Mathura

Mathura Location of Mathura in Uttar Pradesh and India
District(s)	Mathura
Time zone	IST (UTC+5:30)
Codes • Pincode • 281 XXX • Telephone • +91(565) • Vehicle • UP-85
Website	mathura.nic.in/

Coordinates: 27°27′N 77°43′E / 27.45°N 77.72°E / 27.45; 77.72

Mathura pronunciation (help·info) (IAST mathurā)(Hindi: मथुरा) is a holy city in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It is located approximately 50 km north of Agra, and 150 km south of Delhi; about twenty kilometers from holy Vrindavan.^[1] It is the administrative centre of Mathura District of Uttar Pradesh. During the ancient period, Mathura was an economic hub, located at the junction of important caravan routes.

Mathura is reputed to be the birthplace of Krishna at the centre of Vraja, called Krishnajanmabhoomi, literary 'Krishna's birth place'.^[2] The Keshav Dev temple was built in ancient times on the site of Krishna's legendary birthplace (an underground prison). As per epic Mahabharata and per Bhagavata Purana, Mathura was the capital of the Surasena Kingdom, ruled by Kansa the maternal uncle of Krishna.

Mathura is also famous as one of the first two centres of production for images of the Buddha, the other being Gandhara in present-day Pakistan and Afghanistan. Human images of the Buddha began to appear at approximately the same time in both centres in the 1st Century AD but can be distinguished from one another as the Gandharan images are very clearly Greco-Roman in inspiration with the Buddha wearing wavy locks tucked up into a chignon and heavier toga-like robes. The Buddha figurines produced in Mathura more closely resemble some of the older Indian male fertility gods and have shorter, curlier hair and lighter, more translucent robes.

Muttra is the location of the fictional plantation where Jonathan Small worked in the Sherlock Holmes story "The Sign of Four". Although Muttra sounds like Mathura it is a fictitious place. Mathura never had indigo plantations around it and Mathura is nowhere near the Northwest Provinces.^[3].

History

A portrait of Maharaja Šúraséna or Shoorsena, the grandfather of both Krishna and Pandavas.

Ancient Indian (Bharata) cities and Places (Title and location names are in English.)

Mathura has an ancient history. As per the ASI plaque at Mathura museum, the city is mentioned in the oldest epic Ramayana. In the epic, the Ikshwaku prince Shatrughna, slays a deamon called Lavanasur and claims the land. Afterwards the place came to be known as Madhuvan as it was thickly wooded, Madhupura and later Mathura. The demon that Shatrughan killed in Ramayana was Lavanasur who was the progeny of a devout king Madhu who gets Lord Shiva's Trident in a boon in the Puranas. The Puranas ascribe the founding of the city to Ayu, the son of Pururuvas and the celestrial nymph Urvashi. The city might also have got its name from a famous Yadav king Madhu who reigned around 1600 BC.

In the 6th century BC Mathura became the capital of the Shursen (Surasen) republic^[4]. The city was later ruled by the Maurya empire (4th to 2nd centuries BC) and the Sunga dynasty (2nd century BC). It may have come under the control of Indo-Greeks some time between 180 BC and 100 BC. It then reverted to local rule before being conquered by the Indo-Scythians during the 1st century BC. Archaeological evidence seems to indicate that, by 100 BC, there was a group of Jains living in Mathura [Bowker]. Mathuran art and culture reached its zenith under the Kushan dynasty which had Mathura as one of their capitals, the other being Purushapura (Peshawar). The dynasty had kings with the name of Kadphises, Kanishka, Huvishka and Vasudeva. All the Kushans were patrons of Buddhism except Vasudeo, mentioned on coins as Bazodeo. Kanishka even hosted the third Buddhist council, the first two being hosted by Ajatshatru and Ashoka the Great. The headless statue of Kanishka is in the Mathura museum.

Megasthenes, writing in the early 3rd century BC, mentions Mathura as a great city under the name Μέθορα (Méthora).^[5]

The Indo-Scythians (aka Sakas or Shakas) conquered the area of Mathura over Indian kings around 60 BCE. Some of their satraps were Hagamasha and Hagana, who were in turn followed by the Saka Great Satrap Rajuvula.

The findings of ancient stone inscriptions in Maghera, a town 17 kms from Mathura, provide historical artifacts that provide more details into this era of Mathura ^[6]. The 3 line text in these inscriptions are in Brahmi script and were tranlated as "In the 116th year of the Greek kings..." ^{[7] [8]}

The Mathura lion capital, an Indo-Scythian sandstone capital in crude style, dated to the 1st century CE, describes in kharoshthi the gift of a stupa with a relic of the Buddha, by Queen Nadasi Kasa, the wife of the Indo-Scythian ruler of Mathura, Rajuvula. The capital also mentions the genealogy of several Indo-Scythian satraps of Mathura.

