Mathura ke pethe..

Just once awhile I get the chance to travel places, and I try to make sure there's always something new I learn, something I bring back.. hardly ever something palpable!

Mathura lied en route a recent trip. It isn't a very attractive tourist spot, but there was something about that part that caught my attention..

the Idgah mosque next to the Krishna Janma-bhoomi mandir- the latter is what Mathura is renowned for, the place where our beloved maakhan-chor was born..

not that scenic..

Mathura, no matter how important a place it may be in Hindu religious history, is still one of the many dishearteningly unkempt places in Uttar Pradesh. Brushed up roads and ad-hoc shops alongside, with little children tagging along, trying to make some sales of beads and idols- the place is torn between classic India and frequent visits from firangs. I believe ISKCON has to be thanked for its contribution in the form of a growing number of devotees, both at home and abroad. Outside the area of the janma-bhoomi, the lofty buildings still carry remnants from the times of the kings- intricately carved windows and balconies with stone jaali, red sandstone walls with domed tops and what not.. it seems insignificant, but we may (and would) never find out the stories of the people who once inhabited these..

But moving towards the main area, shops and vendors cover up the street sides to an extent that one wouldn't imagine that at some point in history, this formed an important trade center, and a proud Yadava king might have taken his colorfully ornate tableau along that very street, with trumpets and drums announcing him, and his subjects bowing courteously at the sight of the Majesty.. *long thought*

another antiquity is a grand lake with elaborate steps on four sides- which must have formed the city center at some time. It was surprising to see that people hardly cared about the lake. It just sat there and spoke of history. I couldn't take a pic of it, the camera had to be left up in the bus. There were drain pipes at some depth down, wonder what time they belong to.. should've photographed it.

Inside the temple, the scene has lost its sanctity in most part, for people who visit look more like, and are, tourists. An incredible part was some old ladies sitting around a khol being played and singing devotional songs.. the strength and effectiveness of untrained vocals! One finds an ill-beseeming number of daan petis (donation/offering boxes) placed strategically around the temple. The main temple complex is admittedly very beautifully and grandly kept. And as has been the Hindu way of holy places, a large number of other gods find their shrines and associated daan petis around the temple. A falsely crafted gufa charges a mere 3 Rupees for a person to explore scenes from Krishna's childhood. Then there's always the quaintly co-existing and separated-by-barbed-wires mosque nearby.

Mathura ke pethe are undeniably the best (and something palpable to bring back) :) 

I bet there's a lot I have missed- the banks of the river Yamuna, Vrindavan and Gokul, the stories that still find themselves scattered in the little villages.. but that's another trip!