Harinaam Sankirtan Trip to Nathdwara-Charbhuja Ji-Dwarkadeesh Ji-Sanwalia Seth

We started our journey from Jaipur Junction by doing Sankirtan and book distribution before boarding the train.

Let’s start, let’s start our journey with the most auspicious “Hari-Nam Sankirtan”-Devotees performing sankirtan @Jaipur Junction

Joining the hands in hands-Devotees engaged the people present @Jaipur Junction in the dance during Kirtan.

Srila Prabhupada said that his books are so powerful that anyone who reads them is sure to become Krishna Conscious. So it is a very valuable service to distribute our books.

 So along with Sankirtan and dance we distributed books among the people present there.

Happy faces @Mavli Junction-Getting ready to reach the Nathdwara village where Srinath Ji temple is located.

The Deity of Srinath Ji at Nathdwara

 From Mavli station we hired cabs to reach Shrinath Ji Temple. Shrinathji is a form Lord Sri Krishna manifested as a seven-year old child. The principal shrine of Shrinathji is situated at the temple town of Nathdwara, located 48kms north-east of Udaipur city in Rajasthan.

One cannot take commodities like bags, cameras etc. inside the temple.

 Sankitan outside Srinath Ji Temple

Shrinathji’s deity was brought to Rajasthan from Govardhana near Vrindavan to protect it from the hands of the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb who in 1665 was bent upon vandalizing the area of Vrindavan by widespread destruction of Hindu temples. When the Mughal army came to Govardhana, the devotees of the Lord showed them the titles and gifts given to the temple by the previous Mughal rulers. The army commander then ordered the deity to be taken away from Govardhana. For almost six months the statue stayed in Agra after which the custodians of the idol of Shrinathji left that place with the idol in search of a new heaven.

While several other princes were diffident, it was Maharana Rajsingh of Mewar who dared to provide refuge. The idol went on a journey to Mewar which took 32 months to complete. The decision to settle the Lord here at Nathdwara involves an interesting story. When the wheel of the chariot carrying the Lord got stuck in the mud at a place called Sihar, the Rana saw it as a divine sign that Lord Krishna wished to settle here, and thus a temple was built at this spot and the holy township of Nathdwara grew around the temple

In 1672 Lord Shrinathji was placed in a new Temple built in village Sihad, now called Nathdwara, on the banks of river Banas.

“Association of Devotees”-A passerby devotee sharing a photo space with us on the way to Srinath Ji temple.

After reaching the temple, we did darshan of Srinathji and other deities along with the campus of the temple.After coming out of the temple we did a heavy Sankirtan and dance outside the temple campus.

Then we arranged for the Mahapasadam offered to Lord Shrinathji during Rajbhog Arati. The Prasad was more than enough for each of us. The taste was wonderful with very interesting natural things on which we got the prasadam. You can look at the next picture to know what I am trying to say about the Prasad. 

 A basketful of Mahaprasdam- The food offered to Srinath Ji as Rajbhog.The prasadam comprised of a number of vegetable curries, Dal, Kheer and Sikhand, boiled rice, fruits and fruit juices and paranthas.

“The Giant Parantha ”-difficult to end up hungry after eating this one.This was one of the major attractions in Srinath ji’s Mahaprasadam.

The great basket feasting-Devotees enjoyed the prasadam in the baskets made of bamboos and fresh leaves and much more than that each basket had a large variety of items. 

The Mahaprasadam Effect

After going through journey in the train and again doing sankirtan, devotees re-energized themselves by consuming a delicious and sumptuous prasadam and that is being seen in this picture.  

After having a more than a hearty prasadam at Srinath Ji,our next destination was Dwarkadheesh Ji Temple situated in Kankroli near Rajsamand. As we reached there in the afternoon and next darshan was in the evening so we firstly decided to bath in the Rajsamand Lake situated near the temple.As we were very much exhausted by going up the stairs and a good walk in the blazing sun,it was much needed.

 The vast waters of Rajsamand Lake (also known as Rajasamudra Lake) besides Dwarkadheesh Temple in Rajsamand town touching the hills way away long.

The Ghats of Rajsamand lake-witnessed a long history with these birds

 Maharana Raj Singh build it in the year 1660.It is 1.75 miles long (2.82 km) wide, 4 miles (6.4 km) long and 60feet (18m) deep.  The lake was built across the Gomati, Kelwa and Tati Rivers with a catchment area of approximately 196 sq mile (510 square kms). It is one of the five popular lakes in the Mewar region of Rajasthan. The vista appears marvelous at the time of sunset when the orange shade of the departing Sun shades the waters of the lake. The southern part of this lake has 5 “Torans” or weighing arches.These arches were used by Maharajas of the royal families to weigh themselves in precious metals like Gold and the metals equal to their weight was given to Brahmanis. This event is known as Tuladan. 

Enjoying the splashes of water in Rajsamand Lake and losing all our fatigue to regain our energy and refreshing ourselves.

Waving Hands in Spiritual Joy

The Deity of Dwarkadheesh Ji Temple near Rajsamand

 During the Mughal period, frequent invasions on temples, vandalism and arson were very common. The fanatics made the temple deities the first object of their mindless destination. The idol of Shri Dwarkadhishji, then in Gokul was exposed to this danger. There was every apprehension of damage to the temple and the deity’s idol. Goswami Shri Girdharji Maharaja therefore fled to Ahmedabad (Gujarat) and took the idol of the deity with him. There also the apprehension was no less. Then Maharana of Udaipur Shri Rajsingh ji requested Shri Girdhar Maharaj and hence the idol was brought to Kankaroli where it was enshrined in a nearby village Asotiya, in Vikram Samvat 1726. When the temple on bank of Rajsamand had been completed, the idol was enshrined there in the temple.

