Hills, Highways, Heritages & Hidden Places

Prem Mandir Vridavan, 17th September, 2025.

Last year, we went to Mathura-Vrindavan by car from Panchkula. It was a three-day family trip, where I acted as a car driver too.

My son was only 3 years and 5 months old, so it was my wife who had to act as the conductor while my son was the true passenger, allowed to sleep, play, and pass smiles to the onlookers in passing vehicles.

From Panchkula to Vrindavan

We left early morning at around 7:40 AM from Pachkula. The NH-44 (NH-1, Grand Trunk Road, the Kashmir-Kanyakumari highway are other names) was quite comfortable to drive on. We took a half-hour halt at Golden Hut Restaurant (Umri Chowk, NH1, Kurukshetra, Haryana 136131), from 9:17 AM to 9:40 AM for breakfast. I think it was quite a good experience. There were a few other shops to the right of the restaurant. Few toys caught Peeyush's eye, and I even thought of buying one for him, but then found the main glass door to be closed. The shop was closed for the day. Thankfully, he didn't throw a temper tantrum, and I negotiated with him, saying that I would buy him later in some other shop - partially a white lie because I just wanted to distract him from his current target.

To avoid Delhi's traffic, I bypassed Delhi and Noida entirely by taking the Eastern Peripheral Expressway at Rai, just past Murthal. The 135 km loop took me roughly 1.5 hours to traverse; I joined the expressway at Rai at 12:25 PM and reached the cloverleaf exit on the outskirts of Palwal by 1:55 PM.

Expressway travel requires a sufficient FASTag balance.

FASTag Top-up: Preload ₹1,500 to ensure a sufficient balance for expressway tolls.

Fuel Refill: Purchased ₹1,850 worth of petrol at the Indian Oil station (Kargil Shaheed Lakshman Balyan Filling Station) in Sonipat.

Fuel Rate: Approximately ₹95 per liter (exact price unverified).

As we left the expressway, Peeyush spotted a roadside diesel-powered sugarcane crusher stall. So we took another short halt.

The 6-lane expressways and then a quite good NH-44 made it easy for us to reach Vrindavan at around 4PM.

Vrindavan Stay (17th – 18th September 2025)

Hotel: The Grand ND Resort - Kanha Tulsi Heights
Cost: ₹2,318 per night (I actually paid that day)
Layout & Experience: The property seems to have been originally designed as a residential apartment complex. Consequently, the units are standard 2BHK or 3BHK flats. Since I only required a single bedroom and bathroom, the staff locked the second bedroom while keeping the kitchen and hall accessible.
Location & Proximity: Situated north of Kripalu Ji Maharaj Road and slightly northwest of Prem Mandir.
Pro Tip: The immediate vicinity lacks adequate shops and eateries. If you stay here, it is highly recommended to stock up on water and basic food items beforehand.

Hall with the sofas - inside the flat at The Grand ND Resort - Kanha Tulsi Heights, Vridavan. (17th Sept, 2025)

The kitchen's arrangement is next to the hall.

The bedroom - clicked next morning, 18th Sept 2025.

Corridor just outside the flat

The hotel, the Grand nd resort- Kanha Tulsi Heights, balcony view towards the south

A camera zooms in towards the Prem Mandir from the Hotel Grand ND Resort - Kanha Tulsi Heights.

Tried to locate the river Yamuna Ji from the balcony of Hotel Grand ND Resort - Kanha Tulsi Heights

On September 17th, 2025, to escape the lingering late-summer sun, we checked straight into the hotel room I had booked online during the journey. The property was a converted multi-story residential society—a clever move by owners looking to capitalize on Vrindavan's decade-long tourism boom. At ₹2,500 to ₹3,000 per night, a flat can easily generate ₹80,000 a month. Over an 8-month peak season, that yields upwards of ₹6 lakhs annually—an incredible return for properties that likely cost around ₹30 lakhs in the early 2010s.

The apartment layout proved to be highly comfortable and offered a view of Prem Mandir from the balcony. For the evening, I put together a quick itinerary: Banke Bihari Temple first, the Krishna Balaram (ISKCON) Temple next, and Prem Mandir as our final stop to experience it lit up at night.

