Taj!

We went to Agra by road. Exceptionally well maintained road in Uttar Pradesh. It was a cool thing to have awesome weather in June for this trip !! It was raining and temp was near to 22 degree celsius. We had breakfast at Dabchick resort, maintained and run by Haryana tourism.

We first visited Mathura, Krishna Janmabhoomi. Mathura is a holy city in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It is located approximately 50 km north of Agra, and 150 km south of Delhi. Krishnajanmabhoomi, which means 'the birth-place of Krishna', is a temple built on the birthplace of Krishna (an avatar of God in his original form in Mathura). It is believed that Lord Krishna was born here in a cell of a prison, which once stood there. Krishna was son of Vasudeva and Devaki. Devaki was cousin(sister) of the local King Kansa. Kansa was told that the eighth son of Vasudeva and Devaki will kill him. Fearing this he imprisoned his sister and brother-in-law and eventually killed first seven children of the couple.

Krishna was the eighth child of the couple, and he was hand carried to Gokul by Vasudeva in thunder and heavy rain. The child Krishna was brought up by the local village-head of Gokul, Nanda (that is how he got his other name, Nandlaal). Eventually Krishna led a rebellion against the kingdom of Kansa and killed him. Gokul is around 14 kms north from Mathura. We could not visit that place this time. Lord Krishna was brought up in Gokul till he returned back to Mathura and killed Kansa.

The current temple complex is at the site of the prison (partly occupied by the mosque built by Aurangzeb). However, the temple complex is not entirely undisputed birth place temple complex for Krishna. There is at least one more temple close by which claims to be the real birth place of Krishna. The local populace is quite divided about the reality.

We then headed to Agra. Oh I forgot, we had kachoris and jalebi at Mathura. Agra is a city on the banks of the Yamuna River in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh, India. It finds mention in the epic Mahabharata when it was called Agrabana, or Paradise. Ptolemy, the famous 2nd century geographer, marked it on his map of the world as Agra. Tradition and legend ascribe the present city of Raja Badal Singh (around 1475) whose Fort, Badalgarh, Stood on or near the site of the present Fort. However, the 12th century Persian poet Salman writes of a desperate assault on the fortress of Agra, then held by one King Jaipal, by Sultan Mahmud of Ghazni. It was ruled by Sultan Sikandar Lodi in the year 1506. It achieved fame as the capital of the Mughal emperors from 1526 to 1658 and remains a major tourist destination because of its many splendid Mughal-era buildings, most notably the Taj Mahal, Agra Fort and Fatehpur Sikri

And guess what, we were in flood :). Due to bad drainage system of main city Agra, our car was 2 feets in water. Thanx to the SUV makers, we did not stop and cud get through the flooded road an reached our hotel. Tajmahal was 1 kms away from the same and thats one of the reason we booked that :D

After say 1 hr, we headed o Tajmahal, surprisingly it was less than 1 kms and was a cool walk. Tajmahal is a mausoleum located in Agra, India, that was built under Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his favorite wife, Mumtaz Mahal.

The Taj Mahal (also "the Taj") is considered the finest example of Mughal architecture, a style that combines elements from Persian, Turkish, Indian, and Islamic architectural styles. While the white domed marble and tile mausoleum is most familiar, Taj Mahal is an integrated symmetric complex of structures that was completed around 1648. Ustad Ahmad Lahauri is generally considered to be the principal designer of the Taj Mahal.

We roamed around, some best shots we took from the cybershot we have and then headed back to hotel.

In evening, from rikshahwallas and local persons we gathered the place from where we can buy pethas, pachii pethas to be specefic and the leather goods, mainly shoes and sandals ! And it was Sadar Bazaar ! and then food at "Only" before heading back to hotel.

Next day, we headed for Vrindavan. Vindavan or Vraj in Mathura district, Uttar Pradesh, India is a town on the site of an ancient forest which is believed to have been the region where the famous cowherd boy, Krishna, from Hindu scriptures spent his childhood days. It is about 15km 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 and is considered sacred by a number of religious traditions such as Gaudiya Vaishnavism, Vaishnavism, and Hinduism in general.

We visited Baanke-Bihari mandir. There are more than 5000 temples in Vrindavan, but this is the oldest one and must visit. And then Vrindavan-Bihari. Not so crowded as compared to Baanke Bihari. Finally we headed back. We had lunch at Dabchick Resort, run by Haryana tourism. Somehow we are addicted to it whenever we cruise on NH2.