(“The Clothes Ghat”) A bathing (snana) spot on the Yamuna River in Brindavan, which has been recognized as the setting for one of Krishna's most famous tales.
The gopis, Krishna's female companions, have made a religious vow to bathe in the Yamuna every morning during the winter months and devote the religious merit earned from this vow to obtaining Krishna as their lover.
While their asceticism is admirable, they are bathing nude, which is against Hindu tradition.
When Krishna sees them in the water, he climbs up a tree with their clothing.
He then refuses to return the garments until the embarrassed ladies beg for them, metaphorically showing the soul's nakedness before God and humanity's powerlessness to control the divine.
By the Chir Ghat, a massive tree that is said to be the same tree from which Krishna humbled the gopis still remains.
As travelers remember the tale, they tie pieces of cloth to the tree to alleviate the gopis' shame and participate in their sense of connection.
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