Pili Pokhar (Priya Kund)

Tucked below the twin Bhanugarh hills at the edge of Barsana — Radha's home village, honestly about 42 to 45 km north-west of Mathura and a world away from its riverfront bustle — Pili Pokhar is one of Braj's gentlest sacred spots.

• Its name simply means "yellow pond," and the colour is the whole story: pilgrims come here not for a towering shrine but for a small, still tank rimmed by weathered stone ghats, shaded by the pilu (piyala) trees that give the water its softly golden cast.
• The pond is beloved for a tender local legend, told here as devotional tradition rather than history.
• In her childhood pastimes, Radha is said to have visited Nandgaon, where Yashoda lovingly painted her hands with yellow turmeric (haldi).
• Returning to Barsana, the shy girl scrubbed the dye away in this pond, and its waters are said to have blushed yellow ever after — hence Priya Kund, "the beloved's tank." Older Gaudiya texts such as the Bhakti Ratnakara also remember it as Piyala Sarovar, a spot where Radha, Krishna and their friends gathered on the pretext of gathering sweet pilu fruit.
• Whichever telling a pilgrim carries, the mood is the same: unhurried, intimate, distinctly Radha's.
• Unlike Braj's great hilltop temples, Pili Pokhar asks nothing of you.
• There is no shrine to queue for and no darshan window to catch — you simply walk down to the ghats, sit, and watch the light move on the water.
• Recent civic work has smartened the steps and added shaded seating, and a small interpretive display near the tank aims to narrate its stories for visitors.
• Early morning and the hour before sunset are magical, when the surface mirrors the hills and the crowds thin to a handful of quiet worshippers.
• For the vegetarian traveller, Barsana sits squarely in Braj, which is pure-vegetarian by long custom and municipal rule — no meat, egg or fish is sold in town.
• There are no verified restaurants at the pond itself; most pilgrims carry prasad or eat back in Mathura and Vrindavan, where trusted desi-ghee sweet shops and sattvic kitchens await.
• One firm caution: Braj is one of India's heaviest bhang (cannabis) belts, and thandai or lassi laced with bhang is sold openly and looks identical to the ordinary kind.
• Never accept a roadside thandai here unless you are certain it is bhang-free; stick to sealed water, temple prasad and reputable halwais.
• Pair Pili Pokhar with the climb to Shriji Radha Rani Mandir and Maan Mandir on the hills above, and it becomes the calm, reflective bookend to a Barsana pilgrimage — a place to slow down before or after the steep, echoing temple steps.