Vraja Mandala Parikrama

Since 1986, the Vraja Mandala Parikrama has been a major highlight in Sri Vrindavan Dhama. This one-month tour offers a special opportunity to visit many holy tirthas of Vraja. Accompanied by expert guides, devotees walk along the same route taken by Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu when He visited Sri Vrindavan Dhama. They achieve full experience of twelve forests of Vraja.

With many many years of involvement in Parikrama, the directors of pilgrimage ensure that the greatest amount of time is used in pursuit of spiritual inspiration. Devotees have a choice of either camping with the parikrama group or taking one of the jeeps that leave from Krishna Balaram Mandir every morning to meet up with the procession. A nice morning program beginning with Mangal arati at 4:30 A.M. marks the beginning of an auspicious day. Twenty expert cooks from Mayapur come to ensure that the prasadam meals at 9:30 A.M. and 3:30 P.M. are delicious and nutritious. Volunteers set up camp ahead of time and there is also an incamp doctor to see to the good health of everyone.

Vraja Mandala Parikrama is an experience that benefits all devotees. To quote Sri Vrindavan Mahimamrita, “In this beginningless world of repeated birth and death how many times have you not suffered in hell and how many times have you not relished pleasures that eclipse the happiness of Brahma, Indra and other demigods? My friend, in this one body do not consider happiness or distress, but simply worship the supreme transcendental abode, Sri Vrindavan.”

visit also Vraja Darshan tours

Braja Mandala

The lotus of Braja Mandala resembles the planet Goloka Vrindavan in the spiritual sky. There are twelve forests, known as vans, and twenty-four groves, known as upavans. The twelve forests are Madhuvan, Talavan, Kumudvan, Bahulavan, Kamavan, Khadiravan, Vrindavan, Bhadravan, Bhandiravan, Belvan, Lohavan, and Mahavan. The twenty-four groves are Gokul, Govardhan, Barsana, Nandagram, Sanket, Paramadra, Aring, Sessai, Mat, Uchagram, Kelvan, Sri Kund, Gandharvavan, Parsoli, Bilchhu, Bacchavan, Adibadri, Karahla, Ajnokh, Pisaya, Kokilavan, Dadhigram, Kotvan, and Raval.

All of these places share in Lord Krishna’s absolute nature. If the pilgrim can visit at least one of them in the proper spirit, he receives the benefit of visiting them all. In fact, the whole Mathura-Vrindavan region is so spiritually powerful that the mere desire to go there is liberating. “If a man decides in his mind, ‘I will go live in Mathura’, he will be freed from the wheel of samsara simply by having such thoughts.” (Mathura Mahatmya)

With a pure heart let me worship Vrajabhumi, which is the form of sweetness of meditation on Sri Krishna, which is eternal, transcendental, blissfull, and peerless, and which, although it cannot be understood by ordinary people, is easily understood by its residents. (Vraja-rita-cintamani)

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