Namaste š
Hope you are doing great!!!
Iām really stoked about the #winterchallenge that 
How can my trip to Vrindavan be complete without visiting the famous Keshi Ghat of Vrindavan. Itās a place where the best sunrise and sunsets can be seen in the whole Vrindavan. There is something really special about every single place youāll be visiting in Vrindavan including Keshi Ghat at in every place youāll be visiting, you wonāt be feeling like leaving from there anytime soon. You want to sit there forever.
Story of Keshi Ghatā
Keshi ghat is the place where Lord Krishna killed Keshi demon in his early days of living in Vrindavan. Lord Krishnaās maternal uncle who was the king of this area at that time used to send many demons to kill him as he was intended to be killed by Krishna when he would grow up so he wanted to finish him before he even grew up. To do so he sent many demons including Keshi demon who was a huge horse demon. Keshi demon was killed by lord Krishna as he killed all the other demons. Thatās why this place is of such a great significance.
It was in 17th century when this part of the bank of the holy Yamuna river was queen Laxmi Devi of Rajasthan was made into this beautiful ghat it is today. Thatās why the architecture of this place is highly influenced from Rajasthani architectural design. There are many small temple that are built here alongside the holy river of Yamuna just like this shiv temple on the leftmost extreme of the Ghat.
Shiv Temple
A saint doing Kirtan in a small temple
While walking around the ghat, you will find many small temples and places where Sadhu, Sants and Sanyasis are meditating or are engaged in Kirtan all the time. Itās such a divine feeling when youāll hear the Kirtan thatās happening there on the holy bank of the river Yamuna.
The architecture is highly inspired from the forts of Rajasthan
As this ghat was built in 17th century and it is not properly restored or maintained, youāll see some buildings and parts of it breaking and falling. In spite of such low maintenance, Iām stunned to see how well the old buildings and construction has put up.
We were there around the evening time and it is the best time to visit here as sunset from the Yamuna river just looks stunning. The morning Aarti that happens here every morning is an experience that will be with you forever. I was not fortunate enough to fitness that Holi Aarti as we had limited time in Vrindavan, but I hope to see it next time.
This Aarti Ghat is a place where during morning time they are like thousand people sending on the bank of Yamuna river and praying there are lamps of ghee which Rohit revolves in a particular fashion to do Aarti and there are many small bells that are ringing with the chants of Aarti and itās a why that cannot be described in words.
Aarti Ghat
Even in daytime, there was a Maharajji who was sitting there and doing some kind of Pooja and Archana. Many devotees were going near him and were seeking his blessings as you can see in the photograph below.
The sun was hot to set and show the crowd together slowly near the Ghat. People were having a good time and we were able to see people from all walks of life. There some people were just chilling around the bank of river. Some people were roaming around. Some people were visiting some Saints in the small temples that are built in the Ghats, and some people were just looking at the sun, just like us.
Another time when this place thatās really crowded is during morning times. The crowd start gathering around 3:00AM in the morning when Premanand Maharajji, he is on his regular Parikrama of the Vrindavan, and just after that around 5-6 AM the holy Aarti starts.
Just near to the Aarti Ghat, there was an information board that had the story of Keshi got written in Hindi. Thatās how I got to know about the story of this place after reading this information board.
Story of Keshi Ghat written in Hindi near the Aarti Ghat
Just a little bit ahead of the Aarti Ghat, we saw three little Shiv Lingas near the Ghat. It looks like a really spiritual vibe and we sat there for a while to enjoy the sunset that was happening over the Yamuna river. The lighting was just perfect during that time, and we also saw some people gathering there for a photo shoot. They were all dressed in same kind of clothes and they were standing on an elevated platform overlooking the Ghats.
People doing Dandwat Parikramaā
After being there for about 15 to 20 minutes, we suddenly saw something unusual. I was seeing such kind of thing for the first time in my life. The kind of devotion that I saw was immeasurable. There were two people who were doing Dandwat Parikrama near the Ghats.
In Dandwat Parikrama one has to cover, a certain kind of distance that he has intended to do Parikrama of all by laying down on the ground. The main rule is that every inch of distance he travels has to be done by laying down. He can stand up for a while and then lay down again, but all the distance needs to be covered. Laying down those people they had a stone in their hands, and they kept that stone to the fatherās point of the body whenever they did one round of laying down.
Really takes next level of courage and spiritual enlightenment to do such thing. I couldnāt imagine doing it, and I wonder how these people were doing it. Itās a kind of sight that you only seen holy places like Vrindavan. The amount of faith people have is just next level. It is beyond measurement and you can feel it in the air around everywhere in Vrindavan, no matter wherever you visit.
After witnessing such a holy thing, there at the Ghats we got to know that we can even do boating in the Yamuna river, and it didnāt took us long to realise that we just needed to do that. Iām gonna write about that experience of boating in river in the Yamuna River in sunset in my next blog.
Thatās it for now.
Thanks for passing by.
Peace ā®ļø
