Last Updated on: 20th February 2026, 10:17 am
Vrindavan and Mathura in the state of Uttar Pradesh aren’t your typical tourist destinations. Said to be the birthplace and hometown of Krishna, the twin towns are religious pilgrimage spots where temple hopping is pretty much the only thing to do (with the main exception being the excellent Government Museum in Mathura).
But whether or not you would consider yourself a Krishna devotee, there’s no denying the historical and cultural importance of Vrindavan and Mathura.
As far as I can tell, this is the only guide to Vrindavan and Mathura written by someone who’s A) a foreigner and B) a person not associated with ISKCON (The Hare Krishna Movement). So if you’re staying in nearby Agra and debating whether or not to visit as a day trip, this guide will help you know what to expect.
But before visiting these towns, it’s imperative that you have a basic understanding of Krishna and the legends surrounding him.
Who Was Krishna?
Krishna was first mentioned in The Mahabharata epic, a story that’s difficult to date due to it having existed in oral form for centuries before its transcription. But it might’ve appeared as early as the 5th century BC.
While Krishna, who’s described as a divine being, plays a major role in the story, he’s not quite the main character. Rather, The Mahabharata stars the five Pandava brothers who are Krishna’s cousins.
The most famous and significant chapter of the epic, however, does indeed involve Krishna. The Bhagavad Gita is a conversation between Krishna and Arjuna (one of the five Pandavas) that takes place right before the Battle of Kurukshetra. In the Gita, Krishna explains the importance of acting without attachment, how to practice devotion, and various explanations about the nature of Ultimate Reality.
Krishna’s backstory doesn’t get explained in The Mahabharata, but his early years do come up in an appendix to the epic known as the Harivamsa, compiled sometime between the 100 BC-100 AD. The stories were then greatly expanded in the Bhagavata Purana, which dates to the 9th or 10th century AD.
According to legend, Krishna was born in Mathura to Devaki and Vasudeva. But according to a prophecy told to Devaki’s brother, a tyrant ruler named Kamsa, he would eventually be killed by a child born to her. Kamsa then vowed to kill any of Devaki’s newborn children. And so after Krishna’s birth, Vasudeva secretly carried the infant across the Yamuna River, leaving him with the cowherds Nanda and Yashoda in nearby Vrindavan.
Numerous stories about Krishna’s early childhood in Vrindavan depict him as a mischievous prankster. Nevertheless, the locals can’t resist his magnetic charm. And as he matures, the gopis (milkmaids) become infatuated with him, with Radha emerging as his principal consort.
The stories involving Krishna and the gopis are widely considered to hold deeper spiritual truths. In the Rasalila, for example, the gopis are drawn to the sound of Krishna’s divine flute and escape from their homes at night to be closer to him.
Krishna playfully hides and reappears, but then multiplies himself so that each of the gopis can experience his presence.
Other versions of the story largely focus on Krishna and Radha, with Radha symbolizing a supreme devotee. The Rasalila is a cornerstone of what Hindus call Bhakti Yoga, or the ‘Yoga of Devotion.’
In the legends, Krishna eventually returns to Mathura and overthrows Kamsa. He then becomes king of the Yadavas and creates a new capital called Dwaraka in present-day Gujarat.
While Dwaraka and other locations featured in the legends of Krishna remain pilgrimage spots for his devotees, Vrindavan and Mathura are the most popular.
Krishna is typically described as an avatar of Vishnu who descended to earth in human form. But there are a number of Krishna devotees – especially followers of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) – who consider Krishna to be the Supreme Godhead.
A Brief Guide to Vrindavan
Temples in Vrindavan are typically open from 5:00 am until noon, before opening again at 16:00. Knowing this, I woke up extra early at 5:30 am. I decided to just take an Uber from Agra to Vrindavan, eventually taking a bus back to Agra from Mathura.
I started with Vrindavan’s southernmost temple, Shri Pagal Baba Temple, with the one-way journey costing me around Rs 1700 (plus 100 rupees for toll).
Shri Pagal Baba Temple
Historic Vrindavan is situated along the Yamuna River. But a lot of the larger and more elaborate temples are newer ones built outside of the old district. Shri Pagal Baba is one such temple.
Constructed in 1969, the temple was established by Pagal Baba, a former judge. Built of marble, it stands at 67 m high, and the towering main structure almost appears like a castle.
The lower level features a ‘Krishna Gallery’ which contains numerous mannequins of characters from the legends of Krishna.
While photographs are forbidden within most Indian temples, I was given permission to photograph the gallery. Access to the temple itself is free, but this gallery costs ten rupees to enter.
As I was walking around the outer courtyard, it was still very early and few visitors were present. A priest gave me a big smile and told me to follow him. The next thing I knew, I was carrying out a short ritual for which I was inevitably asked for a donation.
I should’ve known better, as it’s not the first time this has happened. But my guard was down, as I was expecting a friendly and laidback town along the lines of Ujjain or Nashik.
