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Parikrama in Vrindavan

Besides visiting the temple and viewing the Deities pilgrim often take part in parikrama. This means walking around in a clockwise direction around a sacred place. This can mean walking around the entire area of Braja, which takes around a month. It is known as Caurasi Kos Parikrama because it is judged to be around eighty-four kos, or around 300km. Many different groups do this parikrama, but they do not all follow the same route. The route in this book is a typical route, but it may be done in a different order. The first person to write a book (Braja-bhakti-vilasa) about the route to take on Braja Mandala parikrama was Narayana Bhatt in 1552. The Pushtimargs organize a huge parikrama yearly called the Bari Yatra or “Big Pilgrimage.” Each year thousands of devotees participate, many of them from Gujarat.

One could also do circumambulation of a particular town in Braja, and the major places usually have a parikrama path to encircle the town. Many devotees regularly walk around the entire town of Vrindavana.

Parikrama is done of both Mathura and Vrindavana at the same time usually on the first and last day of Caturmasya. This circumambulation goes around Mathura, then goes via the Garuda Govinda Temple in Chatikara and then encircle Vrindavana and goes back to Mathura via the road that Akrura Ghata is on. The total distance is around 40km.

Parikrama also means walking around a temple or the Deity in the temple. Each morning in Vrindavana it is customary for devotees to walk around tulasi-devi.

Usually the most popular day to do parikrama of Vrindavana is Ekadashi and on some days over 100,000 people can do it on this day. Also popular is the full Moon and any day in Kartika. The last Ekadashi day in Kartika is usually the most popular. There is no set starting point for the parikrama of Vrindavana, but it is finished when you return to the point where you started.
Ban Bihar is parikrama at night. The main day this is done is the full Moon day of Vaishaka for Mathura, and for Vrindavana on the fifth day of Jyeshtha. Another major parikrama is done during the day on the second day of Jyeshtha in Vrindavana.

Another popular parikrama done in Braja is of Govardhana Hill, which is a distance of around 18km. The most popular days to do Govardhana parikrama are on the new and full Moon days. The two most popular days are on the full Moon days of Kartika (Oct-Nov) and Asadha.

Braja Mandala Parikrama
Braja Mandala Parikrama is circumambulating the 12 forest of Vrindavana. Lord Caitanya did this, as did the six Gosvamis, and many other Vaishnavas. Narayana Bhatta established the practice of doing Braja Mandala parikrama, circumambulation of Braja and what the route would be. In the 1930s Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakur organized Braja Mandala parikrama with over 1,000 devotees. At the present time, hundreds of groups of devotees still do this parikrama.

It says in the Adi Varaha Purana that Braja Mandala parikrama should begin by bathing in Visrama Ghata on the Ashtami day of the bright half of the month of Kartika (Oct-Nov).

Copyright ©2001 John Howley and Spiritual Guides