Rajuvula apparently eliminated the last of the Indo-Greek kings, Strato II, around 10 CE, and took his capital city, Sagala.

The Mathura Lion Capital inscriptions attest that Mathura fell under the control of the Sakas. The inscriptions contain references to Kharaosta Kamuio and Aiyasi Kamuia. Yuvaraja Kharostes (Kshatrapa) was the son of Arta as is attested by his own coins.^[9] Arta is stated to be brother of King Moga or Maues.^[10] Princess Aiyasi Kambojaka, also called Kambojika, was the chief queen of Shaka Mahakshatrapa Rajuvula. Kamboja presence in Mathura is also verified from some verses of epic Mahabharata which are believed to have been composed around this period.^[11] This may suggest that Sakas and Kambojas may have jointly ruled over Mathura and Uttar Pradesh. It is revealing that Mahabharata verses only attest the Kambojas and Yavanas as the inhabitants of Mathura, but do not make any reference to the Sakas.^[12] Probably, the epic has reckoned the Sakas of Mathura among the Kambojas (Dr J. L. Kamboj) or else have addressed them as Yavanas, unless the Mahabharata verses refer to the previous period of invasion occupation by the Yavanas around 150 BCE.

The Indo-Scythian satraps of Mathura are sometimes called the "Northern Satraps", as opposed to the "Western Satraps" ruling in Gujarat and Malwa. After Rajuvula, several successors are known to have ruled as vassals to the Kushans, such as the "Great Satrap" Kharapallana and the "Satrap" Vanaspara, who are known from an inscription discovered in Sarnath, and dated to the 3rd year of Kanishka (c 130 CE), in which they were paying allegiance to the Kushans.^[13]

Mathura served as one of the Kushan Empire's two capitals from the first to the third centuries. The Mathura Museum has the largest collection of redstone sculptures in Asia, depicting many famous Buddha figurines. Fa Hien mentions the city, as a centre of Buddhism about A.D. 400; while his successor Hsuan Tsang, who visited the city in 634 AD, which he mentions as Mot'ulo, and writes that it contained twenty Buddhist monasteries and five Brahmanical temples ^[14]. Later, he went east to Thanesar, Jalandhar in the eastern Punjab, before climbing up to visit predominantly Theravada monasteries in the Kulu valley and turning southward again to Bairat and then Mathura, on the Yamuna river ^[15].

The city was sacked and many of its temples destroyed by Mahmud of Ghazni in 1018 and again by Sikandar Lodhi, who earned the epithet of But Shikan, the destroyer of idols. The Keshav Dev temple was partially destroyed by the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb, who built the city's Jami Masjid (Friday mosque) on the same site, re-using many of the temple's stones. It was won over from the Mughals by the Jat kings of Bharatpur but subsequently the area was passed on to the Marathas. The main Krishna shrine is presently the Dwarkadeesh temple, built in 1815 by Seth Gokuldas Parikh, Treasurer of Gwalior.

Geography

Location: Mathura (27.28 N, 77.41 E) is a district headquarter in the Uttar Pradesh state of India. It is located 145 km south of the national capital New Delhi and 50 km north of the city of Taj Mahal, Agra. District Aligarh is on the east and the Rajasthan district of Bharatpur is to the west.

Area: Geographical Area: 3329.4 km²

Administration:
District Mathura is divided in 3 tehsiles and 10 blocks for administrative purposes.

A: Tehsil: Chatta
1. Nandgaon
2. Chhata
3. Chaumuhan[1]
4. Kosi Kalan

B: Tehsil: Mathura
4. Goverdhan
5. Mathura
6. Farah
7. Baldeo

C: Tehsil: Mant
8. Mant
9. Naujhil
10. Raya, Uttar Pradesh

Mathura is located at 27°30′N 77°41′E / 27.5°N 77.68°E / 27.5; 77.68^[16]. It has an average elevation of 174 metres (570 feet).

Demographics

As of 2001^[update] India census^[17], Mathura had a population of 298,827. Males constitute 53% of the population and females 47%. Mathura has an average literacy rate of 72%, higher than the national average of 59.5%: male literacy is 71%, and female literacy is 73%. In Mathura, 14% of the population is under 6 years of age.

Tourism

Please help improve this article or section by expanding it. Further information might be found on the talk page. (January 2007)

Pilgrimage to Buddha's Holy Sites
The Four Main Sites
Lumbini · Bodh Gaya Sarnath · Kushinagar
Four Additional Sites
Sravasti · Rajgir Sankissa · Vaishali
Other Sites
Patna · Gaya   Kosambi · Mathura Kapilavastu · Devadaha Kesariya · Pava Nalanda · Varanasi
Later Sites
Sanchi · Ratnagiri Ellora · Ajanta Bharhut
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Lath mar Holi being played in Barsana, Uttar Pradesh

Tourism is still in a development stage in the city. There are quite a few places to visit in Mathura and its surroundings, most of them linked to the Hindu theology. Major places are listed here.

