Shrinathji Temple, Nathdwara, Rajasthan

Nathdwara is a small temple town in Rajsamand district of Rajasthan, India. It is famous for the popular temple of Shrinathji ( an avatar of lord Krishna). Also, known as Shreenathji. Nathdwara is located around 34 km from Kumbhalgarh and 48 km from Udaipur. It is a very popular pilgrimage center in this part of India, specially from the neighboring state of Gujarat. The nearest airport is at the outskrits Udaipur around 56 km from here.

I reached Nathdwara at the Lord Sreenathji’s door around evening (around 6 pm). During the month of July it gets dark in Rajasthan only around 7.30 pm. With Lord’s blessing we got a darshan (view) of Lord Srinathji. There were hordes of devotees all over the place. Before the darshan we were told some very interesting facts by one of the temple person. The idol shrinathji was in Mathura but during those days in the late 16th century Mughal emperor Aurangzeb was destroying Hindu temples, so it was moved to Nathdwara in Rajasthan in 1672 to save it. Maharana Raj Singh of Mewar not only dared to station the Idol but also built a temple there.

Photography at the temple is prohibited so there no pictures of this place. It is a two story temple. While walking through the small lane we had to open the shoes. For upkeep you will have to pay Re 1 -2. We were told all those beautiful garland for Lord is made in house and the flower comes from Lord’s own garden. On the first floor there is a gopura (tower) which is said to contain the Sudarshan Chakra that Lord Krishna used. It is said that prayer made here is fulfilled. And only one wish should be made with full devotion. We prayed there and offered a small token amount. We were given a scented cotton bud and were asked to keep it with us. The area near the Gopura was filled with various coins. It was a sight. The area Lord resides is on the ground floor. It has various time slots through out the day for darshan. In some slots there are separate queue for men and women. But in the evening all were left free to go in and view. suddenly a huge rush developed in front of Lord’s sanctum sanatorium. While praying people just do not move and one person over there was literally hitting people with a cloth to move them from the front row. May be Lord’s blessing, I also got one hit! Its pretty hard.

The photo of Srinathji is very beautiful. I was told that Lord said that all of his need would come Gujarat. That way most of the pilgrims are from Gujarat. It seems people managing this temple have never required to bother for anything. If they thought they need anything, somebody comes and delivers it. The town resembles a typical old religious town of India. When I saw the narrow lanes, big windows, dirty drains, old buildings, the first thing that came to mind was Nabawadip (West Bengal). Another popular pilgrimage town of Mahaprabhu (incarnation of Lord Krishna). We brought laddu prasad for Rs 100 like Tirupati temple laddu. It was very tasty. Other forms of sweet prasad are also available. One is not supposed to enter the temple premises with any leather item and mobile phone. With Lord’s blessing we left Nathdwara for Club Mahindra resort, Kumbhalgarh.

The temple has various kind of accommodation on offer starting from cottage to dharmashala. Booking can be made online.

Temple Address:

Shrinathji Mandir,
Nathdwara, Rajasthan – 313 301
Phone: +91 2953 233484
Fax: +91 2953 232482

Official website: http://www.nathdwaratemple.org/