Banke Bihari Temple - evening visit

There is a govt multi-level car parking on the Kripalu Maharaj Road, 500 m before the Prem Mandir. Personal vehicles are not allowed beyond. We parked the car in there, and then near the exit of the parking, the electric carts of white color were available, I guess a government-run service it was. The charges were fixed and a minor rate - I think not more than 30 rupees per person. In fifteen minutes, we reached the entry point of the Banke Bihari Temple walkway, and the time was 5:15 PM.

The white electric cart in front of the entry gate of the walkway to the Banke Bihari temple

A young girl offered us a tikka (tilak) on the street, hoping for a bit of money in return

After walking for about ten minutes, we neared the temple.

Within seconds of walking through the gate, Peeyush was tracking every single bright object in sight. When the entire walkway is a sea of colorful toys, trinkets, and flowers, keeping a toddler moving is a real extreme sport. 😂

Another sight of the walkway.

The local shopkeepers there are incredibly persuasive, aggressively pushing you to buy prasad and floral offerings. Personally, I don't feel these items serve a meaningful purpose inside the temple, though if someone has the deep astha and vishwas (faith and belief) that it truly reaches the Almighty, they should certainly buy them. To sweeten the deal, shopkeepers offer to look after your shoes. They sometimes falsely claim there is no government shoe-stand nearby to force a sale—a minor malpractice that has unfortunately become commonplace at major Indian pilgrimage sites, though we didn't let it spoil our mood.

Ultimately, I gave in to the persistent sales pitch and spent ₹250 on a prasad basket, which I later regretted. While I believe deeply in God, my faith is internal; I revere the Divine in my own heart and don't believe God requires material offerings. I suppose I just give in to social pressure too easily.

Navigating the Surge at Banke Bihari

From that point, the main temple entrance was still a two-to-three-minute walk away, a distance we navigated at a snail's pace due to the massive, surging crowd. When we finally managed to reach the core temple area, we saw the police managing the crowd and separating the visitors into distinct queues for men and women. Because Nisha was holding Peeyush in her arms, a police officer kindly pulled her out of the main queue and guided her toward an expedited path to the darshan area.

On the other hand, I would have had to stay in the standard men's line. Realizing it would take me a considerable amount of time to reach the front—forcing Nisha and the baby to wait for me indefinitely on the other side—I decided it wasn't worth the logistical hassle. I stepped out of the queue entirely and found a corner to observe the crowd while waiting for Nisha to emerge. The main deity of Banke Bihari Ji (Lord Krishna) is only visible from directly inside the darshan area, but I made peace with missing it this time. Before long, Nisha returned, and we made our way through the exit walkway back toward the shop where we had left our shoes. In total, the entire process from entry to exit took us about 20 minutes.

Photography was prohibited in the Banke Bihari Temple area, so I have no photos to share of the same.

As we exited the temple, we collected our shoes and walked towards the main road. By then, I guess my tilak couldn't withstand the steady downflow of sweat, as it had completely washed away.

We only had to wait about two to three minutes at the gate before catching an electric cart heading back in the direction of Prem Mandir.

Next Stop: The Balaram (ISKCON) Temple.

Right next door to Prem Mandir is another gorgeous property—the ISKCON Temple (often called the Balaram Temple). Since it was right there, we got off the e-cart right at the gates and headed inside to explore

Balram Temple (ISKCON) Vrindavan, 17th September 2025

As I have noticed at their other locations, ISKCON temples are well-managed. The complete absence of chaos and aggressive prasad sellers provided a welcome breather after our earlier experience. We leisurely explored the various chambers of the temple, spending about 30 minutes inside. In one particular section, visitors were encouraged to chant the Mahamantra—"Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama Hare Hare"—108 times. The ritual involves walking along a circular balcony, chanting the mantra once on each of the 108 steps. While it was a unique and engaging experience, it turned out to be quite hectic with Peeyush in my arms; he was growing impatient with our slow pace in the oppressive heat.

view from the road- Balram Temple (ISKCON) Vrindavan, 17th September 2025

At around 6:55 PM, we were outside the temple. It was easy to collect our shoes back with a well-managed tokenized system. Then we thought of walking towards the Prem Mandir.

An Evening at the Prem Mandir, Vrindavan

The temple is known for its beauty in its craft, its size, the intricate designs on the walls, the grand view from all sides, and the nighttime color play engineered beautifully. I read online that it was Jagadguru Kripali Ji Maharaj who laid the foundation stone of the temple in 2001 and subsequently got it finished within a decade. The temple cost around 150 crores rupees, $23 million USD, at that time.

