01Vrishabhanu’s hill
Braj tradition says that Nanda and Vrishabhanu, the chiefs of two cowherd clans, left Gokul and Rawal to escape Kamsa and settled on two hills a few miles apart, Nanda at Nandgaon and Vrishabhanu at Barsana. Radha grew up here. The temple on the crest of Bhanugarh is reached by some two hundred stone steps, and inside, Radha and Krishna are worshipped together as Ladli Lal, the beloved children of the village. Narayan Bhatt, a Vaishnava saint of the 16th century who searched out the leela-sthalis of Braj, is remembered for restoring the worship here.
02Lathmar Holi
On the Navami before Holi the men of Nandgaon come to Barsana as Krishna’s friends once came to tease the gopis, and the women of Barsana meet them with long bamboo staves while the men shelter under leather shields. The next day Barsana’s men go to Nandgaon and the play is reversed. Before it begins, laddus are thrown from the temple in the Laddu Holi. On Radhashtami, in Bhadrapada, the hill is lit with lamps and lakhs climb to the temple.
Barsana is about 45 km from Mathura; a ropeway now runs up Bhanugarh alongside the steps. On Lathmar Holi and Radhashtami the crowds are very heavy.
