Lord Krishna at Nathdwara · The child who held up Govardhan
Shrinathji
Shrinathji is Lord Krishna as a child of seven, his left hand raised to hold up Govardhan hill, worshipped at Nathdwara in Rajasthan. Chant the mantra of the Pushti Marg, follow his eight darshans through the day, and see when Annakut falls in your city.
- His day
- Wednesday
- Next: Wed 4 Nov
- Next Shrinathji day
- Annakut
- In 9 days · Tue 10 Nov
Darshan 1 of 8 · About 5:15 am
Mangla
The first darshan, at dawn. He is woken gently, as a child is woken at home, and the Mangla aarti is sung. The doors open only for a short while, and many come before light to see it.
All eight darshans →Darshan 2 of 8 · About 7:15 am
Shringar
He is dressed and adorned for the day, in clothes, jewels and garlands chosen for the season and the day. No two days’ shringar are alike, and he is dressed again later in the day.
Darshan 3 of 8 · About 9:15 am
Gwal
Named for the gwal, the cowherd boys of Braj: in the tellings it is the hour he goes out with them and the cows, and a little food is offered first. It lasts only about a quarter of an hour.
Darshan 4 of 8 · About 11:15 am
Rajbhog
The royal meal, the main offering of the day, after which he rests. It is the grandest darshan and among the longest, open for most of an hour before noon.
Darshan 5 of 8 · About 3:30 pm
Utthapan
Utthapan means rising: he is woken from his afternoon rest, and the day turns towards evening. It is a short darshan, of about a quarter of an hour.
Darshan 6 of 8 · Late afternoon
Bhog
A light meal is offered in the late afternoon, as a child is fed after play. The guides give its hour differently, between the rising and the evening aarti.
Darshan 7 of 8 · About 5:15 pm
Sandhya Aarti
At dusk the evening aarti is sung and the lamps are waved before him, and he is dressed again for the evening. It is open for most of an hour.
Darshan 8 of 8 · About 7 pm
Shayan
The last darshan of the day: he is readied for sleep. After it the doors close until Mangla, the waking, the next morning.
Tap a darshan, or its name, to read when it opens and what happens then. The cows and the lotus pond are those of the pichwais hung behind him. The times are the usual ones two guides give. They change with the season and on festival days, and the temple announces each day’s times.
His days, in your city
Dates and puja times for the city you pick
For New Delhi
His greatest day, the day after Diwali: a hill of rice and many dishes is offered to him, for the hill he held up.
- Every Wednesday
- Wed 4 NovHis day of the week
- Holi
- Mon 22 Mar
- Krishna Janmashtami
- Wed 25 Aug12:01 am to 12:46 am, 26 Aug
Recite the Madhurashtakam
अधरं मधुरं वदनं मधुरं नयनं मधुरं हसितं मधुरम् ।
हृदयं मधुरं गमनं मधुरं मधुराधिपतेरखिलं मधुरम् ॥
Adharam madhuram vadanam madhuram, nayanam madhuram hasitam madhuram,
Hridayam madhuram gamanam madhuram, madhuradhipater akhilam madhuram.
His lips are sweet, his face is sweet, his eyes are sweet, his smile is sweet; his heart is sweet, his walk is sweet: everything about the lord of sweetness is sweet.
उनके होंठ मधुर हैं, मुख मधुर है, आँखें मधुर हैं, मुस्कान मधुर है; उनका हृदय मधुर है, चाल मधुर है: मधुरता के स्वामी का सब कुछ मधुर है।
Eight verses by Vallabhacharya, who taught the Pushti Marg, each closing on the same words: everything about the lord of sweetness is sweet.
His prayers
- MadhurashtakamVallabhacharya’s eight verses on the sweetness of KrishnaSoon
- Aarti Kunj Bihari KiThe aarti of Krishna, sung in the evening at homeRead
- AchyutashtakamShankaracharya’s Achyutam KeshavamRead
- Shri Krishna ChalisaSundardas’s forty verses in HindiRead
A simple seva at home
In the Pushti Marg, Lord Krishna is served at home as a child of the family, and the day follows his: waking, food, play and rest. A short, loving seva is enough. Follow your family’s way where it differs.
