Vrindavan: When president Pranab Mukherjee walks down the lane to Sri Bankey Bihari ji temple recently, after laying the foundation stone of ISKCON's temple project, the ugly scars of gross negligence of this holy town and years of administrative mismanagement will remain obscured from his view by the gloss and glitter created by a fotnight's almost round the clock work by development agencies.

Vrindavan: If there is any religious hub in India that urgently needs to get involved in PM Narendra Modi's Swachch Bharat Abhiyan, it should be the Sri Krishna-land of Braj. 

Vrindavan: Restoration work on the Sewa Kunj, one of the four "leela sthalies" (most revered spots) of the Radha-Krishna legend, has been temporarily halted with a local NGO accused of playing with the "sanctity" and original design of the shrine by local priests who themselves are being accused of promoting "narrow interests".

Jatipura (Goverdhan): A page from 5000 year old history of Braj Mandal was re-enacted at the renovated Rudra Kund recently when ascetics from Varanasi with an image of Kashi's (Varanasi) presiding deity arrived with fanfare with Ganga water to be part of the ceremonial inauguration of the holy pond.

Mathura: Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav green flagged the start of the radio taxi project which had been hanging fire for past one year.

Goverdhan: Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav announced a slew of developmental projects for the Braj area, the leela bhoomi of Sri Krishna and Radha, while dedicating a renovated holy pond (kund).