Govardhan: the hill on one finger

The question

Every year the cowherds of Braj prepared a great offering to Indra, the god of rain. Krishna asked his father Nanda what it was for. Nanda explained that Indra sent the rain that grew the grass that fed the cows. Krishna argued that the cows, the forests and the hill Govardhan, which gave them grass and water and shelter, deserved their worship more. Persuaded, the cowherds offered the feast to the hill instead, walked around it, and fed the brahmins, the cows and everyone in Braj.

The storm

Indra, insulted, sent the clouds of destruction. Rain fell in sheets, hail with it, and wind; Braj began to flood, and the cowherds and their animals came running to Krishna.

The lifting

Krishna walked to Govardhan, pulled it up out of the ground and held it on the little finger of his left hand, as easily as a child holds up a mushroom, the Bhagavata says. All of Braj, with their cows, carts and belongings, sheltered beneath it. For seven days Krishna stood there without eating or moving, smiling, while Indra's storm spent itself.

Govinda

Indra, humbled, came down to beg forgiveness. With the heavenly cow Surabhi he bathed Krishna and gave him the title Govinda, the one who protects the cows. The spot where this happened is honoured as Govind Kund on the Govardhan Parikrama.

Govardhan Puja and Annakut

On the day after Diwali, temples across India pile up a "mountain of food", the Annakut, in memory of that first feast, and families shape small Govardhan hills from cow dung and walk around them. In Braj, hundreds of thousands walk the 21 km around the real hill. In 2027, Govardhan Puja falls on 30 October.

Questions people ask

Sources

• Bhagavata Purana, Canto 10, chapter 24
• Bhagavata Purana, Canto 10, chapter 25
• Bhagavata Purana, Canto 10, chapter 27

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