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Synopsis This book presents a  comprehensive study of the region where Krishna, one of the most popular gods of devotional Hinduism, is believed to have spent his early years as a cowherd boy. The area of Braj, lying between Delhi and Agra, is visited annually by hundreds of thousands of pilgrims, who to see the sacred sites associated with the romantic legends of Krishna's youth. Many of them follow a pilgrimage circuit over 300 km in length that takes up to eight weeks to complete and includes such famous places as Mathura, Vrindaban, and Gokul.

Fir many centuries the Krishna legends have been a source of inspiration for poets and devotees all India. Since the turn of the 16th century Braj has been a focus of their attention; devotees who came to settle there related its topography to their conception of a transcendent realm in which Krishna is eternally engaged in his divine play with his consort, Radha. The local dialect served as the medium for most of the vernacular literature written in northern India up to the end of the last century.