‘Jai Shri Krishna’ is the common way of greeting each other at
Nathdwara, the famous Krishna Temple town in Rajasthan, about 50 km
north of Udaipur. It means ‘Praise the Lord Krishna’.
The temple
of Srinathji at Nathdwara is among the most sacred places of worship
for the followers of Lord Krishna. The idol is made of black stone and
is said to have been brought here from Mathura in 1669 to protect it
from the Moguls under Aurangzeb.
The temple opens its doors to
the public for worship seven times a day for just about half an hour
each, and there is a huge crowd always waiting to rush in. Inevitably
there is some pushing and jostling and you barely get a minute for
darshan before you are pushed out to the exit, just like in a Mumbai
local train. This makes the whole experience quite unpleasant, and the
temple authorities should take the initiative to organise it in a better
way. Some touts promise to get you in through the VIP channels, but
they only serve as paid guides, and can do nothing when the push becomes
a shove.
The temple timings vary slightly on a daily basis and
are announced publicly and on their website. It generally starts at 5.30
am with the ‘mangala’ darshan, followed by ‘shingar’ at 8.15 am, ‘gwal’
at 9.30 am, ‘rajbhog’ at 10.30 am, ‘uthaapan’ at 3.30 pm, ‘sandhya’ at
5.15 pm, ‘shayan’ at 6.30 pm. ‘Bhog’ is distributed among devotees as
‘prasad’ (holy food). At each darshan the child in Lord Krishna is
pampered in a different way, from his awakening, to his feeding,
grooming, afternoon siesta, evening outing and dinner, till he is
finally tucked in to bed. Devotional music is played during the
darshans. The timings change completely on festival days.
Tips:
1) Not for the people weak in heart and body. 2) Entry is free, but
photography inside the sanctum is strictly prohibited. All cameras,
mobiles and smart phones are to be left outside for which you will be
given a token at the counter. It is preferable to leave them locked in
your vehicle, because there is a rush at the counter after darshan, and
it can take a while to get your valuables back.
After the temple
visit you can do some shopping in the ‘Chaupati Bazar’, in the lane
leading to the temple. Pictures and paintings of Srinathji are readily
available in every second shop, whereas you can buy local jewellery,
vases, handicrafts and decorative items in the other shops. There are
some food stalls and sweetmeat shops too. A few shops just outside the
temple sell ‘prasad’ in case you want to take some home for your near
and dear.
Another good place to visit at Nathdwara is the ‘Lal
Bagh’ garden, about 2 km north of the main temple on the highway. This
garden houses the museum where you can see the ancient chariots and
other items which were used in the ceremonial processions in older
times.
Last but not least, and if you are spending more time at
Nathdwara, you can visit the ‘Gaushalas’ or cowsheds of the temple
trust, which is about 5 km away from the temple. There are about 1500
cows and around 500 oxen. One cow here is known to be Shrinathji’s cow,
and comes from a lineage that has served the deity for long.
This review is the subjective opinion of a TripAdvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC
