Mathura Tourism

Mathura serves as an important religious and cultural site for the Hindus. Known as the town where Lord Krishna was born, a large number of devotees flock towards here to visit the temples and shrines and attain some sort of enlightenment. Located just 150 kilometers away from New Delhi, this place is also well connected by road to other nearby cities such as Agra.

There is a host of temples in the city and 25 Ghats across the holy Yamuna River which runs through Mathura. Many people are seen taking the holy dip at dawn on the Yamuna River and in the evening too the scene gets even more majestic and fascinating as during the evening aarti occasion hundreds of candles are set floating onto the sacred Yamuna. History bears testimony of the fact that once it was a Buddhist centre having 20 monasteries that accommodated 3000 monks but after the advent of Hinduism, it was Hinduism all the way.

Shri Krishna Janmabhumi is the most popular site in Mathura and is believed to be the birthplace of Lord Krishna. There is a massive temple situated here, devoted to Lord Krishna and Radha. The prison where he was said to be born is open for tourists to visit. There are also various other temples dedicated to Lord Krishna here, some of the famous ones being the Dwarkadheesh Temple and the Gita Mandir. The Dwarkadheesh temple is especially famous for the grand celebration it conducts during the festivals of Holi and Janmashtami. The walls of the Gita Mandir have verses from the Bhagavad Gita inscribed upon them. It is recommended that one tour the city, especially via walking. This allows one to experience the old architecture as well as the rapid urbanization while enjoying the delicious local street foods.

History of Mathura
The history of Mathura belongs to 600 BC. Ptolemy mentions the town and it played an important role in the formation of the first to second century Kushan Empire. Kanishka and his successors used it as their capital. The Chinese traveler Hiuen Tsang visited it in 634 AD. At that time it was also important Buddhist centre with over 2,000 followers. Mathura continued to be a centre of power during the enlightened rule of Emperor Ashoka (3rd century BC) and upto the Gupta era (4th century AD). By the time Mahmud of Ghazni came and sacked the city in 1017, Buddhism had virtually disappeared. The Mahmud of Ghazni’s looted Mathura by burning the city, destroying the temples and various numerous jewel encrusted idols were carted off. Sikander Lodi did similar harm to the religious places in 1500 while the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb used a local revolt in which his governor was killed as an opportunity to destroy all the main temples. The present day Braj-bhoomi was resurrected by the passionate devotion of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and Mahaprabhu Vallabhacharya in the 16th century. The patronizing rule of Akbar helped seers and devotees redecorate the ancient Braj-bhoomi.

The land was largely green, redolent with gardens, groves and lakes in which the Lord frolicked. As the Mughal Empire declined, Jats and Marathas jostled for control. As it lay on the main Dehi-Agra artery it had great strategic value. Its strategic location ensured its location as a centre of trade and a meeting point of the cultures. In the beginning of the 19th century it came under British control. They laid out a cantonment in the south and left a cemetery and the Roman Cathoic Church of the Sacred Heart. Today, Mathura is an important and rapidly growing industrial city. The opening of a big oil refinery on the outskirts of the city in 1975 caused great concern among environmentalists that atmospheric pollution would be carried by prevailing northwesterly winds and irreversibly damage the Taj Mahal. Vallabhacharya, one of the revivers of Braj, first visited Braj in a boat at age 13. On beholding Vishram Ghat, he spontaneously sang a paean in praise. This song, Yamunashtakam in Sanskrit, is still well preserved in the oral tradition of the land, and other songs which have been handed down by greats such as Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, Rupa Goswami, Mirabai, Suradas, Raskhan and Jayadeva. Innumerable poets are born daily in Braj, as devotees are stirred to sing praises of the Lord as they experience him in Braj-bhoomi.

Festivals of Mathura
The most important festival of Mathura is Janmashtami when the birth of Lord Krishna is celebrated with great pomp and splendour during August. The Holi Gulal Mahotsav is also held here in the month of March and it celebrates Holi in an exuberant way.

Shopping in Mathura
Idols in metals, granite, sandstone and marble, silver ornaments for deities, temple decorations, fancy fabrics and books are in abundance in Mathura. There are various shops that sell the traditional dresses, designer tulsi jewellery, books on Vrindavan, Krishna and vegetarian cuisine, wooden footwear locally called Paaduka or Chatti and silk and batik paintings and music cassettes.

Uttar Pradesh Tourism

Uttar Pradesh Tourism is the microcosm of India, multicultural, multiracial, conglomeration of fabulous wealth of nature-hills, valleys, rivers, forests, and vast plains. Viewed as the largest tourist destination in India, Uttar Pradesh boasts of 35 million domestic tourists. Its tourism promotion budget is bigger than that of government of India and half of the states of the Indian union combined. Uttar Pradesh is studded with places of tourist attractions across a wide spectrum of interest to people of diverse interests. The seventh most populated state of the world, Uttar Pradesh can lay claim to be the oldest seat of India's culture and civilization. It has been characterized as the cradle of Indian civilization and culture because it is around the Ganga that the ancient cities and towns sprang up.