BRINDAVAN

   For KRISHNA worshippers, the Brindavan region in Uttar Pradesh has for centuries been one of the main pilgrimage sites, a center for various cultic developments, and the focus of much Vaishnavite devotion. No prayer or song to Krishna will fail to mention it.

   Although born in Mathura, Krishna spent his childhood and young life in the beautiful environs of Brindavan. There he encountered demons of various sorts and defeated them while just a child. There he became the butter thief who stole from all the families in his neighborhood. And it was there that he dallied with the cowherd maidens, the GOPIS, choosing for his favorite RADHA. In Brin-davan a pilgrim can visit, walking barefoot, all the places of Krishna’s young life, and sense firsthand his divine presence.

   CHAITANYA’s followers moved from Bengal to Brindavan to develop their philosophy and path. The region also hosts a center for followers of VALLABHA.

   Further reading: Cornelia Dimmitt and J. A. B. van Buitenen, Classical Hindu Mythology: A Reader in the Sanskrit Puranas (Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1978); David L. Haberman, Journey through the Twelve Forests: An Encounter with Krishna (New York: Oxford University Press, 1994); John Stratton Hawley and Shrivatsa Goswami, At Play with Krishna: Pilgrim-age Dramas from Brindavan (Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1981).