Vrindavan, Uttar Pradesh, India

 

Radhe Radhe! Upon entering Vrindavan, these are the words you hear more than anything else. Vrindavan is located in India’s most populous state of Uttar Pradesh. The town is famous for being the place Lord Krishna grew up in after being born a short distance away in Mathura. He ends up in Vrindavan as infant in classic turn of events that is the interminable battle of good against evil. As a young man he would dance all night long in a famous garden here with his beloved Radha. She is an incarnation of Laximi as the embodiment of unconditional devotional love and compassion.

 

Radhe Radhe is what people say here when they are happy. When they are helpless. Overwhelmed. When they feel blessed. After cheating death. When being grateful. This is how I hear it used in the course of one day here. There is something so soothing about invoking the Devi in this quality that is the transmission of sweet love through Radha. It is powerful enough for me to re...

Returning to Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal, for a week and being in one place is a much needed break from the road. Nepal’s history and beauty is a lot to absorb. There is a paradox hard to makes sense of. Just like Muktinath, there are several spiritual significant sites for both Buddhists and Sanatanis that I visit. The birthplace of the Buddha in Lumbini was a big highlight for me.  It was rediscovered in 1895. Since then, it is slowly being excavated to reveal the many layers of this land’s ancient history across centuries. It is history that became hidden to us by Mother Nature’s elements but remains preserved deep in the earth. Then there are the vast national parks aside from the Himalayan range that are home to all kinds of wildlife and nature. These parks are not like the protected parks we take for granted in the West. People have been living in their villages within these wild spaces for centuries harmoniously. They lived equitably with nature, so the la...

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