Madana- Mohan temple and Navneet Priya are connected to the main temple of Sri Nathji. Navneet means “butter” and priya means “dear”, so Navneetpriya means “one who is fond of butter.”

Vitthalnath Temple is just opposite the entrance of the Sri Nathji temple. This deity used to be located at Gokula, in Vrindavana.

Banamali Temple is a Krishna temple located to the right of the main entrance of the Sri Nathji temple.

The Shrinathji temple at Nathdwara celebrates, on an average, three festivals in a week. As regards to daily routine, the inner sanctum is opened 8 times a day for the devotees undertake sacred darshan of the deity. Very elaborate and complex rituals have emerged around the worship of Shrinathji due to confluence and inter-mixing of cult of Krishna as well as that of Pushti Margi Shri Vallabhacharya. The main attractions of Shrinathji are the Aartis and the Shringar, i.e. the dressing and beautifying of the deity of Shrinathji, treating it as a living child, adorning it with the appropriate dresses commensurate to the time of day or night. The formal prayers are offered with diya, flowers, fruit and other offerings, with local instruments and devotional songs of the Shrinathji, according to the demand of the time and occasion. The view of the deity after the parda (curtain) is removed is called jhakhi.

Another important part of seva is giving things to the Lord. In front of the temple early in the morning, you can buy milk, flowers, vegetables, and fruits and bring them into the temple to offer to the Lord. People also give lots of money. People also give ghee and grains. Most of the food prepared for the Deity is cooked in pure ghee. People give ghee in cans of ten, fifteen, or twenty kilos. Sometimes a whole train car full of ghee arrives in Nathdwara. The donor often prefers to stay anonymous. The shipment is simply marked, “From Srinathaji. To Srinathaji.”

The temple has a literal well of ghee. Cans of ghee are cut open and slightly heated, and the ghee is poured into the well. A pipeline extends from the well to the Deity’s kitchen ghee on tap. Ghee, of course, is expensive. But money is no bar in the worship of Srinathaji.

In the grain stockroom, everything is very orderly. All the grains that come in and go out are recorded. And when it goes out it goes only to the kitchen of Srinathaji. Nothing given is ever resold in the market. It’s all used in the service of the Lord.

The temple has many storerooms that pilgrims can see. One room is for keeping the Lord’s clothing and jewels. Another room, just opposite the temple, is called Sri Krishna Bhandar, “SriKåñëa’s Storeroom.” (It’s named after KåñëaDasa, the first manager of the temple.) This is the treasury and accounting office, and it’s where gold, pearls, saffron, and expensive clothing are kept.

There’s a room for flowers. There’s a tailoring room where clothes are sewn for the Lord. Another room holds gold and silver pots. There’s a rose room, where rosewater and rose scents are prepared. And there’s a room where books are on hand, spiritual teaching is given, and new publications are put out.

There’s a room for vegetables, a room for milk, cream, and butter, and a room for misri (rock sugar). There’s a grinding room for grinding grains (it’s still done with a big wooden mill, powered by bulls). Then there’s a room where the ingredients for the Lord’s meals are assembled before they are prepared and offered, and a room where offered food is kept just before it’s distributed.

No one goes hungry from here. The prasadam from the Deity is distributed profusely. A portion of the prasadam goes to the sevakas and temple workers, many of whom sell it. Right after the early-morning mangala-arati you’ll find püjaris standing just outside the temple, holding steel plates bearing clay cups full of different kinds of liquid milk sweets. Later in the morning, püjaris go around to hotels and dharmashalas with covered baskets full of varieties of prasadam to sell to pilgrims.

Apart from the püjaris, in the bazaar outside the temple you’ll find shops where you can buy prasadam, and pushcarts selling prasadam, and people sitting on the street selling prasadam.

In Caitanya-caritamrita, we find that the Deity Gopala, the same Deity known as Srinathaji, told Madhavendra Puri, “In My village, no one goes hungry.” Now, here in Nathdwara, where Gopala has come, we see that this is true. Even the street dogs here are fat. Prasadam is available all through the day, and in countless varieties different kinds at different times. After the midday raja-bhoga offering you can get a leaf-cup full of tasty vegetables for only one rupee (less than the cost of the ingredients themselves). You can get a leaf-cup of achar (pickle), again only a rupee. There are many kinds of chutneys, fruit salads, and a unique raita made with chopped fruit in thin yogurt spiced with mustard seeds. There are big chapatis full of ghee for two or three rupees, depending on the size. You’ll find rice, dal, curry sauce, fried vegetables, and samosas so huge that one is practically enough for a meal.

Then there are milk sweets and sweets made with grains and sugar, rich with ghee. You can buy big blocks of laddu, made with grain, ghee, and sugar, for a hundred rupees. Some sweets include such costly ingredients as musk and saffron. People don’t haggle much over prices. Whatever the shopkeepers say, people just accept it, and that’s all that.

Items like grain sweets and sugar-crusted fried puris keep for months without losing freshness. A pilgrim travelling abroad from Nathdwara may bring prasadam of Srinathaji to his friends overseas. Like the Deity Himself, the prasadam of Srinathaji is famous all over the world.

Nathdwara is a town that lives around its Deity. It’s a small town. You’d find it hard to say what the actual population is. When you ask people they give you different ideas, but I would guess around twenty thousand, though there must be an equal or greater number of visitors. Many of the people who live here are priests, temple workers, and merchants who sell flowers, fruit, and vegetables to offer to the Deity.

Then there are those who sell prasädam and pictures of the Deity, others who sell tape cassettes with devotional songs, and others who cater to the needs of pilgrims by providing hostels and hotels, buses, auto-rikshas, and so on. Nathdwara has every-thing a good-sized town should have, but somehow or other nearly everything is connected with the Deity.

The standard greeting here is “Jaya Sri Krsna!” (“All glories to Lord Krsna!”) All about, you’ll see written the words “Jaya Sri Krsna!” Sometimes you’ll also see the mantra of the Vallabha Sampradäya, SrikrsnaSaranam mama (“Lord SriKrsna is my shelter”). In Nathdwara the Hare Krsna movement is well known, so often people greet us by saying “Hare Krsna!”The Rajasthani villagers in Nathdwara stand out brightly. They’re a lively, robust people, with their own language, their own food, and their own traditional dress. And they’re deeply devoted to Lord Srinäthaji.

Early in the morning, a Rajasthani milk seller calls out in a deep, gutsy voice, “Jaya SriKrsna. Jaya VaàSidhäri.” The high-powered devotion of the Rajasthanis and the gentle devotion of the Gujaratis makes an interesting contrast.
At quarter after five in the morning, a shenai band playing over loudspeakers calls everyone to the temple for mangala-ärati, the early-morning greeting of the Lord. The band itself sits on the arch above the main entrance to the temple, playing musical instruments and chanting. The sound creates a spiritual atmosphere as you walk in.

Until some years ago, foreigners were not allowed into the temple, but now they are. In any case, members of the Hare Krsna movement have always been welcome.