Govardhana Shila

Govardhan Hill holds a unique position in Hindu scriptures related to Krishna, the land called Braj where He was born.

Known as Govardhan or Giriraj and being the sacred centre of Braj, it is identified as a natural form of Krishna.

Indian art overwhelmingly prefers the iconic image, but some aniconism does occur in folk worship, early Buddhism, Shiva's Banalinga, and Vishnu's Shaligrama).

Krishna, however, suggested that they honor the Govardhana hill instead since it supplied grass for cattle to graze.

As narrated in the Shrimad Bhagavat, Lord Krishna picked up the Govardhana hill and held it above his head with his pinky finger for seven days to protect his kinsfolk from the wrath of rain god Indra.

Being touched by the lotus feet of Krishna and Balarama, Govardhana Hill appears very jubilant.

Various types of food – cereals, pulses, fruit, vegetables, chutneys, pickles and salads – are offered to the Deity and then distributed as prasada to devotees.

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.

[11] The only other God who shows a twig with a gunja seed on his upturned right hand palm to indicate the divya ksehtra’s superiority over Kashi (Varanasi) is Lord Narasimha, in the Gunja Narasimha Swamy temple locaterd at T.Narsipur in Mysore district in Karnataka on the bank of the Kaveri - Kapila - Spatika Sarovar sangam (confluence).

In 2018, the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath declared Govardhan as a pilgrimage centre (teerth sthal) along with Mathura, Baldev, Nandgaon, Radhakund and Gokul.