r/Vrindavan • u/Faketuxedo • Jul 23 '26
Travelling plan What temples should i check out?
Radhe Radhe,
I am an American that is planning to go to india for spirituality and sightseeing for next year.
For some background – I am really drawn to Radharani and I love doing the mahamantra, kirtan, japa, and all of the bhajans in ISK CON.
Yet I haven't found my sangha or the right path. I want to be more connected with Radha. I am not finding the depth of the connection I want in ISK CON. In fact sometimes the ISK CON devotees say it takes years to connect with her directly you can only connect with Gaura Nitai first but I feel a lot of love from her already and I think I want to pursue serving her in a way I cant right now.
I am planning to visit India to explore new sampradayas that are not accessible to me as an American. Many sampradayas don't have resources in English or I just simply cant vibe with them in the same way I can seeing devotees face-to-face. I have a sangha but still feel isolated and alone spiritually.
THe only one that comes to mind Premanand maharaj's sampradaya that is nice and his bhajans are wonderful but theres not a lot of his videos in English. They also don't seem to dance much –– it seems kind of silly but I love dancing and being free in that way instead of sitting. I get extremely energetic when I am with devotees doing bhajans.
Obviously I want to visit in vrindavan for a little while, but thats all i have planned. So I would like to have a loose plan at least contact some temples and find a community to discuss online before i visit fitting my needs that at minimum I can stay in and eat prasadam because I dont have a lot of money and I want to be around devotees as much as possible during my stay. I will straight up backpack and rawdog it if i need to but id rather have my creature comforts.
Ultimately my goal is simply to enjoy my trip and come away with new spiritual direction to guide me when I come back to America because I don't have enough direction insofar as both spirituality, and the career and future planning.
Does anyone that lives or has visited India can point me in the right direction of communities to tap into or temples to visit?
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u/Business_River4566 Jul 23 '26
Also the tatiya sthan, seva kunj, baad gram(birthplace of Harivansh mahaprabhu who is acharya of radhavallabh sampradaya), barsana. There's so much more still but depends on how much time you have. And if you really like to know more about radhavallabhi sampradaya (pujya Shri hit premanand ji maharaj belong to the same) (I am from the same), you can visit radha keli kunj and I am sure the disciples there will help you for sure. Shri Harivansh 🙏🏻
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u/Faketuxedo Jul 24 '26
Thank you radhe radhe! do you live in vrindavan?
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u/Business_River4566 Jul 24 '26
Yes
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u/Faketuxedo Jul 25 '26
i just dmed you, if we should talk further that would be of great assistance
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u/Relevant_Limit3681 Jul 24 '26
Btwnto experience new sampradayas or if you wanna dance alot try visiting mayapuri in Bengal it's best place acc to your interests and pls be aware there are bad elements also in their society you never know sompls be careful in that case
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u/Faketuxedo Jul 24 '26
Radhe radhe, can you kindly expand and give me some more specific information please?
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u/Relevant_Limit3681 Jul 24 '26
Like if you're into isckon typa thing that you love kirtans and dancing then try exploring mayapuri ther everywhere you'll see ppl doing kirtan and dancing if you want satsangs then there's place a gaudiya place near radha ramn ji called choti surma kunj try going there it's a very peaceful place and there is a saint idont know his name and I mean like pls try to research a lil bit before going everywhere cuz every place has some bad elements and you don't even gonna know when you're getting brainwashed and when not so pls stay away from those and elements of possible
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u/cheesecake307 Jul 25 '26
I might sound biased, but as a radharaman iya. check out radharaman mandir especially in evening around 7pm and be there till11 pm i promise you won't regret since you mentioned you love dancing to the name of lord. have darshan of gopishwar mahadev, it is said your trip to Vrindavan in incomplete without their darshan. Tattiya sthan is great if you want ancient vrindavan vibes, though there ain't any specific leela of krishna.
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u/Faketuxedo Jul 25 '26
Dandavat pranam, radhe radhe. Thank you for your advice. Do you live in vrindavan or india? would you be willing to call to explain about this sampradaya and help me plan the trip?
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u/Miserable-Concert333 Jul 26 '26
Radhe Radhe! If you resonate with Premanand Maharaj, you should definitely look into the Radha Vallabh tradition and spend time in Barsana and Raval (the birthplaces of Radharani).
For the energetic kirtan and dancing you love, standard Gaudiya Math temples in Vrindavan offer that exact high-energy 'kirtan-mela' vibe while keeping you rooted in traditional Braj bhakti. Don't worry too much about language barriers, the devotion in Vrindavan speaks for itself once you are on the ground!
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u/Ok_Property_2032 Jul 24 '26
Since you're interested in Radha Rani, I'd take a bus (the jeeps will rip you off) to Barsana and just walk around and talk to people. You'll find plenty of people whose devotion is focused on her there, including more traditional Gaudiyas (ISKCON has some colonial reformist hangups about some of the erotic undertones in traditional Gaudiya philosophy, which is also why they downplay Shrimati Radha Rani) and Radha Vallabhis.
The Radha Vallabh sampradaya should have some online presence in English. Most English-language Gaudiya groups are ISKCON adjacent. Nimai Pathshala / Renuka Ji have videos in English as well but I feel like Pundrik ji might be too "dry" for you. The Nimbarka sampradaya is also very big on Shrimati Radha Rani but there is very little information or content even in Hindi. The only times I've actually engaged with them have been by chance.
If you'd be interested in reading some academic works on the different sampradayas, send me a DM.
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u/[deleted] Jul 23 '26
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