V. P. KASHIN Candidate of Historical Sciences Keywords: India, Hinduism, Mathura, Krishna, Bhagavat Bhavan, Idga One of India's seven holy cities, Mathura, is known as the birthplace of Krishna, the most popular and beloved Hindu god. Every day the city is visited by tens of thousands of pilgrims and tourists from all over the world, including our compatriots. However, where they hope to see a temple, a mosque stands tall. I was going to Mathura as if for a holiday. It was December 21, 2010 on the calendar, but the morning sun shone like spring and gave a generous warmth. On both sides of the highway was a vast sea of emerald green. Cornfields and mustard fields interspersed with towns and villages where steep-horned cows roamed the streets. Mathura appeared unexpectedly and resembled a fancy cake decorated with turrets of temples and colorful flags. The car made its way through the narrow streets for a short time and parked five hundred meters from the entrance to the Sri Krishna Janmasthan complex. Everything was ringing, humming, singing. The riot of colors and scents was dizzying. But the bustle receded before the feeling of an almost tangible grace filling the surrounding space to the very edges. BEYOND THE HORIZON OF CENTURIES By Indian standards, the birthplace of Krishna is a small city with a population of 350 thousand people. It is located on the right bank of the river Jamna (Yamuna), 150 km south of Delhi and 56 km from Agra in Uttar Pradesh. 83% of the population profess Hinduism, 16% - Islam. There are over 200 Hindu temples and 54 large and small mosques. The founder of Mathura is considered to be Shatrughna, the younger brother of Prince Rama. He fought bravely, defeated the demon Labana, and laid the foundation of a city in the Madhuvana jungle. The ancient Greeks called it Madura. Mathura reached its heyday under the Kushans (1st century BC, AD) and Guptas (IV-VI centuries BC, AD). Visiting it in the seventh century, a Buddhist monk from China, Xua ... Read more