The Braj region once upon a time had more than 1000 water bodies called kunds or sarovars. Most of them are over five thousand years old and find mention in scriptures and folklore. All these kunds are associated with various legends of Lord Krishna and Gopis playing leelas around these kunds . These kunds were a primary source of fresh water in Braj during ancient times.
About 800 kunds are on the verge of extinction and dried up completely due to encroachments , rapid urbanisation, lack of maintenance and prolonged negligence in the last 200 years.
"Beginning in 2005, the Braj Foundation, braving initial resistance of villagers and opposition from powerful vested interests, started the process of restoring kunds in the Mathura area and has so far successfully recharged 46 kunds. This has created an additional water retention capacity of five lakh cubic meters," says Mr. Vineet Narain, Chairman and the founder of the Braj Foundation.
Financial support for this mammoth exercise has been given by Mumbai-based philanthropist Kamal Morarka.
For this accomplishment, the Braj Foundation has won four UNESCO-backed awards such as the Best Water NGO of India.
The foundation aims to restore and revive all 800 water bodies, 137 sacred forests and heritage buildings, and is working with both the state and central governments as consultant for the overall development of entire Braj region.
Narain said that the historic Braham Kund (Vrindavan) and the Rudra Kund (Goverdhan) are some of the prominent kunds which have been completely beautified in recent years by the organisation.
While giving details of these water bodies, he said that the historic Brahma Kund considered to be the Brahmasthal or the spiritual epicenter of Vrindavan, was restored and revived in record time of 30 months with financial support from Mumbai-based industrialist Ajay Piramal.
It is one of the eight ancient kunds in Vrindavan associated with Krishna's leela.
To everyone's delight, the natural aquifers opened up after the kund was desilted. It is now filled with natural sweet water and attracting thousands of visitors every day.
Currently, the Braj Foundation is working on the revival of Ram Taal, Sankarshan Kund and Balbhadra Kund, said its secretary Rajneesh Kapur.
According to him, the average cost of restoration varies from from Rs.50 lakhs to Rs.3 crores, depending upon the size and condition of each kund.
The Jamnalal Bajaj Foundation in Mumbai has also contributed a sum of Rs 1.50 crores for these projects.
The work is going on full swing. Kapur said that the foundation has already spent a considerable amount on the restoration of the Krishna Sarovar, Jai Kund, Chandra Sarovar, Garud Govind Kund etc. on NH2, since 2007.
The Ministry of Tourism has released a substantial grant to the Uttar Pradesh government to beautify these kunds. This work will be done under the guidance of the Braj Foundation. These sites when completed will become major attraction for those driving to Agra from Delhi on NH2.
The Braj Foundation started professional surveys of hundreds of ancient water bodies connected to Lord Krishna's mythology in the year 2003 and found out that a majority of them were in pitiable condition. The survey included; identification of their geographical location and mapping them on the satellite map with GPS, their measurement, their revenue records, their cultural history, their photographs and evaluation of the requirement for their restoration. No governmental or private agency has ever attempted such a mammoth task in the history of Braj.
After the survey is completed the in-house team of architects, civil engineers, graphic designers, landscape designers and artists prepare their development plans. Once these plans are prepared, the Foundation explores the possibility of arranging sponsorships for their restoration. It is a slow process, considering the size of team it takes one to three years to complete one project says Mr Gaurav Gola, Project Coordinator.
-Source ANI