page_title: Shrinathji Temple
section_title: Legend and history
hierarchical_section_title: Shrinathji Temple / Legend and history
caption_attribution_description: English: "Gouache painting on paper from Nathdwara representing the autumn Annakuta Festival. This annual festival is observed by donating a mountain of food, usually rice, to the temple to symbolise the moment Krishna lifted Mount Govardhan to protect his villagers. In Nathdwara the food is then given to the Bhils, the tribal peoples living in Mewar. The left arm of the god Srinathji, a form of Kṛṣṇa, is raised and the murti (idol) is positioned in front of a picchvai decorated with a stylised floral pattern. Two priests attend the god, positioned on either side of the offering."
context_page_description: Shrinathji Temple is a Hindu temple dedicated to Shrinathji in Nathdwara. It is considered an important pilgrimage centre by Vaishnavs.
context_section_description: The Swarup or divine form of Shrinathji is said to be self-manifested. The deity of the Lord Krishna according to the legend, is self-manifested from stone and emerged from the Govardhan Hills. Historically, the image of Shrinathji was first worshipped at Govardhan hill, near Mathura.[11] The image was initially shifted from Mathura in 1672 A.D. along river Yamuna and was retained at Agra for almost six months, in order to safeguard it from, according to legend, the Mughal ruler Aurangzeb, who wished to keep the prestigious deity with him in Agra.[12] Subsequently, the image was transferred further south on a chariot to a safer place to protect it from barbarian destruction unleashed by Mughal ruler Aurangzeb. When the deity reached the spot at village Sihad or Sinhad, the wheels of bullock cart in which the deity was being transported sank axle-deep in mud and could not be moved any farther. The accompanying priests realised that the particular place was the Lord's chosen spot and accordingly, a temple was built there under the rule and protection of the then Maharana Raj Singh of Mewar. Shrinathji Temple is also known as 'Haveli of Shrinathji’ (mansion). The temple was built by Goswami priests in 1672.
  In 1934  a Firman was issued by the Udaipur Darbar, by which, inter alia, it was declared  that according  to the law  of  Udaipur  all the property  dedicated or presented to or otherwise  coming  to
  the  Deity Shrinathji was property of the shrine,  that the  Tilkayat Maharaj for the time being was merely a  custodian, Manager  and  Trustee  of the said  property  and  that the  Udaipur Darbar had absolute right to supervise that the 562 property dedicated to the shrine was used for the legitimate  purposes  of the shrine.
caption: Nathdwara Shrinathji at the autumn Annakuta Festival. Pichvai-style background. late 18th century.
exif: {"Image Software": "Picasa 3.0", "Image ExifOffset": "50", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "750", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "1056", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0210", "Interoperability InteroperabilityIndex": "", "Interoperability InteroperabilityVersion": "[48, 49, 48, 48]", "EXIF InteroperabilityOffset": "150", "EXIF ImageUniqueID": "b7b6dcf43ecb434982fd4c278df1893d"}