Mandirs in Mathuraਮਥੁਰਾ ਦੇ ਮੰਦਰ

Mathura, on the Yamuna in the Braj region, is the city Hindu tradition celebrates as the birthplace of Krishna, and its mandirs tell that story in three different registers. The Krishna Janmasthan complex marks the birthplace itself. In the old city's lanes near the river stands Dwarkadhish Temple, where Krishna is worshipped as a king. On the road to Vrindavan stands the Gita Mandir, the Birla temple whose pillars carry the whole Bhagavad Gita. This guide covers the three together.

Krishna Janmasthan: the birthplace complex

The heart of Mathura is the Krishna Janmasthan Temple Complex, built at the site tradition holds to be Krishna's birthplace, where he is believed to have been born in a prison cell to Devaki and Vasudeva. The complex holds three main shrines: the Keshavdeva Temple, the Garbha Griha marking the believed birthplace, and the Bhagavata Bhavan, whose main shrine holds a tall pair of Radha and Krishna images. Excavations at the site have found pottery and terracotta from the 6th century BCE, and temples here were destroyed and rebuilt repeatedly across the centuries.

The earlier Keshavdeva temple was destroyed in 1670 on the orders of the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb, who built the Shahi Eidgah mosque on the site; the mosque still stands beside the complex. The modern complex rose in the 20th century: construction began in 1953 and was completed in February 1982, funded by industrialist families. The Keshavdeva Temple was inaugurated in 1958, and the Bhagavata Bhavan's deities were installed in 1982. Janmashtami, Krishna's birthday, is the complex's greatest festival, drawing pilgrims from across the Braj region. Jugti's full entry gives the site's long history in detail.

Dwarkadhish Temple: Krishna the king in the old city

A short distance away, in Mathura's old city near the Yamuna, stands the Shri Dwarkadhish Temple. Here Krishna is worshipped not as the child of the birthplace story but as Dwarkadhish, the King of Dwarka, alongside Radha as Radharani. The temple belongs to the Pushtimarg tradition of Vallabhacharya. Its present structure was built in 1814 by Seth Gokul Das Parikh, treasurer of the Gwalior State, with the approval and donation of Maharaja Daulatrao Scindia. Gokul Das was a devotee of the Pushtimarg seat at Kankroli in Rajasthan, and that link still shapes the temple's worship.

The building wears its royal theme proudly: a carved Rajasthani style entrance, steep steps up to a courtyard, and rows of richly carved pillars under a painted ceiling. The main image of Dwarkadhish is black marble, with a white marble Radharani beside it, and a small Shaligram shrine stands in the courtyard. The temple's signature festival is Hindola, thirteen days in the rainy month of Shravana, usually July to August, when the deities are placed on a decorated swing hung with gold and silver ornaments for special darshan. Janmashtami, Radhashtami, Holi and Diwali are also kept with great fervour. Note the name carefully: this Dwarkadhish is Mathura's own temple, not the Char Dham shrine at Dwarka in Gujarat, which Jugti covers separately.

Gita Mandir: the Birla temple of the inscribed Gita

On the Mathura to Vrindavan road, on the city's outskirts, stands the Gita Mandir, popularly called the Birla Mandir. It was built in 1946 by Seth Jugal Kishore Birla, the industrialist and philanthropist, in memory of his parents. Where the Janmasthan speaks of Krishna's birth and Dwarkadhish of his kingship, the Gita Mandir speaks of his teaching: its pillars are inscribed with all 700 verses of the Bhagavad Gita, divided into its 18 chapters, and a towering Gita Stambh in the complex carries the verses too.

The temple is built largely of red sandstone in a traditional style, with a white marble Krishna in the main sanctum and colourful paintings of scenes from Krishna's life on its walls. The complex also holds shrines to Lakshmi Narayan and to Ram and Sita, a small Hanuman shrine, a figure of Garuda, Vishnu's vehicle, and an image of Krishna's chariot, all within gardens that give the place a calm quite unlike the old city's lanes. Janmashtami and Holi bring its biggest crowds. It makes a natural last stop on a Mathura round, on the road onward to Vrindavan.

How do the three temples fit together on a visit?

Read together, the three shrines walk a pilgrim through Krishna's story. The Janmasthan is the beginning: the birthplace, layered with two thousand years of building, destruction and rebuilding. Dwarkadhish is the kingship: Krishna enthroned in the old city, served in the Pushtimarg manner and swung in festival splendour at Hindola. The Gita Mandir is the teaching: the whole Gita cut into stone on the road out of the city. Most visitors cover the Janmasthan and Dwarkadhish together in the old city, then stop at the Gita Mandir on the way to Vrindavan. This guide is part of Jugti's mandirs in India collection.

All Mandirs in Mathura

• Krishna Janmasthan Temple Complex: the temple complex at Krishna's traditional birthplace: Keshavdeva Temple, Garbha Griha and Bhagavata Bhavan, completed in 1982
• Dwarkadhish Temple, Mathura: Krishna as King of Dwarka in the old city, built in 1814 by Seth Gokul Das Parikh, famed for the Hindola festival (full entry coming)
• Gita Mandir (Birla Mandir): the 1946 Birla temple on the Vrindavan road, its pillars inscribed with all 700 verses of the Bhagavad Gita (full entry coming)