Braj- The Present

Yet what remains of Braj today has survived because factors that have lead to its destruction have been counterbalanced by efforts of restoration.

The Jat rulers of Bharatpur, the Scindias of Gwalior and the Maharajas of Jaipur continued their patronage of Braj after the reign of Aurangzeb. Their work to rebuild Braj is visible today in the art and architecture of the kunds, jal mahals, temples, ghats, and chatris that bear the distinctive imprint of their native Rajasthan. The kings of Jaipur also provided assistance when the worship of the deities was threatened and many of the sacred images were relocated to places in Rajasthan.

The Braj landscape saw much urban and agrarian development during the nineteenth and twentieth century. Nevertheless, there are some areas within Braj where both the landscape and culture have resisted major change.
At other places, however, in the absence of any systematic preservation, and after the decline of royal patronage, there has been much decay and stagnation of the kunds, groves and ancient shrines.

The threat to Braj does not come from outside invaders and tyrannical rulers but from the negligence within the devotee and pilgrim. Much of the Braj landscape has changed into obtrusive unplanned modern constructions, ubiquitous phone towers, encroachments and absence of proper infrastructure and sanitation. Will the millions of pilgrims and devotees visiting Braj every year ever realize that none of the revered Krishna leelas were performed in the magnificent temples, lavish ashrams or guests houses that are mushrooming in the area?

However, devotees surprisingly find the ability to look beyond the destruction and concretization, and be ensconced in something far greater than themselves, feeling the enduring spirit of this sacred landscape even in the face of such large scale deterioration and destruction and in the midst of disease, despair, and filth.

The sacred landscape is rapidly disappearing. 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.

The preservation of Braj’s natural sites, in their natural state, is the only means to uphold the memory of Krishna’s activities. As the sacred spaces of Braj were reclaimed over the last five hundred years, primarily through the efforts of Chaitanyadeva, Vallabhacharya and their followers, many of the groves and  clearings around the kunds became the  habitats of saints who renovated, restored and preserved them for posterity.

Without the existence of the forests, the groves, the water bodies, and the Yamuna,  which are intrinsic to the legend of Krishna, the tradition that has endeared itself to millions of bhaktas or devotees will not endure in it’s original form.

It is an ongoing effort of The Braj Foundation to restore to this significant and sacred landscapeits due sanctity by another phase of renewal and renovation.