- Wake him gently in the morning, with a soft bell or a bhajan, and open the curtain of his shrine.
- Offer fresh flowers and tulsi leaves to his image or picture.
- Offer milk, butter and sugar or a simple sweet as bhog, then share it as prasad.
- Chant Shri Krishnah Sharanam Mama, or recite the Madhurashtakam.
- In the evening, wave a ghee lamp in aarti and sing Aarti Kunj Bihari Ki.
- At night, close the curtain of his shrine so that he can rest.
What you need
- An image or picture of Shrinathji or the child Lord Krishna
- Fresh flowers and tulsi leaves
- Milk, butter and sugar, or a sweet, for bhog
- A ghee lamp and incense
- A small bell
Prayers for the puja
Who is Shrinathji
Shrinathji is Lord Krishna as a child of seven, holding up Govardhan hill with his raised left hand, as he did to shelter the people and cows of Braj from Indra’s storm. His image is worshipped at Nathdwara in Rajasthan, and he is the heart of the Pushti Marg, the path of grace taught by Vallabhacharya.
The image is carved in relief from a single black stone. His right hand rests on his hip, and two cows, a lion, a snake, two peacocks and a parrot are carved round him; a diamond is set under his lips. By tradition no sculptor made it: it came out of the hill itself.
He is served rather than only worshipped. In the Pushti Marg he is the lord of the house, and his temple at Nathdwara is a haveli, a home, where his day is kept as a child’s day, from waking to sleep, in eight darshans. Families of the path serve an image of Lord Krishna at home in the same loving way.
- Shri Nathji the lord, the name Vitthalnath gave him
- Devdaman the one who humbled the gods, for his victory over Indra
- Indradaman the one who humbled Indra, as the people of Braj knew him
- Giridhari he who held up the hill, a name of Lord Krishna
श्रीकृष्णः शरणं मम
Shri Krishnah Sharanam Mama
Shri Krishna is my refuge: the mantra of eight syllables of the Pushti Marg, the words of a devotee who gives everything to Krishna.
श्रीकृष्ण मेरी शरण हैं: यह पुष्टिमार्ग का आठ अक्षरों का मंत्र है, उस भक्त के शब्द जो सब कुछ कृष्ण को सौंप देता है।
कृष्णाय वासुदेवाय हरये परमात्मने।
प्रणतक्लेशनाशाय गोविन्दाय नमो नमः॥
Krishnaya Vasudevaya Haraye Paramatmane,
Pranata kleshanashaya Govindaya namo namah.
To Krishna, son of Vasudeva, to Hari, the supreme self, to Govinda, who takes away the troubles of all who bow to him: I bow again and again.
वसुदेव के पुत्र कृष्ण को, परमात्मा हरि को, और उन गोविन्द को जो शरण में आए सबके कष्ट दूर करते हैं: बार-बार नमन।
From Govardhan to Nathdwara
How he came to Mewar, as the tellings agree
By tradition Shrinathji came out of Govardhan hill in Braj, was served there for generations, and was carried to Mewar in the seventeenth century. The tellings agree on the story below.
On Govardhan
The arm on the hill
People of Braj looking for a lost cow saw a raised left arm coming out of the hill, and worshipped it where it stood.
Years later
The cow and the face
A cow of Saddu Pandey of Anyor village kept going to the same spot and letting her milk flow there. Following her, he found the face of the image, which gave its name as Devdaman.
At Jatipura
Vallabhacharya
Vallabhacharya came to Govardhan, knew the image for Lord Krishna himself, and began his seva on the hill. His son Vitthalnath named him Shrinathji.
About six months
Agra
In the reign of Aurangzeb, when the temples of Braj were being destroyed, his priests carried him away for safety and kept him at Agra.
More than two and a half years
The road
The rulers they asked for shelter held back, until Maharana Raj Singh of Mewar offered him refuge.
1672
Sihad
At the village of Sihad in Mewar the wheels of his cart sank deep in the mud and would not move. The priests took it as his wish to stay, and he was installed in a new temple there.
