A Perspective of Mathura and Vrindavan
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PAIDEUMA JOURNAL ISSN NO : 0090-5674 Spiritual Tourism and Pilgrimage: A perspective of Mathura and Vrindavan Mr. Ritesh Sharma, Assistant Professor, GLA University, Mathura Abstract Tourism has become the one of the main cultural and economic forces in the globe in current time; and it is regarded as an important means to benefit local groups and communities. India is known for its rich cultural heritage. Specifically, in India, in U. P state we have Mathura and Vrindavan where we have experience a lot of spiritual Tourism development since 1990s. There are many developmental and construction projects are carried out on these places while keeping one purpose that is to accommodate Spiritual tourism development. Investments by the government and private sector had significantly turned these places as the most popular destination not only to experience peace but also to develop on the path of spirituality. People from throughout the globe come to India for certain reasons which are linked with meditation and spiritual growth. In fact, India has rapidly emerging as a health conscious and spiritual tourism destination. Since time immemorial, India has been known for its spirituality. Not being and exception, these places are also turning out as the significant destination to find out peace, meditation and inner self while connecting with the Lord Krishna. Socio-cultural impacts of spiritual tourism of Mathura and Vrindavan were hardly discussed and explained. Therefore, a study on Mathura and Vrindavan was conducted to explore and identify Pilgrims inclination towards Spiritual Tourism Development in this region. Key words: Spiritual tourism; Tourism Inclination; Pilgrims, Pilgrimage Introduction There are many reasons for people to go for spiritual tours of the holy and spiritual sites. In India there are many temple of spiritual importance. Of course, it is one of the important areas of interest in traveling and seeing foreign lands for achieving spiritual value. Most of us like to take a trip and observe new places and sights which inspire for spiritual growth. These places have some stories of historical events or miracles, and also well-known for certain note worthy Vol XIII Issue IV 2020 137 http://www.paideumajournal.com PAIDEUMA JOURNAL ISSN NO : 0090-5674 spiritual incidents which are explained and discussed in many spiritual literatures, texts and epics. Some of the examples could be Ramayana, Mahabharata, etc. In different phases of life, Tourism occupies a very distinct and special place in anybody’s life. In simple way tourism can be regarded as ‘sightseeing’, where a pilgrim goes and where it explicitly becomes religious or spiritual tourism. In this way tourism and pilgrimage can have some important areas where we can say that they overlap. At times we observe that normal tourists can have the similar experiences as do with the pilgrims. Spiritual tourists are regarded as the routine or regular tourists who visit the spiritual destinations very frequently, but their experiences differentiate them from the religious tourists. Spirituality is a broader term it does not bound a person with a single religion, while being religious means a person is bound with a specific religion it could be Hinduism, Jainism, Islam, Sikhism or even Christian. So in this way a spiritual traveler differs from pilgrims in that way that they are not confined to a specific religion. Pilgrimage is a holy and religious journey. It could be regarded as a process, which cannot be taken casually; it allows a person to experience, see, and encounter the delightful things and introduces to the Divine self. It is only possible in the company and association with the holy people at the holy land. In these holy places especially like Mathura and Vrindavan which is a land of Lord Krishna. Reason to go for Spiritual Tour Here we tried to figure out some important reasons why to people look forward for spiritual tours and find out the places of saintly weight. There could be a reason that people meet with other saintly people who follow the path of spirituality by means of which they experience their way of living life. It seems special issue along with hermits and holy person by whom religious experiences can be shared. This acts as the guiding principle to achieve self-realization or rather self-actualization. It seems great for we people to have a positive journey of spirituality in ones life. Pilgrimage Pilgrimage is a holy and religious journey. It could be regarded as a process, which cannot be taken casually; it allows a person to experience, see, and encounter the delightful things and introduces to the Divine self. It is only possible in the company and association with the holy Vol XIII Issue IV 2020 138 http://www.paideumajournal.com PAIDEUMA JOURNAL ISSN NO : 0090-5674 people at the holy land. In these holy places especially like Mathura and Vrindavan we have