Shri Krishna Janmabhoomi or the Birthplace Temple Mathura

The Krishna Janmabhoomi Temple complex is the main pilgrimage spot in Mathura. Krishna was born in a prison cell where his parents Devki and Vasudev were imprisoned by the brother of Devki, Kansa due the prediction that their son would kill Kansa. Immediately on his birth Krishna was shifted from Mathura prison to a small village Gokul across the river Yamuna to the house of Nand and Yashoda. This Temple is built around the prison cell in which Lord Krishna was born.

 Inside the temple complex is a small shrine dedicated to Lord Krishna adorned with ornaments, a well from where jail inmates were fed water and a shrine for Yogmaya the Daughter of Nand and Yashoda who was exchanged for Krishna. According to the legend the Krishna’s birthplace temple was first built, on this site, by Vajranabha, Krishna’s great grandson; and has been rebuilt several times over in the centuries that followed. The present temple houses paintings of scenes from Lord Krishna’s life.

 In 1017, Mahmud of Ghazni attacked and plundered Mahaban. Ghazni's scribe, Al Utbi wrote, "In the centre of the city there was a huge and magnificent temple, which the people believed wasn’t built by men but by the angels... Any description of the temple, either in words or in pictures, would fall short or fail to convey its beauty." Mahmud of Ghazni wrote, "if any one wished to construct a building equal to it, he would not be able to do so without spending a hundred million dinars, and the work would occupy two hundred years, even though the most able and experienced workmen were employed."  He ordered to burn all the temples and demolish them. He plundered gold and silver idols and carried away a load of hundred camels.  A stone inscription in Sanskrit found from the site mentions that in Vikrama Samvat 1207 a person named Jajja built a Vishnu temple which was 'brilliantly white and touching the clouds'.

Vaishnava saints Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and Vallabhacharya visited Mathura in early 16th century. Abdullah, in the reign of Mughal emperor Jehangir, mentions in Tarikh-i-Daudi the destruction of Mathura and its temples by Delhi Sultan Sikandar Lodi in 16th century. Lodi had prohibited Hindus from taking bath in the river and shaving of heads on the banks as well. In the reign of Jehangir, in 1618, Raja Veer Singh Deva Bundela of Orchha had built a temple at the cost of thirty-three lakhs. A French traveller Tavernier visited Mathura in 1650 and had described the octagonal temple built in red sand stone.  Mughal prince Dara Shikoh had patronized the temple and donated a railing to the temple. The railing was removed by Mathura governor Abdun Nabi Khan on the order of Mughal emperor Aurangzeb and he built the Jama Masjid on the ruins of the Hindu temples. During the Jat rebellion in Mathura, Abdul Nabi Khan was killed in 1669. Aurangzeb attacked Mathura and destroyed that Keshavdeva temple in 1670 and built the Shahi Eidgah in its place.

Mathura came under British control in 1804. The East India Company auctioned the land of Janmabhumi and it was purchased by Raja Patnimal, a wealthy banker of Banaras. Raja Patnimal wanted to build the temple but could not do so. His descendants inherited the land. His descendant Rai Krishna Das was challenged, for the ownership of 13.37 acres of land on which the shrine and the Shahi Eidgah is situated, in two civil suits by the Muslims of Mathura but the Allahabad High Court ruled in favour of Raj Krishna Das in both suits in 1935. Kailash Nath Katju and Madanmohan Chaturvedi had helped in these lawsuits. Politician and educationist Madan Mohan Malaviya acquired the land from Raj Krishna Das on 7 February 1944 with the financial help of Industrialist Jugal Kishore Birla.

 Following the death of Malaviya, Jugal Kishore Birla formed a trust named Shri Krishna Janmabhoomi Trust, later registered as the Shri Krishna Janmasthan Seva Sansthan, on 21 February 1951 and acquired the land. Jugal Kishore Birla entrusted the construction of the new temple with another industrialist and philanthropist Jaidayal Dalmia. The construction of the temple complex was started in October 1953 and completed in February 1982.

The temple complex contains Keshavdeva temple, Garbha Griha shrine and Bhagavata Bhavan.

Keshavdeva Temple

The Keshavdeva Temple was built by Ramkrishna Dalmia in memory of his mother. The construction of the temple started in June 1957 and inaugurated on 6 September 1958 by Hanuman Prasad Poddar. It is located south of the Shahi Eidgah.

Bhagavata Bhavan

The construction of the temple dedicated to Shrimad Bhagavata was started on 11 February 1965 and the installation ceremony of the deities was held on 12 February 1982. It includes five shrines: the main shrine having six-feet tall couple of Radha and Krishna; the shrine of Balarama, Subhadra and Jagannatha on right; the temple of Rama, Lakshmana and Sita on left; Garuda Stambha (pillar) and Chaitanya Mahaprabhu in front of Jagannatha shrine and Hanuman in front of Ram shrine; the temple of Durga and the temple with Shivalinga. The ceiling, walls and pillars of the assembly hall are adorned with frescoes depicting life events of Krishna and his associates and devotees. The text of Bhagavad Gita engraved on copper-plates adorn the walls of the parikrama (circumambulation) of the main temple. There are statues of Madan Mohan Malaviya ji, Birla ji and Hanuman Prasad Poddar  in the complex.

Potra Kund

There is a large and deep stepped water tank, Potra Kund or Pavitra Kund, in south-east of the Janmasthan temple which is said to have been used for the first bath of the child Krishna after his birth. The steps of the tank were built by Mahadji Scindia in 1782. They were restored by his descendants in 1850.