Nathdwara, the gateway of the Lord, grew round his temple on the bank of the Banas, near Udaipur. The tellings differ on the years of the arm and the face, and on when the journey began.
Vallabhacharya and the Pushti Marg
The path of grace
Vallabhacharya, a teacher of the late fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries, taught the Pushti Marg, the path of grace. Pushti means nourishment: the grace of Lord Krishna that feeds the soul and makes love for him grow. His teaching, Shuddhadvaita, pure non-dualism, sees Krishna as the whole of the divine.
His son Vitthalnath, called Gusainji, shaped the seva as the daily round of Lord Krishna’s life, with food, clothes, music, painting and poetry for each hour. The great images of the path are served in havelis, homes rather than temples, by the families of his seven sons.
The mantra of the path is Shri Krishnah Sharanam Mama, Shri Krishna is my refuge. Families who follow it serve an image of Krishna at home as a child of the house, waking him, feeding him and putting him to sleep at the hours his day keeps.
The eight darshans
His day at Nathdwara
His day at Nathdwara is kept in eight darshans, the times the curtain is drawn back so that pilgrims can see him, each named for what he is doing then. Between them the doors are closed while he is served.
1. About 5:15 am
Mangla
The waking. The first darshan, at dawn. He is woken gently, as a child is woken at home, and the Mangla aarti is sung. The doors open only for a short while, and many come before light to see it.
2. About 7:15 am
Shringar
Dressing and adorning. He is dressed and adorned for the day, in clothes, jewels and garlands chosen for the season and the day. No two days’ shringar are alike, and he is dressed again later in the day.
3. About 9:15 am
Gwal
With the cowherds. Named for the gwal, the cowherd boys of Braj: in the tellings it is the hour he goes out with them and the cows, and a little food is offered first. It lasts only about a quarter of an hour.
4. About 11:15 am
Rajbhog
The midday meal. The royal meal, the main offering of the day, after which he rests. It is the grandest darshan and among the longest, open for most of an hour before noon.
5. About 3:30 pm
Utthapan
Rising from rest. Utthapan means rising: he is woken from his afternoon rest, and the day turns towards evening. It is a short darshan, of about a quarter of an hour.
6. Late afternoon
Bhog
The afternoon meal. A light meal is offered in the late afternoon, as a child is fed after play. The guides give its hour differently, between the rising and the evening aarti.
7. About 5:15 pm
Sandhya Aarti
The evening lamp. At dusk the evening aarti is sung and the lamps are waved before him, and he is dressed again for the evening. It is open for most of an hour.
8. About 7 pm
Shayan
Readied for the night. The last darshan of the day: he is readied for sleep. After it the doors close until Mangla, the waking, the next morning.
The times are those two guides give, rounded. They change with the season and on festival days, when there are more darshans, and the temple announces each day’s times, so check before you go.
Annakut and his days
When Nathdwara fills with pilgrims
Annakut
On the day after Diwali, the first day of the bright half of Kartika, the people of Braj once offered Govardhan a mountain of food. At Nathdwara a hill of cooked rice is heaped before him with many other dishes. When the doors open in the evening, people from the villages and hills round about, Bhils among them, carry the rice away as prasad.
Krishna Janmashtami
The birth of Lord Krishna fills Nathdwara with pilgrims, and the temple keeps longer hours and more darshans than on other days.
Holi
The festival of colours is another of the days that draw the largest crowds to Nathdwara, with extra darshans.
Every day
There is no weekday of his own: at Nathdwara every day is his, kept in eight darshans. Families who keep a weekday for him keep one of Lord Krishna’s; follow your family’s custom.
What his symbols mean
The raised left hand
Holding up Govardhan hill, as he sheltered Braj from Indra’s storm for seven days: the lord who protects all who come to him.
The hand on the hip
His right hand rests at his waist, at ease: the child who lifts a mountain as if in play.
The black stone
One stone, carved in relief with the cows, the lion, the snake, the peacocks and the parrot round him, and said to have come out of the hill.
The cows
Carved beside him and painted in pichwais: the cows of Braj he grazed as a cowherd and sheltered under the hill.
The pichwai
The painted cloth hung behind him, its name read as the hanging at the back; cows and lotus ponds are among its great subjects.
The seven flags
Flown on the top of the temple, for the seven houses of the Pushti Marg.
His stories
Across India
Mewar, Rajasthan
Nathdwara, near Udaipur, is his home. Nearby Kankroli, on the bank of Rajsamand lake, keeps Dwarkadhishji, one of the seven swaroops, in a temple built by Maharana Raj Singh.
Kota, Rajasthan
Kota keeps Mathureshji, one of the seven swaroops, served in the Pushti Marg way.
Braj
At Jatipura on Govardhan hill stands his first temple, where Vallabhacharya began his seva. Gokul keeps Gokulnathji, and Kamvan both Gokul Chandramaji and Madan Mohanji.
Gujarat
Surat keeps Balkrishnaji, one of the seven swaroops. The day of Annakut is also the Gujarati New Year.
Nathdwara’s painters
The town is the home of the pichwai, the painted cloth hung behind him, with its cows, lotus ponds and festivals of his year.
His temples
- Shrinathji Temple, Shrinathji ki HaveliNathdwara, Rajsamand, Rajasthan
- Navneet Priyaji TempleNathdwara, Rajsamand, Rajasthan
- Vitthalnathji TempleNathdwara, Rajsamand, Rajasthan
- Dwarkadhish Temple, KankroliKankroli, Rajsamand, Rajasthan
- Mathureshji TempleKota, Rajasthan
- Gokulnathji TempleGokul, Mathura, Uttar Pradesh
- Gokul Chandramaji TempleKamvan, Rajasthan
- Madan Mohanji TempleKamvan, Rajasthan
- Balkrishnaji TempleSurat, Gujarat
- Shrinathji’s first temple, JatipuraJatipura, Govardhan, Uttar Pradesh
Questions
When is Annakut in 2026?
Annakut, Govardhan Puja, his great day, is on Tuesday 10 November 2026 in New Delhi, with the muhurat 6:40 am to 8:50 am. Pick your city at the top of this page for its own date and muhurat.
Who is Shrinathji?
Lord Krishna as a child of seven, holding up Govardhan hill with his raised left hand. His image, of black stone, is worshipped at Nathdwara in Rajasthan, the chief shrine of the Pushti Marg of Vallabhacharya.
Why did Shrinathji leave Govardhan?
In the reign of Aurangzeb, when the temples of Braj were being destroyed, his priests carried him away for safety. After about six months at Agra and a long road, the wheels of his cart sank in the mud at Sihad in Mewar, and he was installed there in 1672 under Maharana Raj Singh.
What are the eight darshans of Shrinathji?
Mangla, Shringar, Gwal, Rajbhog, Utthapan, Bhog, Sandhya Aarti and Shayan: the hours of his day, from waking at dawn to being readied for the night.
What are the darshan timings at Nathdwara?
Usually Mangla about 5:15 am, Shringar about 7:15 am, Gwal about 9:15 am and Rajbhog about 11:15 am; Utthapan about 3:30 pm, Bhog in the late afternoon, Sandhya Aarti about 5:15 pm and Shayan about 7 pm. The times change with the season and on festival days, and the temple announces each day’s times, so check before you go.
What is the mantra of Shrinathji?
Shri Krishnah Sharanam Mama, Shri Krishna is my refuge: the mantra of eight syllables of the Pushti Marg.
What is Annakut at Nathdwara?
His greatest day, the day after Diwali, when Govardhan Puja is kept. A hill of cooked rice is offered to him with many dishes, and in the evening the people of the villages and hills round about carry the rice away as prasad.
What does Nathdwara mean?
The gateway of the Lord. The town grew round the temple built for Shrinathji where his cart stopped, at Sihad, in 1672.
What are the seven swaroops of the Pushti Marg?
Seven images of Lord Krishna served by the families of Vitthalnath’s seven sons: Mathureshji at Kota, Vitthalnathji at Nathdwara, Dwarkadhishji at Kankroli, Gokulnathji at Gokul, Gokul Chandramaji and Madan Mohanji at Kamvan, and Balkrishnaji at Surat. Shrinathji, the chief image of the path, is served at Nathdwara.