Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu began His parikrama of Vraja Mandala from Mathuraand it has now become the tradition that those performing the chaurasi-kosa Vraja Mandala Parikrama also start their parikrama from Mathura (accept the residents of Vrindavana who start Vraja Mandala Parikrama from the holy city itself).
The traditional day for starting Vraja Mandala Parikrama is on niyama-seva, which is the first day of the holy month of Kartika which falls on the day after Saradiya-purnima.
It is also a part of the tradition to first take bath in the Yamuna at Vishrama Ghata and then take a vow (sankalpa) to complete the full parikrama of Vraja once it has been started.
It is also part of the tradition that after bathing at Vishrama Ghata, the Vraja Mandala Parikrama party should first perform a half-parikrama of Mathura from Vishrama Ghata to Bhuteshwara Mahadeva and Shri Krishna Janmasthana.
Then after having darshana of Lord Keshavadeva, the parikrama should proceed directly to Madhuvana, the first of the sacred forests visited on the Vraja Mandala Parikrama. (With regard to taking darshana of Lord Keshavadeva, this can be accomplished by seeing the vijay-murti of Keshavaji at the Maratha Mandira next to the Prachin Janmasthana, otherwise at the newly constructed Keshava Mandira).
START OF MATHURA HALF-PARIKRAMA
Vishrama Ghata / Vishranti-tirtha
This is where Krishna rested after killing the despotic ruler of Mathura, the evil demon known as King Kamsa. The word ‘vishrama’ or ‘vishranti’ means ‘to rest’ as well as ‘resting place’. When Lord Chaitanya visited Mathura, He also took bath at Vishrama Ghata and rested here for some time. The Bhakti-rartnakara says,“See this great holy place named Shri Vishranti.
It was here that Krishna took rest after killing Kamsa. O Shrinivasa, the jewel amongst sannyasis, Shri Chaitanya, also performed many transcendental activities here. All types of people—women, men, aged, youths, and even children—gathered to see the Lord.
Hundreds of thousands came and everyone acknowledged that the best of all sannyasis had come to Mathura. Raising their arms in the air and crying, they shouted the name of Hari. Gaurachandra’s beauty charmed the entire world and people were unable to take their eyes off Him. The Lord fulfilled everyone’s’ desires, and in this way He performed amazing pastimes at Vishranti. The glories of Vishranti-tirtha are famous in the world.
One can achieve the rarest perfection by the grace of Vishranti.” Lord Varahadeva also came to Vishrama Ghata and rested after He rescued the earth from the Garbha Ocean. While He was resting at Vishrama Ghata, Lord Varahadeva spoke about the glories of Vraja Mandala to the goddess Bhumi Devi, the mother earth, and these descriptions of the holy dhama were recorded in the Adi-Varaha Purana.
Situated within the vicinity of Vishrama Ghata are a number of important temples including those dedicated to:
Yamunaji, Krishna-Balarama, Vasudeva-Devaki, Annapurna Devi, Yamaraja-Yamuna and situated just adjacent to Vishram Ghata is the temple of Gatashrama Narayana and the famous Dwarakadhisha Mandira.
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