Let me share with you the photos I clicked while experiencing the changing colors of the temple.

We saw a mega food court inside the Prem Mandir complex, but we only bought water bottles as we were not very hungry yet. The location was somewhat away from the crowd, so we sat there for a while before leaving.

Dinner and Back to the Hotel

By the time we headed out of the temple around 8:00 PM, we were in great spirits and really happy with everything we’d seen. We started walking back toward the multi-level parking and ended up stopping halfway to grab dinner at a roadside eatery. From there, we headed straight back to the room and went to sleep—nothing fancy, just a quiet end to the night. The next morning woke up to a beautifully cloudy sky. I was so relieved, knowing those clouds meant we’d get a break from the intense heat for the day ahead.

Peeyush is always the last person to wake up.

Mathura Temple - Krishna Janamsthan

The next morning, on 18th Sep 2025, at around 7 AM, we exited the hotel. The next target was Shri Krishna Janam Bhumi.

As we waited at the reception for the hotel manager to mark our exit.

As it stands today, Mathura and Vrindavan have only about two or three kilometers of open farmland left between them. I wonder how long it will stay this way. If buildings and houses completely take over that remaining empty stretch, it’s going to be impossible to tell where Mathura ends and Vrindavan begins. They might have a clear border line on a map, but on the ground, they will completely merge into one big city.

We reached the Shri Krishna Janamsthan in no time. It was early morning, and there was ample parking space available. Only 2-3 other cars were there, while I guess the space was available for 20-30 cars.

It is advised to keep your mobile phones and other things in your car. Check the map image below, follow the yellow arrows I have drawn for the parking. Then you can walk from here, along the green arrows which follow the road to the main gate. The Potra Kund is visible from the road itself. The police security is available at the main gate and also at the other places of the mega complex.

Visiting this place was truly a profound experience. As a child, I was an ardent viewer of Ramanand Sagar’s Shri Krishna on DD National, and standing here brought those vivid childhood memories flooding back. The iconic scene of Vasudeva Ji carrying baby Krishna out of the prison cell and across the surging Yamuna River felt completely alive in my mind. The complex itself is remarkably clean and well-organized, offering a peaceful atmosphere free from chaotic crowds or any sense of unease.

Behind the high walls of the main prison structure—marking the actual birthplace—lies the disputed mosque area, the red boundary. Shahi Eidgah Mosque in Mathura was built in 1670 AD under the orders of the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb. Historical records suggest the mosque was built upon the area that originally carried a huge temple of red sandstone. I wish the temple were still alive in its original form.

In its current form, it is still quite beautiful, and because it is completely shielded from view from inside the temple complex, it doesn't detract from the spiritual serenity of the visit. I carried no phone because it wasn't allowed, hence I left it in the car, so no photos were taken. I wish I could spend some more time there, but I had plans to visit Raman Reti and then reach Delhi by evening.

Raman Reti:

Following Google Maps' suggestion, we took a shortcut from the Krishna Janmabhoomi complex to reach the Gokul Barrage bridge. Crossing over the Yamuna River, this bridge serves as the boundary between Aurangabad and Gokul, guiding us toward our next destination: Shri Raman Bihariji Mandir. This sacred site is widely revered as the place where infant Krishna used to play in the sand along the riverbanks, which is why the reti (sand) here is considered holy. We arrived at Raman Reti around 9:00 AM, finding a large parking lot situated right near the entrance. The approach to the main temple area is lined with beautifully maintained, lush green trees, making our walk into the complex incredibly relaxing and peaceful.

What made the temple so nice to visit was its sheer simplicity—there was none of that typical, loud drama from pushy prasad sellers. We took our time wandering around, walking right on the holy sand.

Before arriving, I'd been advised to ignore anyone acting like a priest and asking for donations, since a lot of them aren't real pandits and are just looking for a handout. Sure enough, someone came up to us and tried the same routine, talking aggressively and deceptively, but I was able to send him packing. Other than that one annoying moment, the trip there was fantastic.

We skipped going deeper into the main Gokul village to see the Shri Nanda Yashoda Bhavan this time around. Instead, on our way back to the car, we stopped by the deer park situated right across the road from the Raman Reti entrance, where the deer roam in a massive open space.

After watching them for a bit, we jumped back in the car and let Google Maps navigate us through a shortcut to NH-530B, which got us straight onto the Yamuna Expressway.

