Nathdwara

City and sacred site (tirtha) about twentyfive miles north of the city of Udaipur in
the south-central region of the state of
Rajasthan. Nathdwara has a temple
housing an image of the god Krishna in
his form as Shrinathji. According to tradition, the image was originally hidden
on the top of Mount Govardhan, a
mountain in the Braj region where
Krishna is said to have lived. The location of the image was revealed in a
dream to Vallabhacharya, the founder
of the religious community known as
the Pushti Marg. Vallabhacharya built
a temple to house it on Mount
Govardhan, and his descendants have
remained the image’s hereditary servants since that time. The image was
moved to the state of Rajasthan in 1669,
prompted by fears that it would be
destroyed by the Moghul emperor
Aurangzeb. According to tradition
Shrinathji revealed his wish to stay in
Nathdwara by sinking his wagon’s
wheels deep into the earth, so that
it could not go further. Nathdwara is a
fairly remote location, making it a safe
place to keep the image. See also
Moghul dynasty.