A Temple Which Changes Color

However, I believe in extreme power who created this universe and also I loves to visit sacred places not due to the faith but because of the artistry. So, when my colleague and friend told me that he is planning to visit Vrindavan, I decided to join due to two reasons; one I never had the opportunity to visit there in past and second I never drove on Yamuna Expressway. We planned to visit the place on next day i.e. Saturday.

We left around 1:00 pm and took the Yamuna Expressway, the highway is the link between Noida and Agra. The highway is made of international standard and the driving on the highway was tireless, the view on the sides of the highway was beautiful. The clouds in the sky and cold breeze was relaxing the body, mind and eyes. Driving on this highway is completely a different experience.

There was midway established for the refreshment of the travelers. The food and snacks in the restaurant was fresh and delicious. We ordered tea and samosa, which are delicious and quite refreshing. After relaxing there for sometime we resumed our journey.

As this was my first visit on this highway, I skipped the exit towards Vrindavan and Mathura both. By the time I realized it, I already drove for extra 10 km, so need to took a U-Turn to be back on track. During the drive, we stayed for couple of place to rest.

It’s already 6pm, by the time we reach Bankey Bihari Temple (बांके बिहारी मंदिर). Bankey Bihari Mandir is a Hindu temple dedicated to Lord Krishna. Bankey means “bent in three places” and Bihari means “supreme enjoyer”. The image of Lord Krishna stands in the Tribhanga posture. The Temple was established by Swami Haridas, guru of the famous singer Tansen. Swami Haridas originally worshipped this devotional image under the name of Kunj-bihari (“Enjoyer of Lakes”).

We parked the car 2 km away from the temple as there was traffic jam due to the congested streets and huge vehicles. While walking towards the temple, we found there was good number of people, including foreigners, doing Parikrama. Due to the parikrama, the usual road was blocked and we forced to took unpaved road to reach temple. The atmosphere was reverberated with the sound of “Radhe Radhe” from the enthusiastic worshipers. The street was getting narrow as we were reaching the temple. There was heavy crowd inside the temple. While returning from the temple, we stop to drink Lassi. One should not miss the chance to enjoy lassi, rabdi, pede and other sweets of Vrindavan.

After Bankey Bihari Mandir, we went to the Prem Mandir. The real beauty of the temple was visible in the evening when it randomly changes the color. The surrounding of the temple was decorated by many robotic representation of Lord Shri Krishna Leela like Rasleela, Mount Goverdhan Leela, Kalia Naag Leela etc. Prem Mandir is dedicated to Radhaji.

We left the temple around 9 pm with the peace and calm in the mind. The only worried was long drive back to home.