Pan Sarovar (Pavana Sarovar)

Pan Sarovar — more devotionally spelled Pavana or Paawan Sarovar, 'the purifying lake' — lies in a quiet green hollow at the base of Nandishvara Hill in Nandgaon, some 50 km north-west of Mathura in Uttar Pradesh's Braj country.

• Crowning the hill above it is Nand Bhavan, the amber-walled Nandaraya temple that pilgrims climb to first; the sarovar is the town's cool, reflective counterpoint below, ringed by masonry ghats, old peepal and kadamba trees, and small shrines where the day slows to the rhythm of bathing steps and temple bells drifting down the slope.
• Braj tradition remembers this tank as one of the sweetest of Krishna's cowherd haunts.
• It is said that the young Krishna and Balarama would drive Nanda Maharaj's herds down from Nandishvara Hill to drink and rest at these waters, and that Krishna himself bathed here — the reason the lake is called Pavana, 'the pure'.
• Gaudiya Vaishnavas add a later memory: the sixteenth-century saint Sanatana Goswami, one of the Six Goswamis of Vrindavan, is traditionally said to have kept a bhajan-kutir on its bank, absorbed in devotion within sight of Nandgaon's hill.
• These accounts are cherished as sacred lore rather than documented history, and pilgrims touch the water in that spirit.
• For many years the sarovar had silted and shrunk; a restoration by heritage groups working across Braj cleared and re-embanked it, and today its ghats are clean enough for the ablution (snan) that draws devotees, especially at dawn and on Krishna-related festival days.
• A visit pairs naturally with the climb to Nand Bhavan and, for the energetic, the wider Nandgaon parikrama that links the town's kunds and hill shrines.
• Come early: the light is gentlest, the steps least crowded, and the surrounding hill glows before the midday heat settles over the plain.
• For the vegetarian traveller Nandgaon is easy and reassuring — the whole of Braj is vegetarian and alcohol-free by custom and local law, and no meat, fish or egg reaches these devotional streets.
• Village stalls sell simple prasad, milk sweets and pedas, and the real feast is the halwai tradition back in Mathura and Vrindavan.
• One firm caution, however: Braj is one of India's heaviest bhang (cannabis) belts, and around festival time a roadside 'thandai' or 'lassi' can be spiked with bhang while looking and sounding exactly like the ordinary drink.
• Never accept an unlabelled thandai from a temple-side or roadside stall; stick to sealed water, temple prasad and the verified pure-veg kitchens listed below.
• Nandgaon is its own pilgrim town, not a quick Mathura add-on.
• Reach it by road from Mathura (about 50 km) or from nearby Barsana (roughly 8 km), ideally as a half-day Barsana–Nandgaon pairing.
• The lake stays open through daylight with no entry fee; carry sun protection, and combine it with the hilltop temple for the fullest sense of Nanda's village.