The five-day festivities of Diwali continued on Saturday with lakhs of devotees offering prayers to Goverdhan Girraj in Braj region as commemoration after Diwali, and prayers were offered to Lord Krishna for saving Brajwasis (residents of Braj) from the wrath of Lord Indra – the god of rain.
It is believed that on this day, Krishna lifted the hillock of Govardhan and used it as an umbrella to shield Brajwasis from uninterrupted rain. Since then, the day following Diwali has been celebrated as Govardhan Puja.
On Saturday, devotees gathered at the site of the Govardhan hillock in district Mathura to offer prayers. In other cities of the Braj region, including Agra, Mathura, Hathras and Etah, temples held special ceremonies.
Prayers were offered to Govardhan Girraj in open areas of the temple using various materials, including cow dung. Bhandaras were organised at these temples and devotees carried idols of Govardhan on their heads and sang ‘bhajans.’
Lakhs of devotees gathered and danced to the tune of the ‘mridangam’ played throughout the track of the parikrama of the Govardhan hillock. ‘Hari Bol’ was chanted by devotees moving through ‘daan ghati,’ Jatpura, ‘mukharbind’ on the Govardhan Parikrama Marg (track) in a procession, while specially prepared ‘prasad’ of ‘annakoot’ (mixed vegetable) was distributed.
Mohan Swaroop Bhatia, a veteran of Braj literature, highlights the traditional belief that Lord Krishna was only seven years old when he challenged the practice in Braj of worshiping Indra. Lord Krishna asked the Brajwasis to worship Govardhan, who provided them with crops and other necessities. This was not taken lightly by Indra, who planned to teach the residents of Braj a lesson.
Indra unleashed heavy rain on the Braj region for days, and the Braj residents turned to Lord Krishna, then aged seven, for help. Krishna came to the rescue of the Brajwasis, lifting the hillock Govardhan on his little finger. This made Indra realise that Krishna was the incarnation of Lord Vishnu, and he surrendered before him,” says Bhatia.
Since then, the tradition of worshiping the hillock Govardhan continues, and it culminates in the Govardhan Puja celebration on the day after Diwali. Devotees come to the Govardhan hillock near Mathura city and undertake ‘parikrama,’ (circumambulation) covering a distance of 7 kos or 21 kilometers around the hillock.