Braj Rural Tourism
There is a growing interest in Rural tourism of different areas of the country. The villages of Braj have two distinct characteristics
A. They are hospitable
B. They are rich in culture
One will find singers, philosophers and performers in every village.
Out of 1300 village of Braj over 600 have 5000 year old heritage connected with the transcendental past times of Radha & Krishna. Each of these village have interesting stories to trail.
TBF endeavors to develop each of these villages in such a manner and with such precision that the people from across the globe can stay in these village to experience this rich culture of Braj.
In this direction TBF has conceived several trails of heritage villages e. g. Ashtha Sakhi trail of Barsana
Asth Sakhi Trail, Barsana
The Eight Gopis who are the foremost, dearest and most beloved friends of Shri Radha are known as Asta-sakhis (Eight main), Parama-preshta(Dearest) or Varishtha(Top Most ) Gopis . Their names are Lalita, Visakha, Citralekha, Campakalata, Tungavidya, Indulekha, Rangadevi and Sudevi.
The Astha-sakhis display the zenith of spiritual love for Radha and Krishna. No one can equal or exceed the love they bear for the Divine Couple. To increase the transcendental ecstasy of Radha and Krishna, the Parama-preshta Gopis show partiality; sometimes they favour Krishna, sometimes Radha. These Eight Gopis are the leaders of all the other gopis. Although these Varishtha Gopis are the leaders of millions of other gopis, because they are very greedy to earn Radha's love , they always prefer to serve under the command of Radha and try to please her in every way possible.
The intend of developing the Asth Sakhi trail is to connect the villages associated with the eight prominent sakhis of Shri Radha through a thematic storyline. These villages have folklores associated with various tangible assets like forest/van, kunds, temples etc. These villages are living cultural sites but they lag their due status and reorganization. The aim of this project is to protect and enhance the natural, manmade and cultural assets of each of the settlement.
