Gokul

Getting there

• By air

  Agra airport is the closest, about 54 km away. Delhi and Jaipur airports, 186 km and 232 km away, are the alternatives.

• By train

  Mathura railway station is the closest, about 7 km from the town.

• By road

  UP State Road Transport buses run between Mathura and Gokul. State and federal highways pass close to the town, including the Yamuna Expressway and Taj Expressway.

Why devotees come here

Gokul is a town in Mathura district of Uttar Pradesh, about 15 km south-east of Mathura. The Bhagavata Purana says Krishna spent most of his childhood in Gokula. The haveli of the deity Gokulanatha stands in the town, and Govind Ghat is its main ghat.

The Bhagavata Purana places most of Krishna's childhood pastimes in Gokula. There the word can mean a cattle herd or a temporary cowherd camp, not a fixed place. Gokul was formerly the home of Navanitpriya and the seven Pushtimarg svarups, images of Krishna. Govind Ghat, the main ghat of Gokul, is a baithak, a sacred seat. Vallabha initiated his first disciple there. Raman Reti, a sacred sand site in Gokul, is linked to Krishna's play with his brother Balarama and his cowherd friends.

Pushtimarg tradition says Vallabha came to Braj in 1550 and searched without success for Gokul and Mahaban. Vallabha's son Vitthalanatha set up his residence in Gokul, expanded the town and made it a religious centre.

During the reign of Aurangzeb the Vaishnav deities of Braj left. Gokulanatha was eventually installed in Jaipur in the late 1700s. The haveli of the svarup Gokulanatha is in Gokul today.

Tips for your visit

• Before the sixteenth century, texts treated Gokul and Mahaban as one place, but from the late sixteenth century they became distinct places.
• Gokul is a stop on the Pushtimarg Bari Yatra, a six to seven week circuit of Braj.

Questions people ask