New Delhi

On September 18, 2026, after visiting the Raman Bihariji Temple at Raman Reti and Shri Krishna Janmabhoomi in Mathura during the morning, I set off for New Delhi around noon. Thanks to a smooth drive along the Yamuna Expressway, we reached New Delhi in about three hours, arriving around 3 PM.

As a stranger to the city, navigating these roads would have been challenging without Google Maps, but it led us straight to Hotel Admire Inn on Eastern Avenue Road in New Friends Colony. Having pre-booked our stay, check-in was seamless, and we took some time to rest. The room was average, and the bathroom felt a bit dated, but considering Delhi's high hotel rates, it was reasonable enough.

A Visit to the Lotus Temple — and a Broken Sandal

Wanting to spare myself the hassle of city traffic, I left the car parked at the hotel and opted for an auto-rickshaw ride instead. We reached the Lotus Temple around 4 PM. The afternoon sun was beaming through scattered clouds, making it quite warm, so we carried an umbrella for the walk from the entrance gate to the main shrine. We snapped photos from several angles, though the temple’s striking symmetry looks remarkably beautiful from every side.

However, our visit got cut short when Nisha's sandals broke because someone with a heavy foot accidentally stepped on them from the side.

I would partly blame the breakage on the poor material of the sandals, but in any case, we had to find new ones. So we hopped onto another three-wheeler and, on Google Maps, the best possible nearby place that the three-wheeler rider suggested to us was Delhi Haat Craft Industries/Manufacturers/Exporters Wholesale Dealer.

To be honest, it was my first time visiting a shop where every item was claimed to be handcrafted. Since it hadn't been part of our original plan—and we only needed a basic, affordable pair of sandals because Nisha was walking barefoot—the high prices caught us off guard. Even the simplest options were priced well over ₹500. After browsing for a bit, we managed to find a pair within a somewhat reasonable range.

Humayun's Tomb and Museum

Once Nisha had her sandals, we hailed another auto-rickshaw to head toward Humayun’s Tomb. It was my first time visiting, so I had no prior idea of the layout, and our auto driver wasn't quite sure where to drop us off either. He accidentally drove past the entrance, missing it by about a hundred meters. Luckily, I checked Google Maps and guided him back to the drop-off point right near the ticket counter for the World Heritage Site.

We purchased tickets for both the museum and the tomb. Visiting Humayun's Tomb Museum hadn't been in our original plan since I was completely unaware of it, but the underground facility and overall layout turned out to be surprisingly impressive. The best part was that the massive underground complex offered a welcome escape from the heat. The immersive, curved video screen was another highlight, giving the sensation of flying right over the tomb complex.

The exit at the far end of the museum led us under the road and straight into the main tomb grounds. With closing time approaching, we headed directly to Humayun's Tomb itself, successfully ticking another iconic spot off our itinerary.

It was almost dusk when the security guards asked everyone to head toward the exit. By the time we walked out of the main entrance and reached the Sabz Burj traffic circle, streetlights and headlights were already glowing. I booked an Uber, which picked us up at 6:50 PM and dropped us off at The Hotel Divine Inn by 7:22 PM—thankfully putting us back at the hotel in just about 30 minutes. Mathura Road must not have been too congested, which was a relief; I once drove from Qutub Minar to Burari starting around 7:00 PM, and that journey took over three hours.

On the Last Day: Visiting Sunder Nursery and the Old Fort of Delhi

The final day of our trip, September 19, 2025, began early around 6:30 AM. The sun had already risen, hovering just above the dome of the Gurudwara Nanak Satsang Sabha, which was visible right from our hotel window. The gurudwara sits a few meters south on the opposite side of Eastern Avenue Road.

We quickly wrapped up our morning routines and checked out of the hotel within half an hour. Our itinerary for the day was simple:

Sunder Nursery — for a quiet dose of green and peaceful surroundings.
The Old Fort (Purana Qila) — to explore some rich history.

Sunder Nursery was truly sunder (beautiful), and surprisingly, it was almost completely deserted. It felt as though this vast, lush paradise was ours alone. We strolled past the wooden burj, along the water channels and quiet ponds, before following bamboo-shaded paths to a play area. We paused there for Peeyush to play—he headed straight for the slides, then tried out a swing made of a mini rassi palang (roped cot) suspended by heavy ropes. Afterward, we stopped at a small eatery for tea and patties; we noticed two such spots within the gardens.