“Barefoot pilgrimage around giriraj, 6am to 4pm. Very long. Barefoot through the cities. Samadhi saints in salt. Radhakund – holy water. Radhe and Krishna – holy lovers. Krishna and his 108 Gopis.”
Olivia Jeffers, Journal Entry 10/20/2022
In the streets, people greet you with “Radhe Radhe!” It is an expression of love for Krishna’s counterpart. In Vrindavan, the ponds and mountains are the gods themselves. People will bathe in the Radhekund, offering milk and flowers into the water, become a melange of swirls and petals. Women dance at the temple as his Gopi’s, Krishna’s 108 lovers. Devotees make pilgrimage to Govardan Hill, the great mountain cursed to sink that is Krishna himself – here they will walk over 20km around the mountain, through a maze of city and temples and holy ponds. At this mountain, the monkeys are his friends, and the cows are holy.
Journal Entry: 10/21, Last Day at Vrindavan
We started today with yoga in a circle, fruit breakfast due to fasting ceremony (no grains or beans) – then closing transition ceremony with the rocks at Giriraj – the monk visited as well. A dog also completed our circle.
People shared that they want to take away back home… prayers, curiosity, loving devotion.
“Return only as a servant, no duality here between material this and spiritual that.”
Our Monk Friend
We went to the lion temple and got to see full Darshan – to see and be seen by the gods. A woman came in like a storm with so much fervor for singing and Kirtan, prema got a drum and we all sang, the priest said that Narsingha is awake and revealed the full statue and oiled it, showing the lion god ripping out the insides of a child abuser demon. We wrote and put in prayers for the lion god, for protection. Lunch was tapioca.
Dancing Kirtan with Alison at the ISKCon temple with Russian girls leading. Dinner at MVT guest house. Taj Mahal in 5 hours.
Map: ISKCon Temple at Vrindavan
Scroll to Zoom out to see where these places are in reference to your home and other landmarks.
Glossary
Puja: to worship with garlands, icons or money
Darshan: to see and be seen by the gods
Kirtan: devotional song, often in call and response, “wake up the sleeping soul”
Polymorphic Monotheism: various deities represent multiple faces of universal God
- Each deity is an energy
- Creator, Preserver, Destroyer
- God is the divine being, goddess is divine power (energy)
- Krishna is god at play, Vishnu is god at work
Trip Information
The trip was run and organized by Gopi Kinnicutt, owner of Bhakti Yoga DC. The trip was managed by Prema Nanda and Radha Sheran. Skillful driving through the mountains was by Nassim. Himalayan trek guides (Jaman Singh, WhatsApp +91-89790-49706) and many porters carried our camp 9km to set up tents and kitchen for hot food. Many people were involved in arranging our transportation and lodging. Photos used were taken by everybody in the group, especially Prema, Alex, Lauren, Ande, Shannon and Johanna. Thank you!
Questing for Coherence 