Vrindavan – Mathura advice needed

Paleface

Radheshyam Bhaiya. You must be from Gopinath bazaar, Bhrahma Kunda area? Do you know of Vrindavan Bandhu?

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mysoulstillwandering

@ delhiwala- nice choice of places you visit. Vrindavan, Chitrakoot and Naimisharanya are my personal favourites too.
worth traveling.
even if one is not into spiritual places only, the whole feel about these three places is so calm and absorbing.

Thanks.

malyada

Hello,

Radheshyam Bhaiyya nahin, Radheshyam Behenji
Yes, I live near Brahma Kund, inside the premises of the Rangji Temple. And yes, Vrindaban Bandhu (now known more as Friends of Vrindaban) is run by a classmate of mine.
I am now slowly shifting my base towards Vrindaban, was out working/studying for 10 years or so, and I must say I dont like the changes happening there..
I just wish I can somehow get the Vrindaban of my school days back, when the only crowded season was Saawan (monsoons), there were trees around, not so many monkeys and tape-recorders blaring loud music, and a municipality which worked instead of being a land mafia that it has become now.
But, it will always be a special place for me, as its my home. I just hope I will be able to give back a fraction of what that place has given me.

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--malyada..

Paleface

Jai Radhe. We have common connections.

Krishna leela van katam hoggia evan Vrindavan Bandhu meera NGO hai. Jagannath is my man, brought him up so to speak and as he is so honest and dedicated to Seva, i was able to leave the work entirely in his hands and he is doing very well and expanding operations, just installed a hand made paper making plant utilizing the waste flowers from the Temples, which also stops them being thrown into Yamuna. Still the scale of the challenge is overwhelming i.e. Yamuna Ma, which i agree is nothing more than a nullah and barely touches VVN at Keshi ghat. Kaliya the serpent of pollution has returned, this is why Krishna did not kill Kaliya, only banished him - Pollution cannot be eradicted and Yamuna has left VVN, unwanted, disrespected by our present day attitude to her. I lived at Jai Singh Ghera with Shrivatsa Goswami's family for 12 years, a great man and first class philosophy/ Bhakti intellectual.

You must contact Jagannath as your expertise in IT could be a little helpful to them...

Paleface

Old VVN

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atala

Good to know that it is accessible now. I was not there since 2001, if changes happened afterwards, or perhaps would not have heard of them then.

Are there any guest house facilities there, as it appears to be a rather wealthy temple?

What is the highest quality guest facility in the old part of town according to your opinion, that we could recommend to IMers wishing to stay in Vrindavan. The highest quality rooms that I know of would certainly be at Jai Singh Ghera where Paleface lived, but whether they are actually available to the public is very doubtful.

Paleface

You can stay at JaiSingh Ghera - no problem, depending on availability, inc. meals.

atala

Good to know, thanks.

Paleface

Prakash Sharma is the manager.

TimMakins

Different opinions are common on IndiaMike - so here's another one!

I really like the Agra Hotel in Mathura, and have stayed there twice, the last time being in November 2009. It is a very old hotel, with lots of character - this is what I like the most about it. Well painted over the years, it takes on a rounded character, like a Disney movie! The rooms are basic, but good value for the low price range. Avoid the rooms on the left of the entrance door, as a nearby temple plays music for much of the time. The rooms to the right are fine. All food is vegetarian, and the staff are friendly and helpful.

I much prefer Mathura to Vrindaban. The former is a busy pilgrimage town with bustling atmosphere, and a history that goes back to 600 BC. Interesting temples, mosques, and market, plus ghats to wander along or get a boat. Museum recently modernised. Good connections by rail and road. Most importantly, not many westerners seem to spend time there, so you can wander about and soak up the atmosphere whilst remaining relatively 'invisible' to the locals. Those that do greet you are friendly and welcoming.

Vrindaban, on the other hand, is jammed with westerners, and consequently the local service-providers, as any where else in India or the world, have a much harder, predatory attitude. The town gives an atmosphere of total decay, either sinking into dust within the town, or into mud along the none-too-clean banks of the river. In my opinion, it is only prayer that is holding the town together at all! I'd recommend a day trip from Mathura, rather than staying there.

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hfot2

Thanks, TimMakins, and all the other respondents.

The consensus seems to run to Vrindavan. But, like TimMakins, we find much in Mathura that interests us. This pretty much corroborates our original research.

Figuring we'll like one or the other for sure (or maybe both), we're going with our original plan of a couple of days in each. We'll start with Vrindavan but pass through Mathura to get there. That we we can judge how early to transfer from one to the other.

Thanks,TimMakins, for the info about the Agra. It's in precisely the right location for us. The info about the temple music is extremely useful – in Pushkar once we were on the verge of being driven nuts by endless repetitions of Gayatri Mantra (wonderful though it is) from a nearby temple.

keshavkarn

So, is it only ghats to be seen in Mathura or is there any thing else also.
Are there temples, are there any famous temples.

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ask your forgiveness for my mistakes, its all because of ignorance
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Paleface

Radheshyam Behenji,

JP told me today you had recently met, are you in the dham or Bangalore abi? I think you also know Robyn, the photographer, living at Jaisingh Ghera.