesegnete Gebetskette
Zeremonie
Ausflippen

Asia » India » Uttar Pradesh » Mathura » Vrindavan February 20th 2012

Ich sitze auf der Dachterrasse beim Tempel meines Guesthouses und versuche, eine volle Runde (108 Holzperlen, ein Mantra pro Perle) auf meiner frisch gesegneten Gebetskette zu singen. Ich komme mir ein bisschen bekloppt vor und das tolle Gefühl aus dem Tempel kommt auch nicht zurück. Nach etwa der halben Kette gebe ich auf, meine religiösen Bedürfnisse sind fürs erste überbefriedigt. Ich schaue mir das Tempeldach, vor dem ich stehe etwas näher an und blicke über die Stadt. Ich habe hier viel gesehen, maximal noch ein Tag, dann geht es weiter. Aber wohin? Auf dem Programm stehen als nächstes Varanasi und Bodhgaya, danach die Sunderbans und Kalkutta. Darjeeling vielleicht, wenn noch Zeit ist. Lust aufs Reisen habe ich keine mehr, hierbleiben ist auch keine Option. Viel lieber würde ich jetzt durch die sardische Berge ziehen und den ... read more
UploadedFile1
Internetcafe
Dachtempel

Asia » India » Uttar Pradesh » Mathura » Vrindavan February 19th 2012

Endlich ausgeschlafen! Nach elfeinhalb Stunden Tiefschlaf sehe ich durchs Fenster in den Garten des Ashrams und fühle mich voller Energie und bin bereit, die heilige Stadt zu erkunden. Der Tag beginnt am Lunchbuffet. Das Essen ist fantastisch, zehn verschiedene Kleinigkeiten stehen zur Auswahl... Ich muss von allem etwas nehmen! Linsensuppe, gebratener Paneer, Kartoffeln mit Spinat, Joghurt mit Paprika, süße Bällchen, Chapati, ... Kugelrund und satt beginne ich meinen Streifzug durch die Stadt. Das ist also ein heiliger Ort. So klein ist der gar nicht, hier wohnen hier knapp 60.000 Menschen, die in einem unruhigen Rhythmus durch den Tag rauschen (was sie nicht stört, schon recht). Die nächtliche Ruhe hat sich in Luft aufgelöst, auch hier ist Tumult hoch siebenunddrölfzig, wenn auch nicht vergleichbar mit Delhi oder Agra. LkW und fremde Autos (bis auf Taxis) müssen neuerdings ... read more
Affe
Kuh in Vrindavan
Kuhnst




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