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.

Mangala-arati begins at 5 am. Darshan continues after the arati. During darshan the mukhiyajis, as the priests here are called, close and open the curtain in front of the Deity several times. There is a story that Sri Nathji once tore his garment while rushing back to the temple to be on time for darshan. From that day on, it has been a custom to blow the conch and then wait several minutes before opening the altar doors. The temple of Sri Nathji is said to be the second richest temple in India, the first being the Balaji temple in Tirupati. The Lord wears a large diamond beneath his lips, which is said to have been a gift from the Muslim emperor, Akbar.

Architecturally, the temple is simple, but the devotees’ enthusiasm is one among the greatest in India. Every day Sri Gopal is offered large quantities of opulent foodstuffs cooked in ghee. The maha-prasada is excellent and can be easily purchased at stalls outside the temple.

When the arati starts, the temple doors open, and everyone just piles in. They may be sophisticated businessmen or whatever, but when it comes time to see the Lord it’s “get in somehow or other”. The hall for darshana (seeing the Deity) has a series of broad step-like platforms gradually going higher toward the back, as in a sports stadium. The entrance is on one side and the exit on the other. Women enter toward the front, men toward the back.

It’s pretty rough and tumble. The temple staff at the doors and by the altar in front constantly move people on, saying, “ChaloJé!” (“Please keep moving”). The sevakas, or assistants, by the altar hang onto ropes with one hand to keep their balance and lean into the crowd, waving cloth gamchäs in the other hand to whisk people on. Everyone is moving, saying their prayers, and at the same time being pushed and shoved. But for a few seconds before you get moved on you get a very nice, close darshana of Srinathji.

The self-manifested Deity of Srinathji appeared, it is said, from a big rock on Govardhana Hill in Vrindävana. Physically, He appears as a bas-relief, the front of His form emerging from the stone. He is dressed with cloth wrapped about Him in a stylish and pleasing manner. His dress is changed several times throughout the day. The weather here, as in most of Rajasthan, is ferociously hot in the summer, cold in the winter. So in summer He is lightly dressed, and on winter mornings at mangala-ärati He is wrapped up so warmly you can only see His face.

Although the temple now has electric lights, torchbearers inside the temple still keep up the tradition of shedding light on the Lord with torches (thick sticks topped with cloth soaked in burning oil). After the mangala-ärati, darshana goes on and on. The mukhiyajés—as the priests here are known—close the curtain in front of the Deity, but everyone cries for more darshana. So the curtain is raised and lowered several times.

Finally the mukhiyajés close the door, but still people clamour for more darshana, and so it is opened again. People call out names of the Lord, “Jaya Känäiyäläla! Jaya Vamsidhari!” Then the door is finally closed, and a curtain made of bamboo is let down in front of it, and that’s the end.

People at once offer obeisances and then take up brooms to sweep the temple and the adjoining courtyards. You can see that the people sweeping are not temple staff. They’re people who have taken up the work in the mood of sevä, devotional service.

The temple priests are all followers of Vallabhacarya, who was born in 1479.His son Sri Vitthalanathji raised the worship of Sri Nathji to a very high standard. The temple is under the management of the main acharya (spiritual leader) of the Vallabha-sampradaya, called the Tilakayata. He is the head of the temple. Once, when Sri Vallabhacarya defeated a large group of impersonalist scholars at Vidyanagar, King Krishnadeva Raya presented him with a gift of many gold coins. Sri Vallabhacarya gave most of these to the local Brahmins and kept only seven. Those seven coins were then made into an ornament for Sri Nathji. The Deity still wears it today.

The temple owns nice Goshala-worth visiting -with over 500 cows. One of the cows is called “Sri Nathji’s cow,” and she comes from a lineage that has served the Deity for generations. The milk from this cow is offered only to Sri Nathji to drink.

Vajranabha, Lord Krishna’s great-grandson, installed this Deity 5,000 years ago. The same Deity (known then as Gopal) was worshiped by MadhavendraPuri in Vrindavan. Rana Raj Singh of Mewar brought Sri Nathji to Nathdwar around 1669.

The story of how Gopalji was discovered is described in the Caitanya Caritamrita. It was MadhvendraPuri who came to Govardhan Hill and, after he went around the hill and began preparing for the evening rest near GovindaKund, a local cowherd boy visited him with a pot of milk. The beautiful boy made Srila Madhavendra Puri forget his hunger and thirst. MadhavendraPuri asked the boy how he knew he was fasting, and the boy replied that he resided in this vil¬lage and in his village no one fasts.

