Braj

Northern Indian region on the Yamuna
River, south of the modern city of Delhi.
According to Hindu tradition, Braj is the
land where the god Krishna lived during
his time on earth. The Braj region does
not have clearly defined boundaries,
and the name has never referred to an
official administrative area. Instead it
has been defined by popular piety.
Krishna’s devotees (bhakta) place great
emphasis on visualizing his exploits as a
way to attain communion with him, and
thus places throughout the Braj region
are associated with very specific incidents in Krishna’s life. As it now stands,
the southern and eastern borders of the
region are just over five miles southeast
of the city of Mathura, and its northern
and western boundaries are nearly five
times that distance. For extensive information on Braj and its culture, see A. W.
Entwistle, Braj, 1987.