Braj, also known as Vraj, Vraja, Brij or Brijbhumi, is a region in

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

on both sides of the

Yamuna The Yamuna (; ) is the second-largest tributary river of the Ganges by discharge and the longest tributary in India. Originating from the Yamunotri Glacier at a height of about on the southwestern slopes of Bandarpunch peaks of the Low ...

river with its centre at

Mathura Mathura () is a city and the administrative headquarters of Mathura district in the states and union territories of India, Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It is located south-east of Delhi; and about from the town of Vrindavan. In ancient ti ...

Vrindavan Vrindavan (; ), also spelt Vrindaban and Brindaban, is a historical city in the Mathura district of Uttar Pradesh, India. It is located in the Braj, Braj Bhoomi region and holds religious importance for Hindus who believe that Krishna, one of ...

Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh ( ; UP) is a States and union territories of India, state in North India, northern India. With over 241 million inhabitants, it is the List of states and union territories of India by population, most populated state in In ...

state encompassing the area which also includes

Palwal Palwal is a city and a municipal council. It is the headquarters of Palwal district, the 21st district of Haryana state in northern India. It is a centre of the cotton trade in the area. It is part of Braj region. It is also a part of Na ...

Ballabhgarh Ballabgarh, officially Balramgarh, is a large town, nearby Faridabad, Faridabad city and a tehsil (subdistrict) in Faridabad district of Haryana, India, and is part of the National Capital Region (India), Delhi National Capital Region As was Gu ...

and Nuh in

Haryana Haryana () is a States and union territories of India, state located in the northern part of India. It was carved out after the linguistic reorganisation of Punjab, India, Punjab on 1 November 1966. It is ranked 21st in terms of area, with les ...

state,

Deeg Deeg is an ancient historical city in Deeg district of Rajasthan, India. It is carved out from its former district Bharatpur on 7 August 2023. This little city is worth visiting for its unmatched fortifications, extremely beautiful gardens and p ...

, Bharatpur,

Karauli Karauli (also formerly spelled Karoli or Karaulee) is a city located in the Indian state of Rajasthan. It is located in the Braj region and holds religious importance in Hinduism. The city is the administrative center of Karauli District, a ...

, and

Dholpur Dholpur is a city in the Dholpur district in Rajasthan state of India. It is situated on the left bank of the Chambal river. The city is the administrative headquarters of Dholpur district. Dholpur was established by King Dhaval Dev of the ...

Rajasthan Rajasthan (; Literal translation, lit. 'Land of Kings') is a States and union territories of India, state in northwestern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the List of states and union territories of ...

state and Morena District in

Madhya Pradesh Madhya Pradesh (; ; ) is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal and the largest city is Indore, Indore. Other major cities includes Gwalior, Jabalpur, and Sagar, Madhya Pradesh, Sagar. Madhya Pradesh is the List of states and union te ...

.Janet Cochrane, 2008
Asian Tourism: Growth and Change
page 249. Within Uttar Pradesh, it is very well demarcated culturally, the area stretches from the

Aligarh Aligarh (; formerly known as Koil) is a city in the state of Uttar Pradesh in India. It is the administrative headquarters of Aligarh district and lies northwest of state capital Lucknow and approximately southeast of the capital, New Delhi. ...

Agra Agra ( ) is a city on the banks of the Yamuna river in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, about south-east of the national capital Delhi and 330 km west of the state capital Lucknow. With a population of roughly 1.6 million, Agra is the ...

, Hathras and districts up to the Etah district. Braj region is associated with

Radha Radha (, ), also called Radhika, is a Hindu goddess and the chief consort of the god Krishna. She is the goddess of love, tenderness, compassion, and devotion. In scriptures, Radha is mentioned as the avatar of Lakshmi and also as the Prak� ...

and

Krishna Krishna (; Sanskrit language, Sanskrit: कृष्ण, ) is a major deity in Hinduism. He is worshipped as the eighth avatar of Vishnu and also as the Supreme God (Hinduism), Supreme God in his own right. He is the god of protection, c ...

who according to scriptures were born in

Barsana Barsana is a historical town and ''nagar panchayat'' in the Mathura district of the state of Uttar Pradesh, India. The town holds cultural and religious significance as the birthplace of Hindu goddess Radha, the chief consort of Krishna. Barsa ...

and

respectively. It is the main centre of Krishna circuit of Hindu pilgrimage. It is located 150 km south of

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, but spread chiefly to the west, or beyond its Bank (geography ...

and 50 km northwest of Agra. Ecologically, the character of Braj has drastically changed in the last 200 years, with a heavy decline in the number of wild animals along with deforestation. Writing in the late 1980s, Entwistle noted there were only a few groves left in the region, and that many sacred sites were being encroached upon by human agricultural settlements.

Etymology

The term Braj is derived from the

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural ...

word व्रज ''vraja''. Vraja was first mentioned in

Rigveda The ''Rigveda'' or ''Rig Veda'' (, , from wikt:ऋच्, ऋच्, "praise" and wikt:वेद, वेद, "knowledge") is an ancient Indian Miscellany, collection of Vedic Sanskrit hymns (''sūktas''). It is one of the four sacred canoni ...

