Things to do in Barsanaबरसाना में घूमने की जगहtemples, kunds, the Ashta Sakhi villages and Holi

Shri Radha Rani temple (Shriji)

The temple everyone comes for stands on Bhanugarh, the highest of Barsana's four peaks. Radha is worshipped here with Krishna as Ladli Lal, the beloved daughter and the beloved son, in her father's house. Braj tradition says Krishna's great-grandson Vajranabh first installed them on this hill; the deities were found again by Narayan Bhatt in the 16th century, and the temple you climb to was built in the 17th.

Darshan, summer

5 AM to 2 PM and 5 to 9 PM

Darshan, winter

5:30 AM to 2 PM and 5 to 8:30 PM

Aarti

Shringar about 7 AM, Rajbhog at noon, Sandhya about 7 PM, Shayan about 8:30 PM

Entry

Free. There is no VIP darshan at Shriji, whatever anyone offers you.

The climb

More than 200 steps from the town below. In summer, go early, before the heat.

Ropeway

About 300 m, 8 AM to 9 PM. ₹110 return for adults and ₹60 for children; ₹55 and ₹30 one way. It stops in strong wind. Tickets at the counter or on radharaniropeways.com.

Timings change on festival days. Message us and we confirm them for your date.

The ridge: Barsana's four peaks

Braj says Brahma asked to watch Krishna's pastimes forever and was told to become a hill at Barsana; its four peaks are his four heads. Each has its story and its temple, and a morning on foot covers them all.

• BhanugarhShriji's peak, named for Radha's father, King Vrishbhanu.
• Maangarh: Maan Mandir and Mor KutirWhere Radha turned away in maan, the lover's sulk, and Krishna came to plead. Below it is Mor Kutir, where he danced as a peacock until her anger broke. About 1 km south-west of Shriji, through Gahvar Van.
• Dangarh: Daan BihariNamed for the dan leela, when Krishna and the cowherd boys demanded a toll of curd from Radha and her sakhis. Daan Bihari temple is about 500 m south-west of Shriji.
• VilasgarhThe peak of play, the fourth head.
• Radha Kushal Bihari (Jaipur Mandir)About 500 m from Shriji along the ridge. A king of Jaipur built it in the Rajasthani style, which is why Barsana calls it the Jaipur Mandir.
• Sankari KhorThe narrow pass where the hills meet, on the way to Nandgaon, where the cowherd boys stopped the sakhis for their toll.
• Gahvar VanThe forest wrapped around Bhanugarh, with Krishna Kund in it. The Barsana parikrama runs through it, and Maan Mandir has planted and protected it for decades.

In town, below the hill

• Vrishbhanu's palace and the Ashta Sakhi templeAt the foot of the Shriji steps, with a Brahma temple beside them to greet whoever climbs. The small Ashta Sakhi temple has Radha's eight companions together.
• Kirti MandirThe temple of Radha's mother, Kirti Maiya, with the child Radha in her lap. Jagadguru Kripalu Parishat opened it in 2019 in the Rangeeli Mahal grounds, about 900 m north-east of Shriji. Open in the morning until about noon, and 4:30 to 8:30 PM.
• Rangeeli MahalKripalu ji's ashram on the Nandgaon road. Its free hospital is close by.
• Peeli Pokhar and the kundsThe yellow pond, Bhanokhar, Krishna Kund and Prem Sarovar. Where they are, their stories and where people bathe: places to take a holy bath in Barsana.
• The lanes and the havelisCarved sandstone mansions and the market lanes below the steps, where the kachori and jalebi are fried in the morning.

The Ashta Sakhi villages

Radha Rani's eight closest companions, the Ashta Sakhi, each have a village around Barsana with her temple in it. By car the villages make a circle you can do in a day.

A day round the eight

7 AM

Shringar aarti at Shriji, then Unchagaon and Narayan Bhatt's samadhi

9 AM

Chiksauli, Karhala, Kamai

Noon

Lunch back in Barsana

3 PM

Anjanokh, Dabhala, Rakauli, Sunhera

6 PM

Prem Sarovar at dusk, then Sandhya aarti at Shriji at 7

Tour operators list this circuit at ₹2,800 to ₹3,800 a head. We arrange a car with a driver who knows the villages, priced per car, so a family pays what a couple pays.

Walk the Barsana parikrama

The parikrama goes round the hills through Gahvar Van, past Krishna Kund, Peeli Pokhar and Vrishbhanu's palace, and up to Shriji. Allow about three hours on foot and start early. On Ekadashi and Purnima mornings you walk it in company.

Nearby: Nandgaon, Radha Kund and Govardhan

Prem Sarovar

1.8 km north on the Nandgaon road. The lake Braj fills with Radha and Krishna's tears, shed when they could not bear to part.

Nandgaon

8 km. Nand Bhavan stands on Nandishvar hill, where Krishna grew up, and you can see it from Shriji. Nandgaon's Lathmar Holi is the day after Barsana's.

Radha Kund

18 km, with Shyam Kund beside it.

Govardhan

20 km.

Vrindavan

About 45 km.

Need a car for the day? Message us and we send the price.

Festivals in Barsana

Barsana's year turns on two festivals: Holi, which here lasts forty days, and Radha Ashtami, Radha Rani's birthday.

11 Feb 2027

Basant Panchami. The forty days of Holi begin, and samaj, the Holi songs, are sung in the temple.

15 Mar 2027

Laddu Holi at Shriji, the evening before Lathmar Holi.

16 Mar 2027

Lathmar Holi in Barsana: the women of Barsana meet the men of Nandgaon with lathis. Some calendars say the 17th; the temple confirms in February.

17 Mar 2027

Lathmar Holi in Nandgaon, when the men of Barsana go there.

22 Mar 2027

Rangwali Holi across Braj.

8 Sep 2027

Radha Ashtami, Barsana's biggest day. The town is barricaded early in the morning.

Oct and Nov

Kartik month, Braj's pilgrim season.

Rooms for these days go first. Rooms for Holi and Radha Ashtami

Questions people ask