Mathura
Twelve kilometres from Mathura, Vrindavan is where the young Krishna grew up and performed his legendary Rasleela with the Gopis in the forests along the Yamuna. Today those forests are gone but the town contains over 5,000 temples — including the magnificent Banke Bihari, the ancient Radha Raman, and the towering ISKCON temple — creating an atmosphere of almost continuous devotional music and colour.
The Banke Bihari Temple has no bells or conches — the deity is so beloved that loud sounds are forbidden to avoid disturbing him. The Nidhivan compound, where Krishna's Rasleela is said to occur nightly, is an extraordinarily atmospheric site.