That night in a dream the boy lead Madhavendra to a bush and explained that he was in the bush and suffered from severe cold, heat, rain, and wind. So Madhavendra was thus instructed to find the deity with the help of the local villagers. Gopalaji had been hidden in the bushes and was discovered by Madhavendra Puri.

After the deity’s installation, a structure was made for Him on top of Govardhan Hill. The deity of Gopalaji stands with His left arm raised in the air in the pose Krishna took when He lifted Govardhan Hill as an umbrella to protect the local residents from the fierce rains sent by the demigod Indra.

Many people came to the place, named Jatipura (meaning “the home of the Yati or jati –the Sanyasi monk” in reference to Madhavendra Puri), to see and worship Gopalaji. Then a member of the royal family constructed a temple for the deity. After some time, the deity appeared in a dream and ordered Madhavendra to go to JagannathaPuri to get sandalwood, which could be used to cool the deity who was still feeling hot from being in the ground for so many years. So Madhavendra left Jatipura to perform this service.

When Madhavendra arrived in Remuna, north of JagannathaPuri, he stopped at the temple of Gopinatha. Here the priests offer a thick sweet milk preparation (Amritakeli) to the deity. Madhavendra wanted to try some to understand how to prepare it so he could make it to offer his own deity in Vrindavan. Because of his desire to taste the food that was offered to the deity, he felt that he was a great offender and left the temple. That night the deity spoke to the temple priest in a dream and explained that He had hidden a cup of sweet rice behind His dress, and the priest should get it and find MadhavendraPuri to give it to him. The priest then went and found the cup of sweet rice behind the deity’s dress. Tak¬ing the cup, the priest went and called out for Madhavendra until he found him. Madhavendra became spiritually ecstatic to receive the prasadam. After that, the deity in Remuna became known as Ksira-chora-Gopinatha, or Gopinatha who stole the sweet rice.

After this Madhavendra went to Jagannatha Puri and got about eight pounds of san¬dalwood and some camphor for his deity in Jatipura. On his way back, he again stopped to see Gopinatha at Remuna. That night his deity,Gopalaji, appeared to him in a dream and explained that there was no difference between His body and the body of Gopinatha in Remuna. Therefore, smearing the sandalwood on the body of Gopinatha would be the same as smearing it on the body of Gopalaji and His body would be cooled. So Madhav¬endra did this every day until all the sandalwood and camphor was finished. A few months later MadhavendraPuri left this world and his samadhi tomb is located in Remuna a few minutes away from the Ksira-cora-Gopinatha temple.

After the disappearance of MadhavendraPuri from this world, the worship of Lord Gopalaji at Jatipura was taken over by Srila Vallabhacarya, who had been initiated in the disciplic succession coming from Sri Vishnuswami. It was during this time that Gopalaji started being called Sri Nathji by the devotees.

As with otherdeities who were moved from Vrindavana to escape the fanatic Muslim Aurangzeb’s destruction of Hindu temples, Lord Sri Nathji was moved to the land of Mewar from Jatipura. The deity was first moved to Agra where the devotees kept Him in secret for six months, and then moved Him farther west. As the deity was being moved, He 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 realized 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 Sri Raj Singh. This is the place that later developed into the village of Nathdwara.

The followers of Pushtimarg assert that the deity’s arm and face first emerged out of the Govardhan hill, and thereafter, the local inhabitants (Vrajavasis) under the spiritual leadership of Madhavendra Puri started the worship of the Gopal (Krishna) deity. This Gopala deity was later termed as Shrinathji. Thus, Madhavendra Puri is attributed to discovery of the deity of Gopal near Govardhana, which was later adapted and worshiped by Vallabhacharya as Shrinathji. Initially, Madhavendra Puri, carried out the worship of the deity’s upraised arm and later, the face. Shrinathji was originally worshipped in a humble shrine at Jatipur village near Govardhan and subsequently, moved to a larger temple on top of the hill. According to Pushtimarg literature, Shrinathji appeared to Shri Vallabhacharya, in the Hindu Vikram Samvat year 1549 and directed Vallabhacharya to proceed to the Govardhan Hill to begin worship. Vallabhacharya made arrangements for the worship of this deity, and this tradition was carried forward by his son, Vitthalnathji.