experienced and heard lot of stories Lord Krishna and lot of devotees of Lord Krinshna Like Swami Haridas, Deovraha Baba, Meera etc. In these places there are many temples which allow the look of god a visualization of the mighty Lord (Krishna). Having lord images in ones front is the act or rather it is the activity in which a person called as bhakt goes in to the temple for prayer and to communicate with the God and Goddesses Journey implies living essentially, and going toward what is heavenly and most sacrosanct, and staying concentrated on the chance of having an extraordinary ordeal. Along these lines we will experience deliberate severities for sanitization to assure ourselves actual task of our life. This procedure would assist to bring a unique change in our awareness along with our personality and how we fit into this world, and enable us to right of entry. The Purpose of Life and pilgrimage Whenever we are going in concordance with the Divine, it isn't improbable that you will encounter unconstrained assistance from others when you may require it. It is transpired from multiple points of view and commonly. In such a condition of cognizance, appearing hindrances will rapidly vanish. In any case, different difficulties might be there to test our genuineness, however more often than not; it is zilch so incredible which keeps achieving objective. This works as a divine directed path which insures we people in getting our personal target and fix us towards the higher achievement. The religious journey goes up against all the more significance the time when we get the actual fact. Main reasons for visiting Mathura and Vrindavan Community goes to religious trip for having several imaginations or visions very frequently we go on religious tour when some change takes place in our life or in our respective relationship if transformation has taken place. A few are there who wishes to achieve the mental ease along with this they also want to get the spirituality in their life to be the part of our Indian culture and religion. If someone has committed any mistake in their life for the same reason also they use to approach the religious place to have the forgiveness. With the view to meet the new people coming from different or diverse culture is also the prime demand of spiritual tourism in our country. Vol XIII Issue IV 2020 139 http://www.paideumajournal.com PAIDEUMA JOURNAL ISSN NO : 0090-5674 To have the feeling of mighty god To get the assistance in the worse time To be associated to the truth and faith To feel as being the part of spirituality To be associated to the reality of this universe To be the part of some holy task associated to the all mighty Mathura Located on the edge of the sacred Yamuna brook in the UP (Utter pradesh), Mathura is famed for being the origin of Krishna. Mathura in midst of Vraj. It is just an hour’s drive from Agra. The entire region is speckled with splendid temples, dedicated to different aspects of Lord Krishna’s life. The city, with its rich history and culture, is a pilgrimage spot for Hindus. Some of the famous temples of Mathura are Shri Krishna Janmsthan Temple, Dwarikadhish Ji Temple, Vishram Ghat, Bhuteshwar Temple etc. Lord Krishna loved milk and butter, and hence Mathura is famous for its milk-based products, especially the “Peda”, a soft milk sweet that’ s fresh and melts in your mouth. Handicrafts and a wide variety of trinkets that are related to the story of Lord Krishna and his childhood Lilas are also famous here. The city comes to life during the numerous festivals that are celebrated throughout the year. The other places of interest in Mathura are the Mathura Museum, Govardhan Hill, and KansQila. Vol XIII Issue IV 2020 140 http://www.paideumajournal.com PAIDEUMA JOURNAL ISSN NO : 0090-5674 Source: www.mapsofindia.com Vrindavan Vrindavan is the house of Lord Krishna and a busy tourist destination for people seeking spiritualization. This town is also been called as the town of temples and it exists in Mathura district of western Uttar Pradesh. This place has lot of natural greenery; although it is a small town but it is able to draw attention of pilgrims from all over the world. With the proper mix of old and the new temples, the culturally strong and traditionally- inclined the town of Vrindavan hypnotizes the senses of pilgrims and tourists. The range of its temples are either they are modern or old they are all spread throughout the Vrindavan as a landscape.. Vol XIII Issue IV 2020 141 http://www.paideumajournal.com PAIDEUMA JOURNAL ISSN NO : 0090-5674 The prominent temples of Vrindavan includes- Bankey Bihari temple, Radha Damodar Temple, ISCON temple which is also knoen as angregon ka temple, Nidhivan, Mote Ganesh Temple, Katyani Devi Temple, Rangdevji Temple, Madan Mohan Temple, Meera Bai Temple, Vrindavan Chandrodaya Mandir, Govind Dev temple etc., These temples are the major point of tourist rather we can say the Spiritual attractions among Pilgrims and tourists who visit this place.