There is no commercial airport in Mathura. However, Mathura is driving distance from Delhi and Agra, both of which are on India's air map.

Major tourist sites in Mathura

• Krishnajanmabhoomi

• Dwarikadheesh Temple
• Durvasa Rishi Ashram
• Kans Tila
• Sri Keshavji Gaudiya Matha
• Vishram Ghat, a bath and worship place on the banks of river Yamuna is the main ghat in Mathura, central to 25 other ghats.

Bhooteshwar Mahadev Mandir

Places of interest around Mathura

A very famous twin-city to Mathura is Vrindavan. As the home of Lord Krishna in his youth, the small town is host to a multitude of temples belonging to various sects of Hinduism proclaiming Lord Krishna in various forms and avatars. Some of the most famous temples are Banke Bihari Temple, Rang ji Temple and Iskcon Temple.

• Krishnajanmabhoomi
• Barsana
• Nandgaon
• Gokul
• Baldeo
• Govardhan
• Radha Kund
• Mant
• Bharatpur, Rajasthan
• Agra
• Alwar, Rajasthan
• Deeg, Rajasthan
• Bird Sanctury, Kitham, Agra
• Raya

Strategic Importance

Mathura is the home for Indian I Corps (Strike Formation) ^{[18] [19]} within the Indian Army's Central Command , hosting Strike I Corps headquarters in a large classified area in the outskirts of the city known as Mathura Cantonment (Central Command itself has its headquarters at Lucknow). It hosts Strike Infantry units, Air Defence units, Armoured Divisions, Engineer brigades, Aritillery Units and classified units of Strategic Nuclear Command. Corps I is primarily responsible for western borders of India. In 2007 during Exercise Ashwamedha, all the armoured, artillery and infantry divisions performed a simulation of an overall NBC (nuclear-chemical-biological) environment. The aim was to show operational ability in high intensity, short duration and 'sudden' battles.^[20]

Industries

Today Mathura is situated on very important Road and Train routes in India. The famous Delhi-Agra highway (NH-2, National Highway -2) runs close to Mathura, providing the city with great connectivity. The city also houses a large and important train station; Mathura Junction. The city is on both the Delhi-Mumbai and Delhi-Chennai train routes.

Mathura is home to a large, technologically-advanced oil refinery owned by the Indian Oil Corporation, one of the largest in Asia. Mathura is also the base of a flourishing Silver polishing industry, textile printing industry involving in sari-printing and fabric dyeing. In addition to this, water tap factories are also flourishing in the area.

Educational Institutions

Mathura is home to the Uttar Pradesh Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Veterinary University, the first of its kind in the state and the fourth in the country to be made independent veterinary universities. The University is located on the Mathura-Agra road, about 5 km from Mathura Junction. The main campus of the University is spread over a land area of 782.32 acres (3.1659 km²) in Mathura Cantt and about 1,400 acres (6 km²) at Madhurikund, about 20 km from the main campus.

Art of Mathura

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Mathura

The Indo-Scythian Mathura lion capital, 1st century CE.	Yaksa, 1st-2nd century CE	The Bodhisattva Maitreya, art of Mathura, 2nd century CE	The Bodhisattva Maitreya, 2nd century CE.
The Bodhisattva Siddhartha Gautama, 2nd century CE.	Buddha of the Gupta period, 5th century CE.	Head of a Buddha, Gupta period, 6th century CE.

Notes

References

• Mathura-The Cultural Heritage. Edited by Doris Meth Srinivasan, published in 1989 by AIIS/Manohar.
• Bowker, John (2002). The Cambridge Illustrated History of Religions, p.60.
• Konow, Sten. Editor. 1929. Kharoshthī Inscriptions with Exception of those of Asoka. Corpus Inscriptionum Indicarum, Vol. II, Part I. Reprint: Indological Book House, Varanasi, 1969.
• Mukherjee, B. N. 1981. Mathurā and its Society: The Śaka-Pahlava Phase. Firma K. L. M. Private Limited, Calcutta.
• Sharma, R. C. 1976. Mathura Museum and Art. 2nd revised and enlarged edition. Government Museum, Mathura.
• Growse, F. S. 1882. " Mathura A District Memoir.
• Drake-Brockman, D. L. 1911. " Muttra A Gaztteer.

External links

• Mathura travel guide from Wikitravel
• Veterinary University
• Entry on Mathura in the Dictionary on Pali Proper Names
• Read details about Mathura

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Mathura

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