Except for Dwarka, which is in Gujarat, most of Krishna's story unfolds in Mathura and its environs. Brindavan (15 km from Mathura), where he played the flute, sported with the gopis, and wooed his sweetheart Radha; Govardhan (26 km away) where, as a child, he is said to have held aloft the Govardhan mountain on his finger for seven days and nights to protect the cowherds from a deluge; Gokul (16 km), where baby Krishna was kept hidden and sheltered from the evil King Kansa by his foster mother Yashoda; Barsana (21 km from Govardhan), the birthplace of Radha; all these and many other small towns are significant because they were in some way connected with Krishna. Not surprisingly, the entire area, called Brajbhoomi, is deeply steeped in Krishna lore. Janmashtami is celebrated in this entire area with incredible fervor and gaiety. However, the place which is considered the holiest is obviously Mathura, and within Mathura too, one particular temple that is built on the exact site where Krishna was born.
It is estimated that during Janmashtami, almost seven lakh people pour into Mathura and the surrounding towns. Buses crammed with pilgrims come from every corner of the country and line every lane and road in Mathura. Every hotel, every guesthouse, is full, and if one has not made arrangements, one cannot get a room anywhere in the city for all the money in the world. So a lot of pilgrims simply camp wherever they find place in a park, on the pavement, even on the road! All of Mathura becomes a sort of giant living room, with people sitting, sleeping and cooking wherever they can find a square inch. They throng the temples (of which there are many in Mathura), and wander around the innumerable little bazaars that mushroom all over the city. Snack stalls, mithai (sweet) shops, tiny shacks selling trinkets and baubles, others selling religious books and cassettes and pictures of Lord Krishna spring up magically on every road.
Nevertheless, the real crowds during Janmashtami, of course, are at the Shri Krishna Janmabhoomi temple. Hundreds of pilgrims squat on every inch of the temple grounds, fanning themselves with newspapers and listening in pin drop silence to the discourses of erudite religious teachers discourses relayed through a close circuit television network to every corner of the temple. Many people simply camp in the temple all day so that they can witness the midnight birth ceremony. As night falls, the crowds swell into the proverbial sea of humanity, jostling and pushing, in an attempt to get into the temple. The main hall of the temple, where the ceremony actually takes place, is usually so tightly packed with people that there isn't place to even squeeze in a pin! As twelve o'clock draws nearer, an anticipatory murmur runs through the crowd and it starts straining to get a glimpse of what the priests are doing. At the stroke of midnight, when the deity is taken out, the crowd lets out a mighty roar - 'Krishna bhagwan ki jai'! The sound of frenzied clapping, the call of the conch shell rents the air, as the small deity, wrapped in white, is placed on a raised platform so that everyone can get a look. Besides Mathura, this festival is celebrated all over India with the special procedure and the regional festivities that are normally followed in each region.
