The Braj Foundation Vrindavan - Vrindavan

Great work

Very good

Very good location and deep place... For everything work. Owesome office interrors and building...

Vineet Narain of braj foundation , vrindavan , in an exclusive interview provided me the following information about his association with vrindavan and his dream and vision about vrindavan - I am basically a Brajwasi. Though I have been working for the betterment of Vrindavan for the past fifteen years, my ancestors both from mother and father’s side have lived here for more than eight hundred years. So my love for Krishna and Braj is quite natural. Even the crusades I did against political corruption and could fight such fierce battles against the mightiest people, for this the strength came from Krishna and his teachings in Bhagvat Gita. After fighting many of these battles even against the judiciary I was very disillusioned as I felt that I was continuing to do the same thing and nothing was happening. So I was a little dejected and at that time I met a saint at Barsana who inspired me to serve Braj, of which Vrindavan is a part. He told me that Braj was no different than Krishna and Krishna says so through many scriptures. So serving Braj is serving Krishna. He said that if you do that then you will feel happy in this material world and will make a place for yourself in the future world also. It is this saint who suggested that I start restoring the leela sthalis , the places of transcendental interaction of Radha and Krishna. The meeting with the saint took place around 2002. I then told him that firstly I was not a conservationist and secondly I had no experience of civil work or restoration. Thirdly it was a herculean job and fourthly I did not have any institution which could undertake this kind of job. So I asked him how will I do it ? On this he said that I should have faith in Radha Rani and she would guide me. And believe me there has not been turning back on this once I started this. In Bhagwat Krishna as a child tells his foster father Nanda Baba that we do not dwell in cities or villages but our real dwellings are the forests and hills of Braj. Temples are only a recent phenomenon. Five hundred years ago, there were no temples in Vrindavan. Vrindavan is geographically in a peninsula shape and Yamuna ji enters from Shergarh side and takes a u turn and goes to Mathura. Because of this u shape island kind of situation Vrindavan had very high water level and a lot of greenery. In my childhood I have seen this area full of trees and in a thick forest. Today none are there as all have been chopped off. So temples are not the places which are associated with the transcendental past times of Radha and Krishna and it is the water bodies, hill slopes, jungles, Yamuna ghats where Krishna performed his leelas. Therefore we have worked on restoring these. I am craving to do one hundred times more than what we have already done so far. Because we are not getting younger. Time is running fast and challenges are very big. Vested interests are very powerful. They grab these leela sthalis and do illegal construction on them. It is very difficult to take these places back from such people. In such cases we have to fight legal , administrative and some times physical battles also to get the encroachers removed. But we do not give up. I have a background of persistence and perseverance and that is becoming handy in this work also. Look at Brahmkund in Vrindavan, it used to be a heap of garbage and today it is a most attractive pilgimage destination. Then there are Seva Kunj in Vrindavan and Rudr Kund in Goverdhan. So many projects. Real Vrindavan can only be seen when we are spiritually so advanced that our eyes stop looking at the mundane, materialistic things in Vrindavan. Sages have that this is the Vrindavan that we see but there is another nitya Vrindavan which simultaneously exists which we cannot see. For example Radha and Krishna are still performing their leelas but we cannot see because we are not spiritually elevated. So they recommend that if you have dham nishtha, if you are committed to living in that holy place, then slowly and gradually you can advance to that stage. I