Unfortunately, as this experience and later ones would prove, Vrindavan is much more like Pushkar and Varanasi in regards to its scams and overall hassle.
Prem Mandir
Vrindavan’s major temples are quite spread out. My next destination was Prem Mandir, which took around thirty minutes on foot from Shri Pagal Baba Temple. Of course, I could’ve just taken a taxi, but I wanted to get a feel for the city by walking.
Unfortunately, I wouldn’t make it inside Prem Mandir. Bags (and of course, cameras) are totally forbidden inside, which is something I was aware of in advance. The problem was the total lack of proper security at the local luggage storage booths.
I didn’t feel safe leaving my DSLR on what was essentially an open table, so I just snapped a few pics outside the temple and moved on.
Prem Mandir is a rather new temple, with construction only having finished in 2012. The main temple sits within a massive 55-acre complex and features two levels – one dedicated to Krishna and Radha, and the other to Rama and Sita.
It was outside Prem Mandir that I had my first encounter with groups of women who try to apply a religious paint known as tilak to passersby, after which they’ll demand a donation. While this is fairly common in India, I’d never encountered such aggressive behavior as I did here.
Several will crowd around you at once and refuse to take ‘no’ for an answer. One woman even got paint all over my cheek despite my repeated refusals. I soon realized that pulling out my camera was the only thing that would make them scurry away.
The ISKCON Temple
One of the main highlights of Vrindavan today is the local ISKCON Temple, which is officially known as Sri Sri Krishna Balaram Mandir. The temple is open to all, and plenty of Indians and foreigners who aren’t members of ISKCON make a stop here.
In case you’re unaware, ISKCON, which is also commonly known as the ‘Hare Krishna Movement,’ is an organization founded by Swami Prabhupada in 1966. We won’t be getting into the group’s history, nor some of the controversies that have surrounded them in the West, in this article.
As one might expect, ISKCON maintains elaborate temples in various locations throughout India that are associated with Krishna.
In addition to Vrindavan, you can also find major ISKCON temples in Dwaraka and Kurukshetra. But they’re such a large organization that they have plenty of other temples throughout the country as well.
Interestingly, their headquarters are actually located in Mayapur, West Bengal – a town that doesn’t appear in any of the Krishna legends.
The reason they’re based in Mayapur is for its association with the 16th-century saint Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, a Krishna devotee who popularized Krishna worship at the time. Many of ISKCON’s rituals and chants are directly modeled after Chaitanya’s.
Furthermore, ISKCON members even regard Chaitanya himself as a direct incarnation of Krishna. While it sounds paradoxical, they say that Krishna incarnated as his own follower in order to set an example of the ideal devotee.
Notably, Swami Prabhupada also hailed from West Bengal.
Wandering Vrindavan's Old City
As you approach the Yamuna River, you’ll find the streets getting narrower and narrower, and it’s rather easy to get lost in the labyrinthine alleyways. Sadly, many of them are filled with trash.
As mentioned, I woke up extra early to get to Vrindavan before the temples closed at noon. But it wasn’t long before Holi at the time of my visit.
While celebrated all over India, Holi is associated with Krishna and his playful interactions with the gopis, so it’s not surprising that Vrindavan gets swamped with visitors this time of year. And given all the crowds, I didn’t end up visiting any of the temples located in Vrindavan’s old district.
Interestingly, Vrindavan only really sprang up as a major pilgrimage center in the 16th century during the time of Chaitanya (see above), and many of the oldest temples here date to that time.
Sadly, many of the temples were later looted or destroyed by Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb in the late 17th century. And to this day, some of the most prominent Krishna idols can actually be found in Jaipur, Rajasthan, as they were moved there at the time for safety.
Aside from throngs of devotees, you’re bound to run into some monkeys during your time in Vrindavan. Macaques, of course, are a fairly common sight throughout India, and it’s not uncommon for them to steal food or drinks from passersby.
But in Vrindavan, they’ll go as far as stealing people’s random possessions! Apparently, they’ve learned that if they steal something and carry it up to a rooftop, humans may try to barter with them by offering food.
And why hasn’t anything been done about the situation? Well, macaques are strongly associated with Hanuman, an important character in the Ramayana. And Rama is associated with Krishna due to them both being incarnations of Vishnu.
Local authorities, therefore, let the monkeys do as they please, and some locals believe that having something stolen by a Vrindavan monkey can even lighten one’s karmic load.
That’s one myth I hope is true. As I was walking through the streets, a monkey actually ran up from behind me, jumped on my back and stole my hat right off my head! It then started chewing on it, so I had no desire to get it back.
Along the Yamuna River
No visit to Vrindavan is complete without seeing the Yamuna River, which appears in many of the stories of Krishna’s early life.
As for what there is to do at the river, one option is to take a scenic boat ride. But as a foreigner, the few boat owners I spoke with were quoting me exorbitant prices, and I decided to just walk along the river instead.
Before long, I’d decided that I’d had enough of Vrindavan, and so I decided to head onward to Mathura. To get there from Vrindavan, you can head to the Vrindavan Bus Stand. The ride to Mathura, some 15 km away, takes roughly twenty minutes.