, and in

it means a pasture, shelter or resort for cattle from the Sanskrit term ''""'' which means "to go" in English.

Braj pilgrimage circuits

The'' Braj Yatra'' circuit of pilgrimage was formally established by the 16th-century

sadhu ''Sadhu'' (, IAST: ' (male), ''sādhvī'' or ''sādhvīne'' (female), also spelled ''saddhu'') is a religious ascetic, mendicant or any holy person in Hinduism and Jainism who has renounced the worldly life. They are sometimes alternatively ...

s of the vaishnava sampradaya with fixed routes, itinerary and rituals. The area the circuit covers is spread across 2500 km² with 84

kos Kos or Cos (; ) is a Greek island, which is part of the Dodecanese island chain in the southeastern Aegean Sea. Kos is the third largest island of the Dodecanese, after Rhodes and Karpathos; it has a population of 37,089 (2021 census), making ...

or 300 km long periphery extending 10 km to the east and 50 km to the north and west. Braj has two main types of pilgrimage circuits, the traditional longer ''Braj Yatra'' encompassing the whole circuit, and the other shorter significantly modified contemporary point-to-point pilgrimage to visit the main sites at Mathura, Vrindavan,

Gokul Gokul is a town in the Mathura district of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It is located south-east of Mathura. History In the ''Viṣṇu Purāṇa'' and '' Bhāgavata Purāṇa'', the term "gokula" does not refer to any specifi ...

Govardhan Govardhan also called Giriraj, is a key pilgrimage centre in India and a municipal town; a nagar panchayat; seat of an MLA (Member of the Legislative Assembly (India), Member of Legislative Assembly) of Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly, Uttar ...

. The former, longer traditional pilgrimage route, also includes additional sacred sites Nandgaon and

with travel on foot.

Notable pilgrimage sites

Notable pilgrimage sites taken from Entwistle (1987). *

(Mathurā) **

Vishram Ghat Vishram Ghat is a ghat, a bath and worship place, on the banks of river Yamuna in Mathura, Uttar Pradesh, Mathura, India. The traditional parikrama starts and ends at Vishram Ghat. Lord Krishna, Krishna is said to have rested at this place aft ...

(Viśrām Ghāṭ) ** Krishna Janmasthan Temple Complex (Kr̥ṣṇa Janmasthān) ** Kans Quila (Kans Kilā) ** Dwarkadhish Temple, Mathura (Dvārkādhīś Temple) * Madhu Forest (Madhuban) * Radha Kund (Rādhākuṇḍ) * Kusum Sarovar *

Govardhan Hill Govardhana Hill (; ), also called Mount Govardhana and Giriraj, is a sacred Hindu site in the Mathura district of Uttar Pradesh, India on an 8 km long hill located in the area of Govardhan and Radha Kund, which is about from Vrindavan ...

* Bachhgaon (Bacchagā̃v) *

(Ḍīg) * Kaman, Rajasthan (Kāmā̃) *

(Barsānā) * Nandgaon, Uttar Pradesh (Nandgā̃v) * Kamai, Uttar Pradesh (Kamāī) * Chhata (Chātā) * Kokilavan (Kokilāban) * Kosi Kalan (Kosī) * Paigaon (Paigā̃v) * Shergarh, Uttar Pradesh (Śergaṛh) * Bhandirvan, Vrindavan (Bhāṇḍīrvan) *

(Vr̥ndāvana) ** Radha Madan Mohan Temple (Rādhā Madanmohan) ** Banke Bihari Temple (Bā̃ke Bihārī) ** Radha Vallabh Temple (Rādhāvallabh) ** Radha Damodar Temple (Rādhādāmodar) ** Nidhivan ** Radha Raman Temple (Rādhāramaṇ) * Baldeo (Baldev) * Mahaban (Mahāban) *

Demographics

Hindus form the majority of residents of the Braj region. The major Brahmin castes include the Sanadhyas, Gaurs, Chaubes, and Ahiwasis. Among the cultivating and pastoral castes, there are the Yadavs,

Jats The Jat people (, ), also spelt Jaat and Jatt, are a traditionally agricultural community in Northern India and Pakistan. Originally pastoralists in the lower Indus river-valley of Sindh, many Jats migrated north into the Punjab region in ...

, Jadauns,

Rajputs Rājpūt (, from Sanskrit ''rājaputra'' meaning "son of a king"), also called Thākur (), is a large multi-component cluster of castes, kin bodies, and local groups, sharing social status and ideology of genealogical descent originating fro ...

, Gujars, Meos, and Chamars. The main merchant castes are Agrawals, Khandelwals, Maheshwaris, and Barahsainis. Muslims form a small minority, with nearly negligible presence of Jains, Sikhs, and Christians.

Braj culinary tradition

Braj region is known for its rich and flavorful culinary tradition. The twin cities,

and

, which are associated with Shri Krishna are main centers of Braj Cuisine.

Etymology

Braj pilgrimage circuits

Notable pilgrimage sites

Demographics

Braj culinary tradition

See also

References

Further reading