Vrindavan turned its 11-kilometre parikrama route into a citywide cleanliness drive, as officials, sadhus and ordinary devotees picked up brooms together to push the message that keeping Braj clean is a shared duty, not just a government job.
Parikrama route split into 11 cleanup zones
Agra Mandal Commissioner Nagendra Pratap, DIG Agra Range Shailesh Pandey, District Magistrate C.P. Singh and SSP Shlok Kumar led the Swachhata Sankalp Mahaabhiyan, joined by sadhu-sants, social organisations and sanitation workers. To cover the entire 11-kilometre Vrindavan parikrama thoroughly, the route was divided into 11 separate sectors for the special cleaning drive.
Tea stall owners near the ashram get a lesson in cleanliness
During the drive, some tea and snack stall vendors were found littering right outside Premanand Maharaj's ashram. DIG Shailesh Pandey personally walked up to them, explained the benefits of keeping the area clean, and got them to pledge that they would maintain cleanliness going forward.
Sadhus chant a cleanliness pledge
Along the parikrama path, administration officials, police, sadhu-sants, social organisations and sanitation workers all stepped out with brooms in hand to spread the cleanliness message. At one point, the sadhus chanted together, "We have all resolved... we will make Braj clean."
Part of the larger Braj Vaibhav Abhiyan
DIG Agra Range Shailesh Pandey said the cleaning drive is part of the Braj Vaibhav Abhiyan, aimed at giving devotees visiting Vrindavan a genuine experience of cleanliness, divinity and grandeur. That is why the entire parikrama route was split into 11 sectors for focused cleaning.
Appeal to devotees to join in
SSP Shlok Kumar said every devotee coming to Vrindavan should join the campaign, since anyone visiting the holy town arrives hoping to earn punya, and keeping the place clean is part of that same merit. While sadhus and officials pushed the cleanliness message on one side, several Krishna devotees along the parikrama route were also seen pitching in on their own, helping with the cleanup and urging fellow devotees to keep Braj clean in order to earn punya.