A Brief Guide to Mathura
The bus should drop you off relatively close to Janam Bhumi, an elaborate temple situated at Krishna’s supposed birthplace. Krishna was actually said to have been born in prison, as his parents were being held in captivity by the evil Kamsa.
This is another temple where no bags of any kind are allowed inside. And again, proper security was completely lacking at the nearby luggage storage, and so I didn’t up going inside.
The Mathura Government Museum
While well off the common pilgrimage trail, visitors to Mathura should be sure to check out the excellent Government Museum.
A ticket along with a photography pass costs just Rs 45, but only cellphone photography is allowed. The museum is open from 10:30 to 16:30 daily except Mondays and some holidays.
Thus far, we’ve only discussed Mathura in relation to the legends of Krishna. But even with that association aside, Mathura is still a historically important place.
Inhabited since at least the 12th century BC, in the 6th century BC it became the capital of the Surasena Kingdom (of which Kamsa was king, according to the legend, though no historical accounts of him have been found).
Later on, after the Maurya Empire had spread Buddhism across South Asia, Mathura long thrived as a major Buddhist center.
It rose to special prominence under the Kushan Empire, a vast empire that spread from northern India all the way into parts of modern-day Afghanistan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan. The empire lasted from the 1st to 4th centuries AD.
The Kushans made it one of their capitals, and Mathura became a major center of Buddhist art and sculpture, many examples of which are on display at the museum.
(Notably, the style developed concurrently with Gandhara sculpture, a region also controlled by the Kushans at the time. But Gandhara art shows a much stronger Greek influence.)
The very first reliefs depicting Krishna date to the 1st or 2nd century AD, many of which are on display at this museum. But Mathura would only rise as a major Vaishnava center after the fall of the Kushans, mainly during the Gupta era (4th-6th centuries AD).
All in all, the Mathura Government Museum, which I largely had to myself, made for a pleasant end to what was a rather stressful day.
While numerous trains run from Mathura to Agra, I found it easiest to just head to Mathura’s New Bus Stand to take a direct bus from there.
Additional Info
All in all, I found Vrindavan to be a frustrating and disappointing place to visit. Especially if I’m to compare it with my visits to other holy cities like Ujjain, Nashik, and especially Kurukshetra.
Vrindavan is filthy, while the beggars, touts, and even the monkeys are out of control. But how could such a holy city fall to such a state?
Curious, I did some online searching to see what other people had to say. As expected, I’m far from alone in my thoughts, with plenty of foreigners and Indians alike decrying the terrible state of the city and some of its inhabitants.
But I’ve also come across ISKCON members defending it. Their reasoning is that Vrindavan is eternally pure, as Krishna remains there performing his divine lilas day after day. The grime and filth that people see, they say, are actually illusory, and only pure-hearted devotees can see Vrindavan as the paradise it was in Krishna’s time.
Ironically, the ISKCON temple there was spotlessly clean. So by using the same logic, it should be fine to just fill it up with trash then, right? But to be fair, I’ve also come across blogs by ISKCON members acknowledging what a dump Vrindavan has become, while also offering practical solutions.
Hopefully, Vrindavan gets cleaned up sometime in the future, but I wouldn’t hold my breath. For now, I would highly recommend visiting Kurukshetra in the state of Haryana instead. I found that town, which is where the Bhagavad Gita was recited, to be much cleaner, quieter, and friendlier than Vrindavan.
Unsurprisingly, the desirability of a hotel’s location in Agra is based on its proximity to the Taj Mahal (but there are, of course, plenty of other sites to see around town).
Just be careful, because lots of places will exaggerate how close they really are. Before confirming your booking, carefully read through reviews and also do some measurements yourself using Google Maps.
I ended up staying at Friends Guest House, which offers budget-friendly, comfortable rooms. They also have a rooftop restaurant, though you will have to walk around for quite a bit to find real (non-instant) coffee.
Though it was a little bit further from the Taj Mahal than I expected, it was still walkable.
Other highly-rated places near the Taj Mahal include The Vacation Villa Agra, Sheela Homestay, and Hotel Shyam Palace.
Agra is one of the easiest places in India to reach by train, with well over a dozen direct trains departing from Delhi each day. The journey takes just a few hours.
Trains connecting Agra with Jaipur are also abundant, with the journey lasting around four hours.
You can also reach Agra directly from cities like Kota, Bhopal, Mumbai, and even Chennai, among many others.
Like many cities in India, Agra has multiple railway stations, but most people will want to arrive at either Agra Cantonment or Agra Fort stations.
If you’re doing a long trip through India, it’s best to create an account on the official Indian Railways (IRCTC) website. But that’s much easier said than done!
If you’re just doing a shorter trip, it’s best to book train tickets through 12GoAsia. You’ll pay a significantly higher fee, but it’s a much smoother experience.
The above link is an affiliate link, but I did use 12GoAsia a few times before I got my IRCTC account set up and I had no issues.