Vrindavan the religious weekend getaway

Since childhood I am visiting Vrindavan, and never got bored of the place. It is a perfect weekend destination from Delhi. Many people visit Vrindavan on Saturday and Sunday. Most of the time, I too have visited Vrindavan in weekends. The place is crowded. There are cows, people walking all over the road with murmuring Hare Ram Hare Ram Ram Ram Hare Hare, Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare. There are locals, tourists, foreigners all singing the same tune. On the Delhi Mathura road turn left when you enter Mathura and Vrindavan the city of Lord Krishna comes. And the most beautiful and I must say the neatest temple of Vrindavan welcomes you Iskcon Temple which is maintained by a trust and the place where you can find maximum amount of foreigners’ devotee of Lord Krishna. The entire temple is in white marbles and the priest here also wear white dhotis. In the morning whenever I have visited I have always enjoyed the Arti. Every priest dances along with playing different music instruments like flute, dhol and many more. The Radha Krishna Murti is amazingly beautiful here. After praying we always go to the next stop which Bakabihari Mandir. The most important part here is all the temples exclusive of 2 or 3 temples get close at 1200pm and reopens in the evening around 4.00pm so every devotee here is in the rush to visit the famous temples before 12, which is the basic reason of rush and crowd in every temple.

Bakabihari Temple is the famous and the oldest of the temples. The sweets shops welcome you in front of the gate of the temple. There is not a big gate; it’s a small path entering inside the temple. This temple is famous for the statue of Bakabihari which is one of the avatar of Lord Krishna. There is a curtain in front of the statue, as it is said that Lord Krishna comes here once in a day, so after every 5minutes they place the curtain open and then close so that the devotees can also offer their prayer. This is the temple where priest takes lots of money for doing some rituals for the devotees. Which personally I don’t like, I still remember once a priest made us so angry as he was forcing us to give him some donation for doing a particular kind of ritual so that we can be happy. It was ridiculous. This temple gets lakhs of donations through its devotees.

Then offering our prayers it’s the time for Mathura’s famous kachori. We always enjoy the kachori whenever we visit Vrindavan. My favorite temple is the one where the raslila takes place in the night. It’s a park and in between the park is the small temple. It is said that Lord Krishna daily in the night along with Radha dance and perform Raslila in the ground. So nobody is allowed to stay inside the temple or the park after 8pm. Infact there are stories that few people who have tried to stay here in the night where not to be found the next day.

We have also visited the ghat where Lord Krishna has stolen the clothes of Gopi’s and hanged them on the tree. It’s in the place Imli Tala, and the ghat is the Yamuna Ghat. The tree is standing there proudly where Lord Krishna had put the Gopi’s clothes.

There are so many places in Vrindavan which are not known, only 3 places are famous and so all the devotees come and pay their offerings here. However we once stayed for 4 days in our Guruji’s temple and he took us to the tour of Vrindavan, and I must say I was the lucky one to see the places which are not famous and people are not aware about. Places like the river from where Lord Krishna’s father brought him in the basket from Mathura to Gokul, Mera’s temple, the place where Lord Krishna used to do Ras Lila and play with his friends known as Gokuls, the Govardhan Parvat, The fort where Lord Krishna’s parents were captured and he took birth and many to go. I think every person should visit these places rather of giving donations to the places where the priest are greedy, donate here.

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Shahpura Bagh Bhilwara an offbeat getaway from Delhi

Shahpura Bagh Hotel is one of the oldest hotels in Rajasthan and was once the home to the Shahpura rulers however now it has been turned into a luxury accommodation. An oasis in the middle of the desert, the Shahpura Bagh weekend destination from Delhi is set in the heart of a network of 250 lakes. The nearest lake is full of white lotuses and the sunsets here are beautiful. Beautiful gardens surround the property and the haveli is pristine white, iridescent in the heat. This is a perfect refined retreat decorated with all usual ingredients like period furniture, four poster beds, high ceilings, portraits of the royalty, the works. But what wins you over is the incredible sense of space, the tastefully, lovingly done up spaces, personal attention, homemade food and the fact that all rooms open to green, green gardens.

You can look forward to accommodation sweeter than home at the Shahpura Bagh Hotel, Bhilwara. There are a total of 5 suites and 4 deluxe guest rooms within the premises. Each of them is absolutely special in their own way. They uphold a unique combination of conventional décor and contemporary facilities and are extremely comfortable. Once here, you can surely stay fresh and rejuvenated all through your trip.

Dining at the Shahpura Bagh Hotel, Bhilwara will be no less than a grand meal. The décor comprises ornately carved furniture and curious artifacts. Amidst all this you can enjoy the choicest of Indian dishes especially scrumptious Rajasthan food in the hotel's dining room. Everything from the setting of the place to the dishes and even the way in which the food is served is far removed from ordinary. The food is prepared out of fresh ingredients and even the recipes are typical to the hotel itself. You can get both vegetarian and non vegetarian items. As a matter of fact you also enjoy the liquor of your choice with your meal and end your feast with traditional Indian dessert. Tea and refreshments are also served at the dining room of the Shahpura Bagh Hotel.

You can enjoy the picnics, fishing and boating on the lakes with ample sundowners. The surrounding wetlands are a birdwatcher's paradise while the region is also rich with heritage and history – explore forts, palaces and temples

Find Driving Direction from Delhi to Rajasthan here

Camp Potters Hill Shimla offbeat getaway from Delhi

When I visited Naldehra in Shimla I also went to Camp Potters Hill as I have heard about it a lot and wanted to see with my own eye that tents and the valley was really beautiful or not. But to my surprise yes it was really outstanding. I went alone to see the resort while my family was busy shopping on the famous Mall of Shimla. The Camp Potters offer the luxury tent. And here I seriously mean luxury. At Camp Potters Hill, the eco-friendly approach goes beyond responsible nature conservation to include the manner in which the establishment is built and run. Here, you are in the lap of nature and there are many bird species, which one gets to spot very easily like the Pheasant, Koel, Khaliz, and the Blue Magpie. This is what I was attracted to the eco friendly approach. Their main idea is to enjoy a combination of Eco tourism, leisure and adventure activities.

One of the staff helped me to view the tent and the cottages. They had 11 cottages and 8 tents. The Cottages were pretty good and well furnished and they had a small verandah where one can enjoy the nature. I liked the cottage much better than the tents but the tents were little cozy. They were also offering games like chess, cricket, basketball, rock climbing, Burma Bridge, Commando Rope Walk, Valley Crossing and on request they also arranged for rafting at Tattapani which was 50kms away. I would have loved to do one. In the night they offer barbeque and born fire where people also enjoy and dance with their family and friends. They also had conference room in Himachal style however well equipped.

In total I found it pretty good, may be next holiday for relaxation would be this place.

Find Driving Directions to Shimla here.