The Braj Foundation – Heritage, Community, Environment, Rural Tourism

The Braj region has a rich ecological, architectural and cultural heritage. It deifies the intertwining of environment, ritual and deity. Historically as well as spiritually, the Braj Landscape is intrinsically woven into the web of Indian culture. It is a live example of how environmental consciousness can be effectively motivated through generations; and its protection, revival and restoration should naturally follow, especially for the believer.

Krishna, was a vital link between people, their ecology and environment. Sacred scriptures have numerous examples of how nature and ecology were powerful elements during Krishna’s life and times. In Shrimad Bhawatam Krishna tells his father,

 “the cities, the cultured lands nor the villages or their houses are ours. we are the forest people, dear father, and will always live in the forests and the hills”.

Scholars believe that the legend surrounding Krishna especially from his birth to youth tells us to respect and revere nature as much as the deity.  Mythology depicts him purifying the five elements by vanquishing the demons or pollutants from each.

Today, with the rapid depletion and destruction of this environment a vital link between the deity and the devotee is being severed. The state of the Braj landscape is ‘pitiful’ as of today. In the drying and dead ‘kunds’, vanishing forests and groves ‘vans’, and stinking Yamuna, we are losing a very important cultural heritage.

Only 3 groves or forests remain out the 137 associated with the legend of Sri Radha Krishna. Most of the kunds or water tanks, originally believed to be more than a thousand, have either silted up, been encroached upon or have been reduced to mere sludge tanks. The heritage hills of Braj, like the popular Goverdhan, are being reduced to dust through illegal mining, and large scale deforestation. Innumerable heritage buildings of Braj remain in a dilapidated condition in the absence of proper restoration efforts. Ignorance is the real reason behind this gross irregularity in the preservation and protection of this invaluable heritage.

In resource poor areas people and environment are often trapped in a downward spiral. Penury of natural resources often forces the less privileged to consume the few resources available to them. in the Braj region, this led to the awry consumption and destruction of the natural environment and ecology. the result is deeper poverty, depleted soils, deforested hills, polluted waters, disease, and despair.

The Braj Foundation

The Braj Foundation is a non-profit organization pursuing the goal of the all round development of Braj region – comprising of Mathura district of Uttar Pradesh, portions of Bharatpur district of Rajasthan and Faridabad district of Haryana, through public-private-people’s partnership.

The Foundation’s vision for resurrection of Braj includes:

• Restoration of over 1000 water bodies of the region
• Revival of over 137 sacred groves of the region
• Regeneration of the barren hill slopes
• Revitalization of river Yamuna
• Restrengthening of animal husbandry and organic farming
• Revamping of Food Processing and Dairy Industries
• Restructuring the cultural, spiritual and ecological tourism of the region
• Development of rural tourism
• Revival of cultural festivals
• Revival of rural handicrafts
• Restoration of heritage buildings
• Development of rural, eco and cultural tourism infrastructure
• Improving the conditions of villages in Braj

The Foundation works towards the revival and restoration of this habitat in today’s context, designed especially to enhance environmental consciousness and alter behaviors that have been environmentally destructive. Along with its sister organization Braj Rakshak Dal, the Braj Foundation is actively working towards combining local organization and participation with appropriate technology and investment in efforts to reverse this destructive course. 

The Braj Foundation, recognizes the importance of the ecological, architectural and cultural heritage of Braj not only for the local community, but for the global community as a whole as it attracts over 50 million tourists annually. It’s for this reason alone, Braj culture and heritage must be protected, conserved and restored.

So Far:

• More than 400 forgotten kunds have been located, identified and systematically documented; a task no official or government agency has undertaken till date. Detailed surveying and developmental plans of all kunds are underway. satellite imaging is being extensively used for the mapping, location and survey of kunds. Over 30 kunds and water bodies are in various stages of restoration, many of them have undergone a complete facelift and have transformed into scenic locations recreating the glory of the bygone era of the life and times of Sri Radha Krishna.
• Detailed listing, surveying and landscaping of the 137 sacred groves is in progress. One major grove ‘Gahvarvan’, situated at the foot of Brahmagiri hills has been completely restored by the Braj Foundation with the help of sponsors like The Indian Oil Corporation. Irrigation facilities are in place to ensure that the forest remains that way perennial water supply to the trees and plants. 
• The Foundation is devising an extensive program to transform the 18000 acres of hilly terrain of Braj into lush green pasture lands and forests. The Foundation is working towards meeting the challenges of global warming and climate change and proposes to tap carbon credits for its aforestry work. 150 acre Ratnagiri hill in Brasana area is being revitalized with the help of financial support from UNDP. Ministry of Rural Development, Government of India has sanctioned a project for the regeneration of all the hilly region lying in the vicinity of Nandgaon and Barsana.
• Detailed restoration and extension plans of several heritage buildings of Braj have been prepared in collaboration with associates like the Heritage Conservation & Design Center, New Delhi. Further, in the case of many of the restored kunds like the Vrishbhanu Kund, Kusum Sarovar, Uddhav Kund, etc. restoration of the water body inherently involves restoration of the heritage building attached to it.
• Community participation has been an essential element in the Foundation’s developmental initiative. The community development and grassroot outreach division of the Foundation – Braj Rakshak Dal has established presence in over 820 villages out of the 1300 villages in Braj. Currently, over 10,000 volunteers of Braj rakshak Dal are actively engaging the community all over Braj.
• With the support of M R Morarka Foundation (Jaipur), BAIF Pune and other such organizations, The Braj Foundation is developing an extensive program to revitalize the cow-based economy of the region and promoting organic farming. Presently,
• The protection, conservation, restoration and maintenance of the ecological, architectural and cultural heritage of Braj would not only ensure the sustenance of rural life but also improve and enhance their standards of living. The Foundation is in the process of creating a Comprehensive Rural Tourism programme using the historic significance of Braj villages and sites. The plan would work towards reviving the Braj artisans and their handicrafts in order to provide them additional income; create haats for their sale in Braj area and beyond in places like Delhi, Agra etc. A comprehensive plan is also being drawn to revive the cultural festivals of Braj to integrate it further into the national tourism circuit. This would not only boost rural tourism but also support the local economy and create jobs rather than eating into the natural resources and environment of Braj.

How can you help

Volunteering: Experts and scholars in who feel they can lend their knowledge base, expertise and services to the work of the Foundation are most welcome to contact us without further delay.

Genrating awareness: You can play a very important role in creating awareness on the plight of Braj and the mammoth task undertaken by the Braj Foundation. Ignorance has been the real reason for the widespread destruction in the Braj region. If you are a social or cultural organization, funding agency or private donor and would like to organize our Power Point Presentation for your peer groups in India or abroad you can write to us at brajfoundation@gmail.com or contact us.

The Braj Foundation is a registered charity and donations are exempt under section 80G of the Income Tax Act. Tight financial control is exercised at all stages of project planning and execution and donors are kept informed of the progress at regular intervals.