forests & ghats

My dear boy, I therefore wish all good fortune for you. You should go to the bank of the Yamuna, where there is a virtuous forest named Madhuvana, and there be purified. Just by going there, one draws nearer to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who always lives there. (More...)

There are twelve forests in the area of Vrndavana, and Madhuvana is one of them. Pilgrims from all parts of India assemble together and visit all twelve of these forests. There are five forests on the eastern bank of the Yamuna: Bhadravana, Bilvavana, Lauhavana, Bhandiravana and Mahavana. On the western side of the bank there are seven: Madhuvana, Talavana, Kumudavana, Bahulavana, Kamyavana, Khadiravana and Vrndavana. In those twelve forests there are different ghats, or bathing places. They are listed as follows: (1) Avimukta, (2) Adhirudha, (3) Guhyatirtha, (4) Prayagatirtha, (5) Kanakhala, (6) Tindukatirtha, (7) Suryatirtha, (8) Vatasvami, (9) Dhruvaghata (Dhruvaghata, where there are many nice fruit and flower trees, is famous because Dhruva Maharaja meditated and underwent severe penances and austerities there in an elevated spot), (10) Rsitirtha, (11) Moksatirtha, (12) Budhatirtha, (13) Gokarna, (14) Krsnagaṅga, (15) Vaikuntha, (16) Asikunda, (17) Catuhsamudrika-kupa, (18) Akruratirtha (when Krsna and Balarama were going to Mathura in the chariot driven by Akrura, all of them took baths in this ghat), (19) Yajnigviprasthana, (20) Kubja-kupa, (21) Raṅgasthala, (22) Manchasthala, (23) Maṅllayuddhasthana, and (24) Dasasvamedha. (More...)