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Giriraj Parikrama

About Govardhan / Giriraj Parikrama

Presently at its highest point, the Govardhan Hill is just 25m (80 feet) high and is a wide hill. It is a narrow sandstone hill known as Giriraj which is about 8 km in length.

After Krishna protected the inhabitants of Vraj (Vridavan) from the wrath of Indra, he counseled them to worship Govardhana hill and they did by way of a Puja and a Parikrama (circumambulation) around the hill.Thus, a festival in commemoration of the lifting of Mount Govardhan, near Mathura, by Krishna came into vogue as Govardhan Puja when Mount Govardhan is worshipped day after Deepawali (fetival of lights) is celebrated

Pious people keep awake the whole night and cook fifty-six (or 108) different types of food for the bhog (the offering of food) to Krishna. This ceremony is called ankut or annakuta which means a mountain of food. Various types of food – cereals, pulses, fruit, vegetables, chutneys, pickles, and salads – are offered to the Deity and then distributed as prasada to devotees. Thousands of devotees bring offerings for Giriraj. Followed by this pooja, the devotees perform the Govardhana parikrama.

A Parikrama [circumambulation- going 38 km {24-miles} around the hill] is a sacred ritual called Govardana parikrama performed by many believers. There is no time limit for performing Govardhana parikrama, but for those who perform the dandavata (full prostration) Parikrama, an arduous form which may take weeks and sometimes even months to complete.

It is performed by standing in one spot, offering obeisances like a stick (danda) by lying flat on the ground and then continuing, contiguously, till the entire route is covered. It is also said that some sadhus (Hindu holy men) perform 108 dandavata Parikrama by offering 108 obeisances in one spot before moving to the next. This can take a number of months to complete.

This ritual of circumambulation is considered to be even better if is it done with milk. A clay pot filled with milk, with a hole at the bottom, is carried by the devotees in one hand and a pot filled with dhoop (incense smoke) in another. An escort continuously fills up the pot with milk till the circumambulation is completed. Circumambulation is also done with candy being handed out to children, en-route.

Parikrama of Govardhana starts at the Manasi-Ganga Kund (lake) and then after having darsan of Lord Harideva, from Radha-kunda village, where the Vrindavan road meets the parikrama path.

After parikrama of 38 km, covering important tanks, shilas and shrines such as Radha Kunda, Syama Kunda, Dan Ghati, Mukharavinda, Rinamochana Kunda, Kusuma Sarovara and Punchari, it ends at Mansi Ganga Kund only.

History

History or Significance of Govardhan / Girirajji Parikrama

It is believed that thousands of years ago, Lord Krishna picked up this hill and held it above His head, with his little finger, for 7 days to protect his kinsfolk from the wrath of rain God Indra. This gave Krishna the epithet Govardhandhari.

Since Lord Krishna declared that He and Govardhan Hill were non-different, the followers of the Gaudiya-VAisnava tradition, devotees of Lord Krishna, worship Govardhan Sila. They worship Govardhana-silas along with the Saligrama sila, both considered as aniconic symbols of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, exactly as they worship the Deity of Krishna in the temple.

Krishna assumed a great transcendental form and declared to the inhabitants of Vrindavana that He was Himself Govardhana Hill in order to convince the devotees that Govardhana Hill and Krishna are identical. The identity of Krishna and Govardhana Hill is still honored, and great devotees take rocks from Govardhan Hill, and worship them exactly as they worship the Deity of Krishna in the temple.

Of all the devotees, this Govardhana Hill is the best! O my friends, this hill supplies Krishna and Balarama, along with Their calves, cows and cowherd friends, will all kinds of necessities—water for drinking, very soft grass, caves, fruits, flowers and vegetables. In this way the hill offers respects to the Lord. Being touched by the lotus feet of Krishna and Balarama, Govardhana Hill appears very jubilant.

Lord Krishna

   


About Lord Krishna

The Sanskrit word krsna has the literal meaning of "black", "dark" or "dark-blue" and is used as a name to describe someone with dark skin. Krishna is often depicted in murtis (Sculptures/Images) as black, and is generally shown in paintings with a blue skin.

Birth of Lord Krishna


Traditional belief based on scriptural details and astrological calculations gives the date of Krishna's birth, known as Janmashtami, as either 18 or 21 July 3228 BC. Krishna belonged to the royal family of Mathura, and was the eighth son born to the princess Devaki, and her husband Vasudeva. Mathura was the capital of the Yadavas (also called the Surasenas), to which Krishna's parents Vasudeva and Devaki belonged. The king Kansa, Devaki's brother, had ascended the throne by imprisoning his father, King Ugrasena. Afraid of a prophecy that predicted his death at the hands of Devaki's eighth son, he had locked the couple into a prison cell. After Kansa killed the first six children, and Devaki's apparent miscarriage of the seventh, being transferred to Rohini as Balarama, Krishna took birth.
                               

About Childhood and Young Lord Krishna


Nanda was the head of a community of cow-herders, and he settled in Vrindavana. The stories of Krishna's childhood and youth tell of his mischievous pranks as Makhan Chor (butter thief), his foiling of attempts to take his life, and his role as a protector of the people of Vrindavana. Krishna is said to have killed the demons like Putana, sent by Kamsa for Krishna's life. He tamed the serpent Kaliya, who previously poisoned the waters of Yamuna river, thus leading to the death of the cowherds.
The stories of his play with the gopis (milkmaids) of Vrindavana became known as the Rasa lila. Krishna is believed to have lifted the Govardhana hill and taught Indra—the king of the devas and rain a lesson—to protect native people of Vrindavana from persecution by Indra and prevent the devastation of the pasture land of Govardhan.