Travel Diaries:- Nathdwara

I recently visited a place called Nathdwara,Rajsamand(dist.), Rajasthan. It is not a touristy place but more of a pilgrimage. My entire family is a huge devotee of Lord Krishna ( here called shrinathji) and we make sure to seek his blessings by coming here, atleast once in a year.

This is Moti Mahal

The city’s livelihood revolves around the Haveli ( Mansion of Shrinathji). There is a temple which is at centre and thousands of shops surround it. People can do street shopping of dresses,home decor, jewellery, accessories and clothes for shrinathji.

It is a delight to have Nathdwara special tea! Especially during winters….

There are lots of shops where one can shop for shrinathji

The old city vibes are just amazing!

The temple was constructed in the year 1672 by Goswami Tilkayat Damodar Lalji and is now handled by his descendants and currently each and everything is taken care of by Vishalbawa amd Rakeshbawa. They have brought a lot of reforms and definitely improved the experience for vaishnavs ( devotees of Shrinathji are known as that).

In the temple,there is a another room for Navnit priyaji(known as this in pushtimarg,others also call him balkrishna) which is another form of lord Krishna. A child one,along with that there are also two chakki( this is an instrument used to crush wheat grains, especially a traditional method) one is made of gold and another made of silver.

This type of chakki but in gold and silver

Shrinathji 🙏

Navnit priyaji 🙏

There is a legend, that Ajabkunwari and Shrinathji were playing chaupar (ancient version of ludo) and she was upset that Shrinathji would leave to go back to his original home Mathura. So,she said if she wins the game he has to accept one condition, which was he has to come visit her in Nathdwara. She eventually won that and to keep the promise he comes to meet her. It is believed that during daytime Shrinathji stays in Nathdwara. However, during night he goes to Mathura (a place in Uttar Pradesh, India) from a passageway which start from the temple in Nathdwara and leads to Mathura,the place where he grew up.

Whenever we visit Nathdwara we are barely there in our hotel rooms as there are 8 timings of going to Haveli to pray and see god (also called darshan in hindi). The darshan are scheduled as follows –

1. Mangla- It is the time when god wakes up and during this time we can go to temple without taking bath so in a way we go there to say good morning to him.

2. Shringar – In this darshan ,Shrinathji is bathed and dressed into fine clothing according to the season.

3. Gwaal- Baal- I think most of you might find it unique but Lord Krishna was a shepherd and used to take his cows and cattle for grazing so we get to see that glimpse.

4. Rajbhog- This is my most favourite kind of darshan as its his lunch time and a lot of variety of meals are offered to the deity.

5. Utthapan – It is the darshan where God wakes up from his afternoon nap.

6. Bhog Sandhya- In this Shrinathji hangs out with his friends and has evening snacks.

7. Bhag- aarti- This one usually follows after bhog – Sandhya and are sometimes together also. In this a candle is lit and is rotated in a circular motion to keep him away from evil eye.

8. Shayan- It is the last darshan of the day where we say good night to Shrinathji before he makes it to bed.

There are priests who sing songs and perform all the necessary duties. The priests are the ones who follow pushtimarg (pathway to god) strictly.

Moreover, the city gives out a very holy and sacred vibe. I am not a huge devotee like others in my family but even then I enjoy coming here and seeking blessings of Shrinathji, whenever I come face-to-face with him I stop thinking about everything and instantly my heart and my mind is filled with peace (despite the crowd). I still couldn’t describe the exact feeling but it feels surreal.