Nathdwara, the town that keeps house for Shrinathji

A town built around a child

• One temple, one deity: nearly everything here exists because of Shrinathji, a form of Krishna as a seven-year-old boy lifting Govardhan hill on one raised hand.
• Who comes: pilgrims from all over India, above all from Gujarat and Mumbai, where many Vaishnava merchant families follow the Pushtimarg tradition.
• Crowds: busy on ordinary days, packed from wall to wall on festival days.
• For visitors from abroad: fewer come, and it can be overwhelming at first. It is noisy, devout and deeply human. You are not watching a ceremony, you are inside one.
• Before the first darshan: flower sellers string marigolds and roses by lamplight, milk arrives in steel cans and pilgrims wash and dress in the guest houses.
• After a darshan: families fill the lanes comparing what Shrinathji wore that morning, as if discussing a favourite grandchild.
• In the long gaps: shopkeepers nap, painters return to their cloths and cows wander the lanes.
• You'll catch it too: spend a few hours here and you'll find yourself checking the time and wondering when the doors will open again.

How Shrinathji came to Mewar

• Danger: in the late 1660s, under the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb, many temples in the Braj country were destroyed or threatened.
• A refugee god: the priests took the image away for safety and travelled with it for some two to three years, looking for a ruler who would protect it.
• Who said yes: several rulers hesitated, fearing the emperor's anger. Maharana Raj Singh of Mewar agreed.
• The cart that stopped: at the village of Sihad on the Banas, its wheels sank into the mud and would not move. The priests took it as a sign that Shrinathji wished to stay.
• A new town: a temple was built on the spot, the image was installed in 1672, and the village became Nathdwara.
• Remembered with gratitude: the link between the Mewar rulers and the temple has stayed close ever since. Raj Singh's other great work, Rajsamand lake, appears further down this page.
• The full story: our journal piece on Nathdwara and Shrinathji tells the journey in more detail.

Pushtimarg, the path of grace

• No austerities: followers do not earn salvation. They serve Krishna with the tenderness the women of Braj felt for him as a child.
• Vitthalnath: Vallabhacharya's son gave the tradition much of its present form, organising the daily round of service and the festival calendar.
• The Ashtachhap: the eight seals, a circle of poet-singers he gathered, among them Surdas. Their songs are still sung in the style called haveli sangeet.
• The Tilkayat: the hereditary head of the temple today, from the direct male line of Vallabhacharya's family.
• A haveli, not a mandir: because Shrinathji is cared for as a child, the temple is a mansion. It has no soaring towers, and from the street it looks like a large old house.
• A royal household: rooms for milk, sweets, flowers, betel, jewels and clothes, kitchens that cook all day and a herd of cows kept for the deity's milk.
• In context: our guide to faith and temples in Rajasthan places Nathdwara among the state's other great pilgrim centres.

How darshan works

• Gwal: the hour he takes the cows out to graze.
• Rajbhog: his main midday meal, the grandest darshan of the day.
• Afternoon: Utthapan, when he wakes from his nap, and Bhog, a light meal.
• Evening: Sandhya, the return of the cows, and Shayan, when he is put to bed.
• Closed doors: between darshans the child is busy, eating or resting. Each viewing lasts only a short while.
• Times move: they change with the season, the festival calendar and the deity's routine, sometimes at short notice, so we confirm them on the day.
• When the doors open: the crowd surges forward. It can be a crush at festivals, with people calling out and children lifted on shoulders. Men and women may use separate entrances.
• With your guide: they find the calmest place to stand and explain the clothes of the day, the jewels, the painted cloth behind the image and the offerings in front of it.
• Leave it outside: phones, cameras and bags are not allowed, and there are deposit counters near the entrances. Leather is best left in the car.
• Dress and shoes: shoulders and knees covered, and expect to remove your shoes.
• Non-Hindu visitors: generally welcome, but the temple sets its own rules and we follow them. Our page on temple etiquette has more.

Pichwai, the paintings that hang behind the god

• Sharad Purnima: the full moon of autumn, when they show Krishna dancing with the gopis by moonlight.
• Other themes: cows in great herds, the Annakut feast or Krishna lifting Govardhan.
• Where the painters live: mostly in Chitron ki Gali, the street of paintings, and the quarter around it.
• Painting families: many have painted for the temple for generations, and large pieces are often made by several painters under a master.
• How they work: fine brushes, mineral and natural pigments and sometimes real gold, built up in layers over weeks or months.
• Classic Nathdwara details: the dark blue of Krishna's skin, the lotus eyes, cows with patterned flanks and rows of gopis in profile.
• Beware copies: pichwai are popular with collectors and designers, and printed copies are sold everywhere.
• Buy at the source: we take guests to working studios to see genuine hand-painted pieces, talk to the painters and buy directly.
• Go deeper: our pichwai painting experience and our journal piece on pichwai paintings.

The festival year at Nathdwara

Around Nathdwara

Sweets, prasad and a vegetarian town

• Where to buy: the temple's own counters or long-established shops.
• Treat it with respect: don't put prasad on the floor, and offer some to your driver and guide.
• A vegetarian town: as a pilgrim town, vegetarian food is the norm.
• The thalis: simple and good, with dal, seasonal vegetables, kadhi and fresh rotis.
• Stricter diets: many places serve food without onion or garlic.
• Something grander: we can arrange a long lunch at a heritage hotel nearby or back in Udaipur. Our Rajasthani food guide covers the whole regional table.

Where to stay for Nathdwara

When to come and how to plan the day

• Monsoon, July to September: green and pleasant, and Janmashtami usually falls within it.
• Festival days: major festivals bring tens of thousands of pilgrims. Plan early and let us handle the logistics.
• Prefer calm: avoid festival days and weekends.
• A typical visit: three or four hours, with one or two darshans, a walk through the painters' lane and a stop for prasad.
• With a full day: add Rajsamand and Kankroli, or Haldighati and Molela, or Eklingji on the way from Udaipur.
• On a journey: our Sacred Rajasthan journey links Nathdwara with Ranakpur, Pushkar and Ajmer, and Mewar Lakes and Temples weaves it into a slow week in the region.

Who Nathdwara is for

• No monuments: there are no great monuments here and no royal apartments.
• Art lovers: come for the pichwai painters.
• Bazaar lovers: anyone who enjoys a busy bazaar will be happy in the lanes.
• Not for you if: crowds make you anxious, you dislike waiting without knowing when a door will open, or you need a quiet, contemplative temple.
• Nothing to take away: darshan is brief and physical, and photography is forbidden, so you leave with only the memory.
• A calmer alternative: the evening prayers at Eklingji, or a slow afternoon at the marble temple of Ranakpur.
• Or both: many guests do both, and find that the contrast is the point.

What we tell guests before Nathdwara

• Keep valuables to a minimum: crowds are good-natured, but the press at darshan time is real.
• Tell us about mobility or crowds: we'll choose a quieter darshan and plan your route carefully.
• Trust your guide's timing: darshan times change with the season and festivals, so ignore schedules found online.
• Buy pichwai carefully: from the painters themselves or studios we know. Many pieces sold as hand-painted are printed.