01Nanda’s household
When the harassment of Kamsa made Gokul unsafe, Braj tradition says, Nanda moved his herds and his people to this hill, which is worshipped as a form of Mahadev, Nandishvar. Krishna’s boyhood after Gokul belongs here and in the forests around. The temple on the top is a family shrine more than a palace: Nanda and Yashoda stand with Krishna and Balarama, with Krishna’s friends Shridama and Madhumangal. Below the hill is Pavan Sarovar, where the cows were bathed, and the Ashteshwar Mahadev shrine.
02Holi in Nandgaon
On the Dashami before Holi, the day after Barsana’s Lathmar Holi, the men of Barsana come to Nandgaon with their shields, and the women of Nandgaon take up the staves. The courtyard of Nand Bhavan fills with gulal and with the hori songs of Braj, sung in the same words for generations. Pilgrims on the Braj chaurasi kos parikrama halt here, and many go on from Nandgaon to Kokilavan, the Shani shrine nearby.
Nandgaon is about 8 km north of Barsana and 50 km from Mathura; steps and a road climb the hill.
