Category: Holy dham

‘Dhruva’ refers to Dhruva Maharaja and the word ‘tila’ translates to a small hill. ‘Dhruva tila’ is a small hill situated at the actual place where Dhruva Maharaja had performed severe austerities to please the Supreme Lord in Satya Yuga. Subsequently, he had attained the darshan of the Supreme Lord at this very place. The Supreme Lord appeared as Lord Prsnigarbha to bestow His blissful darshan to Dhruva Maharaja. There is a small temple built today at the hilltop. It is celebrated as the ‘Dhruva Narayana temple’ where deities of Lord Narayana, Dhruva Maharaja, Narada muni, Garuda, and Lakshmi Narayana are worshiped pompously. One needs to climb stairs to enter the temple precincts. Dhruva tila is situated in the village of Maholi. Maholi is situated about six Kilometers southwest of Mathura and about four Kilometers west of Naroli. The village of Maholi was earlier known as Madhuvan. It is here at Madhuvan that Krishna, the Supreme Lord, has been manifesting His enchanting pastimes millennium after millennium.

On the southeast of the Krishna Janmasthan temple in Mathura is a large and deep stepped water tank known as Potra Kunda or Pavitra Kunda. The word ‘Potra’ means clothes and the word ‘Pavitra’ means sacred. Sri Vasudeva and Devaki used to bathe here during their time in Kansa’s prison. It is said that mother Devaki’s clothes were cleaned in this Kunda after the birth of her children. This is also said to be the place where Krishna’s baby clothes were washed by mother Devaki.

This place is a few hundred meters walk from the Krishna Janmbhoomi (Krishna janmasthan) temple. Mahadji Scindia had later constructed the tank stairs and his descendants had repaired them. The tank is connected via underground pipelines to river Yamuna which flows about 3 Kms away. The water from Potra Kunda is believed to cleanse one of his/her sins. That is why it is particularly crowded during festivals and other holy occasions.

How to Reach :

Potra Kunda is situated near Deeg Marg, Near Deeg Gate Chauraha in Mathura. It is located 2 Kms from the Mathura railway station. It is a few hundred meters walk from the birthplace of Sri Krishna. The place is very well connected via road and railways.

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‘Vishrama Ghat’ or ‘Vishranti tirtha’ is one of the most exalted pilgrimage destinations of Vraja Mandala. It was here that Lord Krishna took rest after killing Kansa, His tyrannical maternal uncle. The word ‘Vishram’ literally translates to ‘rest’ and the word ‘Ghat’ refers to a river bank. Thus the name ‘Vishram Ghat’ came into existence after Lord Krishna rested at this place. Vishram Ghat is also the holy place where Lord Varahadeva rested after slaying the demon Hiranyaksha. Situated on the bank of Yamuna, Vishrama Ghat is a revered place of worship for devotees. The circumambulation of all the holy sites of Mathura starts and ends at Vishram Ghat. Vishram Ghat is lined with elegant temples, and some of the most important temples of Mathura including Mukut Temple, Radha-Damodar, Murli Manohar, Neelkantheshwar, Yamuna-Krishna, Langali Hanuman, and Narasimha deva temples are situated in its close vicinity.