"Whenever there is a decline in righteousness, and a rise in unrighteousness, at that time, I descend Myself, Oh descendant of Bharata." (Bhagavad Gita 4.7)
Mathura is one of the holiest places in India since it is the birthplace of Lord Krishna. Brij Bhoomi is where Lord Krishna spent His childhood and Mathura is the biggest town in Brij Bhoomi. It is approximately 150 km to the south-east of Delhi, on the Delhi-Agra Highway. Mathura is located at 27.28°N latitude and 77.41°E longitude.
The drive to Mathura from Delhi takes about five hours. I had been advised by many travellers to start off early in the morning from Delhi, to avoid the heavy traffic at Faridabad, enroute Mathura. Since Faridabad is an industrial town, it is best to cross the Delhi-Haryana border before nine in the morning. The traffic begins to build up after that. I suggested to my driver Ashwani that we leave Delhi at around seven in the morning. He said that though it was a good idea to leave early to beat the office traffic, it would be quite a challenge to drive when visibility was poor, due to the thick fog that engulfs the entire city during the winter. I told Ashwani, "Don't worry! We are visiting the holy land of Lord Krishna. He will find a way out."
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Ashwani replied, "I admire your optimism, but let me warn you that visibility has been less than one metre during the past one week. It would be foolhardy to venture out in such conditions."
I replied, "Let us get ready by seven a.m. and then take the final call."
Ashwani nodded and headed off to his sleeping bag.
The next morning heralded a pleasant surprise. The fog that had engulfed the entire city, from evening till late morning, during the past one week, had suddenly vanished completely!
Ashwani, who was cleaning the car when I came out of the hotel building, was all smiles, "Saab! You were right. Lord Krishna has taken care of the fog!"
We hastened at a speed of 80 miles an hour in the air-conditioned Toyota Qualis I had hired for the trip. The entire atmosphere was crystal clear and there was absolutely no hangover of the week-long fog. It was just unbelievable! Or should I say, knowing the kind ways of the Lord, this was not really unbelievable for the believer, but just a re-confirmation of the presence and potency of the Mighty Lord and His way of beckoning us to His Holy Abode in such a hassle-free way.
Since we had started quite early, we didn't get stuck at Faridabad. Traffic was building up, but there were no signs of any traffic jams yet. What was impressive about the highway was that it was a four-lane highway, with absolutely no potholes. The median in the middle of the road was adorned with grass and shrubs all along the highway.
We continued our journey and reached Mathura by noon. I had booked a room in Hotel Radha Ashok. This was probably the best hotel in Mathura, though it is a bit expensive by Mathura standards. However, the location and ambience of this hotel is very good. It was not located in the crowded and narrow bylanes of Mathura town, but in a quiet spot, away from the hustle and bustle. Just a couple of miles before we reached Mathura town, we noticed a narrow quiet road to our left. We took that road and within half a mile, we found Hotel Radha Ashok on our right.
The receptionist welcomed us with a warm smile and asked the hotel boy to take us to out room. The room was very impressive, with all the modern amenities that one would generally find in a five-star hotel in a big city. Since most of the temples in Mathura were closed in the afternoon, we decided to have our lunch and then commence our spiritual journey into the holy town of Mathura.
After lunch, we drove towards Mathura town. We took the Delhi-Agra Highway and after a couple of kilometres, took a left turn. As soon as we turned, we were surrounded by no fewer than 20 guides. The guides at Mathura are quite aggressive compared to their counterparts at other famous tourist destinations in the country. They insist or rather threaten to escort you to all the temples in the vicinity! Each person insists that he is not a guide but a Brijwasi brahmin student, who desperately needs money to finance his education, even if he looks more than 50 years old! We had been cautioned at Hotel Radha Ashok, not to hire any of these non-Government approved guides. However, avoiding them was proving to be a big challenge. They kept insisting on taking us to Krishna Janmasthan. I told them that I wanted to visit Kansa Qila. They walked away with a look of disbelief on their face. Looking at our car registration number, it was obvious to them that we had come from Delhi. Had we driven for five hours just to see Kansa Qila, they left wondering!
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