The bustle of roadside shoppers, with devotional songs on Radha and Krishna playing in the background, is a sight to behold at the entrance to the Katra Keshavdev temple of Lord Krishna in Mathura, Uttar Pradesh. The queue at the entry gate is full of kids and elderly women holding small brass or steel plates with vermillion paste, urging devotees to wear a tilak and pay dakshina.
Other devotees in the queue click selfies to upload on social media “to let everyone know we’d come to see Thakur Ji (Lord Krishna)”. They greet each other with “Radhe-Radhe” or “Jai Shree Krishna”.