Monday 21 May 2012

Braj 84 Kos Yatra

 Shri Braj Chaurasi (84) Kos Yatra
Till the time I was not been to this Yatra, I thought that it must revolved around 84 mandirs. In ancient times to measure the distance (Kos) was used instead of kilometers. So, actually 84 Kos means 252 kilometers in total covering  pilgrimage comprises Vrindavan, with its 12 vanas (forests), 24 upvanas (groves), the sacred hill Govardhan, the divine River Yamuna, numerous holy places along its banks and Mathura (birth place of Lord Krishna), Mahavan, Baldeo, Kusum Sarovar, Barsana & Nandgaon  is undertaken annually by lakhs of devotees from faraway places.
We reached Vrindavan at 5:30 P.M. We visited all the famous local mandirs of Vrindavan the very same day comprising of bainke bihari mandir, vallabh bhai mandir, nidhivan etc. The precaution to be taken care is be aware of local monkeys as they snatch everything from you. Even if you are wearing glasses put them in your pockets while roaming in the streets of Varindavan.
In Vrindavan one would get a lot many choices of hotels (best recommended is Asharams). The best amongst are Iskon Temple Ashram (do the bookings in advance in the period of heavy rush) and Mata Vaishno Devi Mandir Ashram (the best place you will ever get to stay).
We started in Innova for  84 Kos Yatra early morning next day from Parikarma Marg in Varindavan.
DAY 1: The itinerary for the first day is as follows:
1.     Radha rani Mansarover Kund
2.     Bheem Gaon
3.     Ganesh Bagh
4.     Raya to Karavbandhi
5.     Anadi
6.     Beldevji
7.     Dauji
8.     Shir Sagar Sanaan
9.     Bajdev se Chintaharan
10.                     Sakshi gopal
11.                     Brahan Ghat
12.                     Ukal Bandhan
13.                     84 kamba
14.                     Putna Vad
15.                     Ramanreti
16.                     Dwaradish
17.                     Krishan janam bhumi
From Mathura we came to Govardhan for overnight stay. One can get a lot many places to stay in Govardhan. If you want to stay in Mathura, then also you will get good options. To reduce our second day’s journey, we preferred to reach Govardhan.  
DAY 2:  The itinerary for the second day is as follows:
1.     Goverdhan Parikarma
2.     Lavnasur ki Guffa
3.     Taal ban
4.     Kumad van
5.     Dauji
6.     Ganga sagar
7.     Kapil dev ji
8.     Jahar vir
9.     Shah pur
10.                        Madhuri Kund se Mansi Ganga
11.                        Govind Kund
12.                        Punchari Luntha
13.                        Jatipura
14.                        Mukharvind
15.                        Madhuresh ke Darshan
16.                         Chakleshwar
17.                        Shyam Dayak
18.                        Lala Kund
19.                        Peetam Kund
20.                        Lakhsman Ji ke Darshan
21.                        Sidh Hanuman ji Ke Darshan
22.                        Deeg
23.                        Alipura
24.                        Adibadri
25.                        Gangotri
26.                        Yamnotri
27.                        Set band
28.                        Kedarnath
29.                        Gaurikund
30.                        Charan Pahadi
31.                        Gaya kund
32.                        Vimal kund
33.                        Kaamvan
34.                        Panch pandav
35.                        Mankameshwar
36.                        Chandradev ji
37.                        Madanmohan ji
38.                        Govind dev ji
39.                        Gopi nath ji
40.                        Varindadevi
41.                        Kisalvi Sheela
42.                        Bhauma sur ki Guffa
43.                        Bhojan Thali
44.                        Lanka setu Band Rameshwar
45.                        Kaam van
46.                        Kaam van ke kanware
47.                        Naaga ji
48.                        Kadam khandi
49.                        Uncha Gaon
50.                        Lalita kund
51.                        Lalita saki
52.                        Dauji darshan
53.                        Barsana Parikarma
54.                        Prem sarovar
55.                        Daan garh
56.                        Mor kuti
57.                        Gehvar van
58.                        Shri ji ka Mandir
59.                        Barsana se prem sarovar
60.                        Sanket vat
61.                        Gaji pur
62.                        Sudama kuti
63.                        Hau balau
64.                        Nand gaon
65.                        Kokila van
66.                        Sir sagar
67.                        Sesh sai ka darshan
68.                        Ratnakar sagar
69.                        Gomati kund
70.                        Bihari ji
71.                        Radha madhav
72.                        Dauji
73.                        Sita ram mandir
74.                        Kosi
After that we stopped at Kosi. You will find 3-4 good options to stay. We stayed at Hotel Delhi Darbar. Other options available are Country Inn and Moti Mahal Hotels.
DAY 3: The itinerary for the third day is as follows:
We started at 9 from the hotel.
1.     Phalen
2.     Parlad Kund
3.     Sher garh
4.     Echa dau
5.     Bihar van
6.     Akshay vat
7.     Cheerbihari
8.     Katyani devi
9.     Shamoli
10.                        Badarvan
11.                        Bandirvan
12.                        Bahula
13.                        Vanshivat
14.                        Shri dama ka darshan
15.                        Maant
16.                         Back to Vrindavan
There are some places mentioned twice because this is the entire route one has to cover to go to the temples.
We completed our 84 Kos Yatra on the third day and returned back to Vrindavan. We covered Mata Vaishno Devi Mandir and Iskon Temple that evening. Not to miss is the iskon temple’s Aarti at 7:00 p.m.
NOTE: Please note that this Yatra can be done in two ways: paidal padh Yatra which usually takes 21 days and in car which usually takes 7 days. But as we have local Mahatma Ji with us, we did it in 3.5 days. Best time to visit the place is from November to March.
This Yatra is known as 84 Kos as it depicts the entire life journey of Lord Krishna, the places where Lord Krishna born and brought up, did his Lela’s etc. Also famous by the name of char dham Yatra as once nand ji and Yashodha maiya told Lord Krishna that they wanted to go for char dham yatra. Lord Krishna for their convenience called all the char dhams in the sacred bhumi of 84 Kos.