Since this all happened in the times of Goswami Shri Girdharji, the building on the hill was named after him as Girdhar Garh. Since then Shri Dwarkadheeshji is enthroned there.

It is believed that great king Ambarish Maharaja used to worship this deity.

Let’s get in touch with the Supreme Lord via Sankirtan-devotees enjoying ecstatically in the sound of Mrdanga and Kartaal in the campus of Dwarkdheesh Ji temple

  

.

  Nectar of Devotion says that one should dance before the Lord. So we all are trying to do that.

Thoughtful faces looking in the camera but thinking about Krishna-a close up snap on the stairs of Sri Dwarkdheesh Ji Temple

 Get Ready the devotees are coming to you-A photograph on the downstairs on the way to Sri Dwarkadheesh Ji Temple

After doing a lot of Kirtan and dance in the premises of Dwarkadheesh Ji Temple we set out for another destination i.e.Charbhuja Ji and Rokadia Hanuman Ji temple. But before that we did street sankirtan in the market places of Kankroli and then we switched to the next place.

 Come on let us hit the streets with Hari Nam Sankirtan

 Devotees doing Sankirtan on the streets of Kankroli, the place where Dwarkadheesh Ji Temple is located.

Afterwards that we moved from Kankroli to Rokadia Hanuman Ji Temple,situated at a distance 44 kmsof Charbhuja Ji Temple and approximately 47 kms from Kankroli.

The deities at the Rokadia Hanuman Ji Temple

The chief person at the Rokadia Hanuman Ji temple told us that he met Srila Prabhupada in 1970s during Kumbh Mela. He told Prabhupada as a great personality and he hasn’t met a person like him during his life time. He said that Prabhupada was a great saint and definitely was not of this material world. No one else could have erected such large number of temples all over the world and it was he who made it possible to preach Krishna Consciousness blossom in the western world. 

 Spectacular faces and Spectacular background

A photograph clicked nearby Rokadia Hanuman Ji Temple  

 Sankirtan in the Rokadia Hanuman Ji Temple

Our halt in the night was near Rokadia Hanuman Ji’s temple so next morning we moved down to Charbhuja Ji for darshan.We stayed there for few hours and did kirtan all around the temple.

A group photograph on the main entrance of Charbhuja Ji Temple

 Charbhuja Ji's Temple was built in 1444AD. According to the inscription inside the temple, village name was Badri, therefore, the idol is considered as BadriNath. The deity of Charbhuja Nath is considered to be miraculous.

The deity of Shri Charbhuja Ji' is 85 centimeters high. The four arms of the idol hold conch, discus, mace and a lotus flowers. The discus and the mace symbolize dynamic power, energy and prowess. Some castes like Rajputs and the Gurjars hold a special reverence for this temple. Rajputs attributed a sword and shield as symbol of Rajput chivalry in every darshan

The temple is made by mirrors, Lime mortars and Marble. The excellent work of the mirror is done in the original temple. The shutters of the inner temple are made of gold while outer shutters are made of silver. Garud ji is installed in the other courtyard. Stone elephants are placed on the both sides of the entrance. Temple is in the open space. The temple is visited by thousands of pilgrims.

Once the king Shri Gang Dev got divine instruction in his dream to install the idol to be recovered from water. Then he installed this idol in his garh (fort). It is said the Pandavas also worshiped this idol before proceeding for their last YATRA to Himalaya. To protect this temple about 125 battles have taken place. Many times idol also was submerged in the water for its safety.

The Sacred Deity of Sri Charbhuja Ji

A large fair is held in the village on Jhaljhoolni Gyaras every year. Thousands of devotees come here for worship of lord Charbhuja and get blessings from all over the India.

Jhaljhoolni Gyaras (Ekadashi) is the eleventh day of the bright fortnight of the Bhadrapad month (August/September). This day is specially celebrated in the Charbhuja. Pilgrims come by walking and other means for this day to the village and they get together and take the Lord to the lake nearby for the religious bath with a grand procession. After that they also perform special pooja of the lord. This great procession has many people and used to be welcomed with perfume and flowers.

Last but not the least we had another temple for darshan and that was Sanwalia Seth Ji. It was the longest one in the tour as we first moved to Gomati (from Charbhuja Ji), the place where we had to board our bus to Sanwalia Seth Ji and after a hectic journey by bus for nearly 5-6 hours we reached the temple.

The Story of Sanwalia Seth Ji

According to legends in the year 1840 a milkman named Bhola Ram Gurjar saw in his dream that three deities are buried in Chapar near Bhadsoda-Bangad. When that place was dig then Bhola Ram’s dream came true and three similar deities were excavated from there. All the deities were very beautiful. In these deities Lord Sri Krishna was playing his flute in his dark form.

The three deities are placed in three different sites.

Mandpiya Sanwaliyaji

First Temple is at Mandpiya also known as Sanwariyaji.Mandaphia is 7 km. from Bhadsora cross-roads which lies on the four - lanned highway no. 76, and 65 km. from Dabok (Udaipur airport).

Murti Parakatya Sthal

Second temple of Sanwaliyaji is at Bhadsoda- Bagund Chouraha which lies on the four - lanned highway no. 76.Bhadsoda Chouraha is 65 km. from Dabok (Udaipur airport) and 32 km from Chittorgarh Railway Station and bus- station.

Bhadsoda Sanwaliyaji Third temple of Sanwaliyaji is situated in Bhadsoda village.This temple is 1 km from bhadsoda cross road (chouraha).

The Deity Of Sanwaliya Seth Ji

  

With the hope of visiting these temples again we returned back to Jaipur via Udaipur doing Sankirtan and Book distribution all the way from Sanwalia Seth Ji till Jaipur.

Hare Krishna!!!!