Pulin Utsav is celebrated only when the Yamuna water enters Pulin Vrindavan in Gyan Gudri on the river bank, a phenomenon seen once in several years, Acharya Jaimini told Agratoday.in.

 In Hindu mythology, it is believed that Lord Krishna's friend Uddhav gave prolonged discourse to the 'gopi' (young maidens) of Vrindavan at Gyan Gudri, he added.

 Devotees turned up in large numbers late Friday and spent hours at the ghats, floating lamps and offering special prayers to the Yamuna, Jaimini said.

 "All Vrindavan temples send diyas (lamps) to this place," he said.

People will continue to light lamps on the river banks until the water recedes.

"The last time water reached Gyan Gudri was in 1978," said Jagan Nath Poddar, convener of Friends of Vrindavan.

"Devotees and pilgrims coming here are ecstatic to see the Yamuna in its full glory...just the way it once used to be," he added.

Agra and Mathura districts are the worst hit by the swollen Yamuna. Dozens of villages have been cut off and the water has inundated thousands of acres of farm lands. Water has also entered the moat of the magnificent 16th century Agra Fort and the Kailash temple on the Agra-Delhi highway, officials said.