Our Brief Trip to Govardhan & Gokul
Our trip to Gokul and Govardhan was brief. You might say we made a lightning trip to the villages. Some refer to the two places as towns, but they are not much more than glorified villages.
As in most places in Braj Bhoomi, the legends, stories, and myths of Radha and Krishna saturate the towns, so I wondered if the villages only perpetuate the old stories. Pilgrims arrive by droves to pray, especially during important festivals, and many circumambulate the temples or the town itself as part of their ritual devotion. We term this circumambulation as the ‘parikrama.’
We did not do research before visiting Govardhan and Gokul and did not know what to expect. I don’t understand why we visited the towns, and when I try to examine our motivation, I can only say we visited the two places on a whim. So, we hired an autorickshaw and moved around at will. The vehicle was our personal, air-conditioned mode of transport.
Stopping by a tree.
En route, our driver insisted we stop by a large tree, telling us the tree should be a tourist spot, wondering why no one stopped by. I agree that the tree is, or was, magnificent, but we could not get any decent photos. No matter what angle I tried, I could not capture the tree’s magnificence. The cows lounging near the tree did not provide comfort, moving around as though our presence angered them. No matter how much North Indians insist on the cow being our national mother when she gets pissed, she does not hesitate to toss you into the sky and trample you when you land back on earth with a thud.
Cenotaph at Govardhan.
We reached Govardhan first, where Lord Krishna held up a hill with his little finger. Indra, the Vedic God of rain and thunder, was showering the populace with his fury, and Krishna saved the people from Indra’s wrath when he picked up the hill. I’ve given you a version of the story I recall without bothering to check with Google Aunty if my memory is correct.
We first stopped at a magnificent cenotaph built in honor of the Rajput king, Suraj Mal. The sacred pond, Kusum Sarovar, stands in front of the cenotaph. I will not describe the Radha-Krishna story associated with the pond because if I do that, I must do so for every place I visited that day. A Radha-Krishna story is associated with almost every temple or pond (Sarovar) in the region, and people celebrate the divine love story.
We stopped at the Daanghati Temple, which people dedicate to the story of Krishna holding the hill with his little finger. I have my event analysis but cannot verify or discuss it. Some scholars today dispute the theory of an Aryan influx into the northern plains of India. I don’t care about these theories, nor do I believe they apply to society today when we have pressing issues like climate change, growing inequality, and rising social unrest to consider.
Digressing into religious transitions.
However, the Vedic pantheon of gods formed the earliest set of divinities people worshipped. Over centuries, they gave way to the Hindu gods, such as Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva. Krishna is an avatar of Vishnu, and when he held up the hill, I believe it marked a transition from the Vedic gods to the Hindu deities. I don’t know what caused the change, and I don’t care. Once I researched these issues, I realized that transitions happened because one set of priests felt threatened by another set. Buddhism was becoming popular in India many centuries ago, threatening the livelihood of Hindu priests. Buddhism declined in India and spread through China and the Far East. Always follow the money: the money trail offers great insight, which religious mumbo-jumbo obscures.
Time stood still in Gokul.
Krishna and his cousin spent a part of their childhood in Gokul, which is why the town is on the pilgrimage circuit.
Govardhan is the larger of the two towns, or villages, with bustling traffic and people wandering the streets. Most people now carry mobile phones, a significant change from the time when no one had a phone.
People fascinate me, and this interest drives my photography. While I photograph temples and read a bit about them, they don’t arouse any passion in me because I believe priests instill fear and promises of a beautiful afterlife to build their coffers. I admit to being cynical.
We wandered the town, and I looked at people bathing in the waters of various ponds, seeking redemption, a better life when they are reborn, or better years ahead. The old doors retain some of their old magic, but they are rotting, almost collapsing.
Gokul was peaceful, with time coming to a halt, even though we were not traveling at the speed of light. Everyone sat, talking to each other, enjoying the warm river breeze, sitting under the shade of the trees that dotted the place, mulling time as it passed by. Not for them the troubles of the world, geopolitical tensions, or any of that rubbish. I sensed them sitting, almost meditative, not rushing or bustling. They were, as the Buddhists say, mindful, though I doubt they sat meditating mindfully: they sat, not bothered about the passage of time. I loved sitting with the villagers and chewing cud with them. I may have sat longer, but my friend’s stomach rumbled, and our driver desired to return to Vrindavan. No matter how long we sit in silence, the call of the paratha refuses to silence itself, and the restaurant where we planned lunch makes excellent, mouth-watering parathas.
We teach such people and exhort them not to waste the moments as the clock ticks by, but we must learn from humble villagers who refuse to allow the clock to bind them in its iron grip.
A Few Links.
https://www.inditales.com/govardhan-parvat-parikrama-braj-bhumi/
https://chaloghumeindia.wordpress.com/2020/09/30/gokul-the-land-of-krishna/
The Vocabulary of Hinduism. https://messianic-learning.com/beit_midrash/cults_and_religions/world_religions/voc_hinduism.html
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