Krishna Janmabhoomi Temple

Getting there

• By air

  Mathura currently has no airport, so Agra and Delhi are the nearest.

• By train

  Mathura Junction railway station lies on the Delhi-Mumbai rail route.

• By road

  NH-19 from Delhi to Kolkata passes through Mathura. The Yamuna Expressway from Greater Noida to Agra also runs through it.

Why devotees come here

Krishna Janmabhoomi Temple stands in Mathura, Uttar Pradesh, a town revered as the traditional birthplace of Krishna. Its Garbh Griha is the spot where Krishna is believed to have been born. The temple is one of the most visited in India.

Hindu tradition says Krishna was born to Devaki and Vasudeva in a prison cell. They were held there by his maternal uncle Kamsa, a king of Mathura, after a prophecy that Devaki's child would cause his death. The site has held religious significance since at least the 6th century BCE, when excavations turned up religious artifacts.

The temples here were destroyed several times. The most recent destruction came in 1670, when the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb destroyed the Keshavdev temple and built the Shahi Eidgah in its place. Madan Mohan Malaviya acquired the land on 7 February 1944, with financial help from the industrialist Jugal Kishore Birla. Birla's trust, formed on 21 February 1951, was later registered as the Shri Krishna Janmasthan Seva Sansthan.

Construction of the temple complex began in October 1953 and was completed in February 1982. The Keshavdev temple was inaugurated on 6 September 1958. Inside Bhagavata Bhavan, the main shrine holds a couple of Radha and Krishna, 180 centimetres (6 ft) tall. The ceiling, walls and pillars of its assembly hall carry frescoes of Krishna's life.

Festivals

• Every yearKrishna Janmashtami

  3 to 3.5 million devotees celebrate Janmashtami in Mathura each year. Keshavdev temple, inside this complex, is one of the main draws.

Tips for your visit

• Radhashtami, Diwali and Holi are also major festivals here and across the Braj region.
• The Bhagavad Gita is engraved on copper plates along the walls of the parikrama, the path around the main temple.
• Vrindavan, the town linked with Krishna, lies close by.

Questions people ask