It was announced that a pilgrimage to Brindavan would be held between 13th and 21st of September, 2008. Having heard so much about this great place from our Guru Maharaj on various different occasions, I immediately registered for the tour. I booked my train tickets and was on board the train.

Let me take you along with me, as I experience the divine bliss of the Yatra….

Day - 1    Day - 2    Day - 3   Day - 4   Day - 5   

   DAY - 3  (Wednesday,Sep 17)
 

The third day of activity started off a little earlier than the earlier two days.

Hari Dev temple is a large temple in Vrindavan Dham. All the 300 of us are fortunate enough to have been housed in this temple during this holy Yatra.

The devotees gathered in the mantap in front of the Hari Dev temple a little earlier than usual and blissfully started the day chanting the Mahamantra. When all of them had gathered, we boarded the buses and headed towards the Govardhan Dham.

On our way to Govardhan Dham which is an hour bus-ride from our camp, we took a small recess for breakfast at Giridhari Gaudiya Math at Govardhan.

This temple was truly a masterpiece in art and architecture. The art all over the temple depicting the life histories of Lord Sri Krishna, Lord Sri Rama and Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu were breathtaking. After having had our breakfast at the basement hall of the temple, we set off to Govardhan Dham.

Soon we were close to Govardhan Dham. We alighted our buses a few kilometers away from the actual Dham, in order to walk the distance, for, it happens to be a part of the holy ‘Vrindavan Parikrama’ path. It was astounding to see all the Sadhus circumambulating the entire Govardhan mountain on the 'Parikrama' path which is around 22 km, by merely rolling on the ground. We were also fortunate to see a Sadhu who performs 'Parikrama' twice everyday!

The divinity and the natural beauty engulfing the area instilled inner peace and bliss in all our hearts. We had Darshan of ‘Sankarshana Thirtha’ that is said to have been created by the ploughshare of Sri Balaram.

The entire troupe transformed into a nice procession with our Guru Maharaj leading in the front, in the form of His portrait and the mission’s banner, amidst mellifluous chanting of the holy Mahamantra.

All through the way, numerous monkeys were seen playing in the nearby ponds and trees dabbling water and jumping hither and thither. It looked as if our simian friends enjoyed listening to the Mahamantra as much as we did, singing it! It took nearly an hour to reach the Govind Kund which was the chosen place for the day’s satsang.

At Govind Kund, Sri Mantramurthi Bhagavata along with the other Bhagavatas, recited the chapters of ‘Govinda Pattabhishekam’ from Srimad Bhagavatam. He then expounded the Govinda Pattabhishekam episode in detail by means of a lecture, elucidating the importance of the Vrindavan Dham and the holy Govardhan who is fondly called as Giriraj Baba in the Vraj.

After the discourse, there was a reverberating session of Nama Kirtan with our Guru Maharaj amidst the devotees.

Then ‘anukaranam’ of Govinda Pattabhishekam was done with puja and offerings of various food items for the Giriraj who is the principal deity of the dham. The devotees also individually participated in the ‘Abhisheka’ during the pooja. There were good showers at that time which made us happy that Giriraj Baba had indeed accepted our pooja!

After a delayed lunch, thanks to the showers, we reached Radha Kund and Shyam Kund which were full of water due to the good seasonal rains. This is the ‘lila sthal’ (place of divine plays) of the Divine Couple made of two adjacent ponds. All the devotees joyfully sprinkled the holy water amongst themselves. The story behind the place was narrated nicely by Sri Balaji Bhagavata.

On the way back to Vrindavan, we stopped by near ‘Kusum Sarovar’ (translates as flower-pond), a beautiful pond surrounded by a palatial temple. It has been said that this was where Sri Krishna decorated Radha Rani with jasmine flowers from the nearby garden and hence the name.

It was already dark when we reached our abode at Vrindaban. After a sumptuous and delicious dinner all of us took rest awaiting the following day’s schedule which is expected to start a bit earlier than usual.

Until then, adios!