Mathura History

Temples in Mathura Madhura, in the mythological past, was founded by Rama's brother-the sixth incarnation of Vishnu -after killing a demon named Labanasura. Later it was mentioned as Madhurapari, the city of the Yadavs. From Madhura to Madhuramandal to today's Mathura-the name took so many years to change.

 

This was the capital of the Kusanas during the 1st -2nd century . The place is also mentioned in the accounts of Ptolemy and Hieun-Tsang- as a Buddhist centre during 2nd-3rd century. It is said that about 3000 Buddhist monks once used to stay bhere in about 20 monastries.Buddha himself built a monastry in the pre-Christian days. Mallinath, the 19th Jain Tirthankar and Neminath, the 21st Jain Tirthankar, were born here. In the old days, it also served as a hot bed of many commercial and cultural activities. But the holy place tasted a big blow on three occasions when it was plundered and set on fire by Mahmud Ghazni in 1017. A glorious past of the Hindus and Buddhists were utterly destroyed. It received its second blow by Sikander Lodhi in 1500 AD but it was rebuilt by Akbar and Jehangir. It was razed to the ground for the third time in 1660. The fall of the Mughals led to a bloody war between the Jats and the Marathas. British took over the place in 1803 and a Cantonment was built. Today's Mathura has covered a long distance but still its glory revolves around being an ardent whisperer of the life of Krishna.