Yashoda Kund, Nandgaon: Where Mother Yashoda Bathed with Baby Krishna

Yashoda Kund, Nandgaon, at a glance

What is Yashoda Kund?

Yashoda Kund is a sacred, historic pond, a kund, in Nandgaon, the hill town of Nanda Baba, the foster father of Krishna, where the Lord spent his boyhood after Gokul. It lies just south of the Nanda Bhavan, the home of Nanda and Yashoda atop the Nandishwar hill and is dear as a leela site of Krishna's childhood, named for and beloved of his mother, Yashoda. A quiet, tender spot with its ancient stone figures and a riverside temple, it is one of the loved kunds of Nandgaon. For Nanda Baba's town and its holy places, see our barsana vs nandgaon guide and to visit Nandgaon and its kunds, a mathura vrindavan tour packages with Experience My India can plan it.

From the ground (Gurudutt): Of all the holy places of Nandgaon, Yashoda Kund is the one that touches the heart most, for it is not about a great battle or a miracle, but about a mother and her child. Here our Yashoda bathed and watched her Krishna and Balram splash and play; here she prayed for her boy's safety; and here, by those little stone figures, she would gently frighten them home at mealtime, as every mother of Braj still does. Sit by this pond and you feel a mother's love. We tell it as the cherished tradition of Braj. Radhe Radhe, Jai Yashoda Maiya.

Yashoda's daily bath and the play of Krishna

The heart of Yashoda Kund is the daily devotion and delight of a mother:

• The morning bath. By the tradition, Mother Yashoda came to this pond every morning to take her bath; it was her own daily place by the water, below the Nanda Bhavan and so the kund came to bear her name, Yashoda Kund, the pond of Yashoda, dear to all who love the mother of Krishna.

• The play of Krishna and Balarama. Often she would bring the baby Krishna and his elder brother Balarama with her and watch them play and splash in the water as she bathed; so the kund holds the memory of the childhood games of the little Krishna, played out by his mother's side, one of the tenderest of all the leelas of Braj.

• A mother's own place. So Yashoda Kund is, above all, a mother's place: her bath, her watching of her children at play, her prayers and her little games with them; it is a pond steeped in the daily, loving life of Yashoda and her divine son and dear to the devotee for that very tenderness.

The Narsimhadev temple: a mother's prayer

On the bank of Yashoda Kund stands a temple dedicated to Lord Narsimhadev, the man-lion avatar of Vishnu, the great protector who tore apart the demon Hiranyakashipu to save his child devotee Prahlada. By the tradition, after her morning bath, Mother Yashoda would stand near this shrine and pray to Lord Narsimhadev for the safety and well-being of her beloved Krishna, that no harm from the demons Kansa sent might ever touch him; for Narsimhadev is the Lord who protects his devotees' children. So the temple holds the memory of a mother's daily prayer for her child and remains a dear shrine on the kund. We present this as the cherished belief and tradition of Braj, held with faith and recounted with reverence.

The Hau-Bilau: the hobgoblins of Yashoda

On the western bank of the kund lie the Hau-Bilau, one of the most charming sights of Braj:

• The stone figures. On the western bank are ancient, weathered stone figures known as the Hau-Bilau or haua, the hobgoblins; they are among the dearest curiosities of Nandgaon, little stone bogeymen that have stood by the kund since ancient times, kept as a reminder of a sweet pastime of Yashoda.

• A mother's loving trick. By the tradition, when the little Krishna and Balarama became so absorbed in their play that they would not come home to bathe and eat and even Rohini could not catch them, Yashoda would come herself; and she would gently frighten them with talk of the haua, the hobgoblin, to coax them into her arms and home, as the mothers of Braj still do with their little ones to this day.

• Krishna asks to see the haua. It is sweetly told that once the little Krishna, hearing his mother speak of the haua, asked to see it for himself; so the Hau-Bilau figures remain by the kund as the very hobgoblins of that loving game. By some local accounts, the stone figures are also linked to a sage of old whose power turned approaching demons to stone; we present the fuller tradition and note that accounts vary.

The prayer of the kund

Devotees who come to Yashoda Kund chant a traditional prayer to its sacred waters, honouring the kund as a tirtharaja, a king among holy places. The old prayer, dhana-dhanya-sukham dehi, tirtharaja namostu te, means, in substance, a salutation to the king of pilgrimage places, with the plea to grant wealth, grain and happiness in this life; and by the tradition, a bath or prayer here is held to bestow prosperity and peace in this world and, in the end, the attainment of Vaikuntha, the eternal abode of the Lord. So the kund is sought for both worldly blessing and the highest spiritual good. We present this as the cherished belief and tradition of Braj.

Vatsalya Bhakti: the mother's love of God

Above all, Yashoda Kund is dear as a place of Vatsalya Bhakti:

• The parental love of God. Vatsalya Bhakti is the devotion of parental love, the sweet mood in which the devotee loves God as their own child, as Yashoda loved Krishna; it is held to be among the most tender and intimate of all the ways of loving the Lord and Yashoda is its supreme example.

• A place of tenderness. Yashoda Kund, steeped in the daily, loving motherhood of Yashoda, her bath, her prayers, her games and her care for her divine child, is thus a place where the devotee feels and shares in that Vatsalya Bhakti; pilgrims come seeking spiritual purification and this deeper, tender connection to the Lord as the beloved child of Braj.

• A loved stop of the Braj pilgrimage. As part of the rich land of Braj Bhoomi where Krishna spent his childhood, Yashoda Kund draws pilgrims for blessings, purification and the sweetness of the mother's love of God; it is a gentle, loved stop on the pilgrimage of Nandgaon and Braj. We present this as the cherished tradition of Braj.

How to reach and visit

Yashoda Kund is in Nandgaon, the hill town of Nanda Baba:

• Reaching Nandgaon. Nandgaon is about 50 km from Mathura and Vrindavan, in the north-western part of Braj, near Barsana, the town of Radha; Yashoda Kund is just south of the Nanda Bhavan, below the Nandishwar hill, reached by road and a short walk. Most pilgrims go by car with a Braj guide as part of a Barsana and Nandgaon day.

• Finding it at Nandgaon. The kund is below the great Nand Bhavan temple on the hill, among the holy places of Nandgaon; a Braj local who knows Nandgaon will take you to Yashoda Kund and the Hau-Bilau and tell you the tender stories on the spot, which is the best way to feel them.

• Visit with reverence. It is an ancient, holy pond and shrine of a gentle story; treat the waters, the Narsimhadev temple and the Hau-Bilau with reverence, follow the local custom and keep the peace of this tender spot. Come in the cool of the morning or evening; Nandgaon is busiest and most joyful at the Lathmar Holi.

See our lathmar holi nandgaon 2027 guide for the famous Holi of Nandgaon and the shri nand yashoda bhawan gokul dham for Yashoda's earlier home at Gokul.

We take guests to Yashoda Kund and the holy places of Nandgaon, the Nand Bhavan, the kunds and, nearby, Barsana, the town of Radha and the whole of Braj, in a comfortable vehicle with a Braj-born guide who knows Nandgaon and the tender old stories. A shared day tour starts from around ₹1,499 per person, with darshan free. The braj 84 kos yatra covers the whole of Braj, our mathura vrindavan tour the twin cities and our vrindavan tour package Vrindavan in a day; the radha rani temple barsana of nearby Barsana is dear too. Message me on WhatsApp at +91-7302265809 to plan your Nandgaon darshan.

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