Govardhan Puja

[govardhanvt]

During the Dwapara Yuga, Lord Sri Krishna convinced the cowherd men to worship Govardhana, instead of doing a sacrifice to please Lord Indra, the king of heaven, who is in charge of the rain. His reasons for discouraging the sacrificial ceremony to please Lord Indra were twofold. First, as stated in the Bhagavad-gita there was no need to worship the demigods for any material advancement. Secondly, whatever temporary result one derives is actually granted by the permission of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. This act of stopping his puja angered Lord Indra and in return he sent torrents of rain upon Vrindavan. The residents approached Lord Krishna for help. It was then that Sri Krishna then lifted Govardhana Hill and held it over the residents like a giant umbrella. Seeing extraordinary mystic power of Krishna, Indra, was thunderstruck and immediately called for all the clouds and asked them to desist. He then worshipped Lord Krishna. Since Lord Krishna is worshipped, His Land Vrindavan and Govardhana Hill also need to be worshipped. Since then, Govardhana puja has been going on. In all the temples of Vrindavana huge quantities of food are prepared in this ceremony and are distributed to general public. According to the Vedic scriptures Giri Govardhan is greater than even the transcendental kingdom of Vaikuntha, the eternal abode of Lord Vishnu.
Those who are not nearby and could not perfom the Govardhan Puja, Lord Krishna gives the procedure as below
One should make from cow-dung a model of Govardhan Hill.
Human beings on this earth should decorate the model with many flowers, blades of grass, and a network of vines, and regularly offer worship to it.  Offering of  46 varieties of dishes  should be done  , Then he should offer four, six, and five cups of Ganga and Yamuna water mixed with tulasi leaves. Then, with a peaceful heart, he should serve Govardhan Hill by offering it a feast of fifty-six kinds of food. Then with fragrant flowers he should worship the fire-gods, brahmanas, cows, and demigods. After feeding the exalted brahmanas with fragrant and delicious foods, he should also give excellent foods to the others, even down to the dogeaters. Then he should have the gopas and gopis dance among the cows and call out "Victory!" In this way he should perform a festival to worship Govardhan Hill.
A person who has a mountain of gold but does not use it to worship a stone he has taken from Govardhan Hill, goes to a terrible hell.  A person who regularly worships the Lord's form as Salagrama-sila is not touched by hell as a lotus leaf is not touched by water.  An exalted brahmana who regularly serves a stone from Govardhan Hill attains the result of having bathed in all the holy rivers and lakes in the seven worlds. A person who year after year elaborately worships Govardhan Hill attains all happiness in this life and liberation in the next.
Govardhan Puja is normally performed on Diwali Day

Shloka:

Sri Narada says   Anyone immediately after, rising in the morning, recites these prayers of Indra attains all perfections. Dangers will not make him fear.

om namo govardhanoddharanaya govindaya gokula-nivasaya gopalaya gopala-pataye gopi-jana-bhartre giri-gajoddhartre karuna-nidhaye jagad-vidhaye jagan-mangalaya jagan-nivasaya jagan-mohanaya koti-manmatha-manmathaya vrsabhanu-suta-varaya sri-nanda-raja-kula-pradipaya sri-Krishnaya paripurnatamaya te 'sankhya-brahmanda-pataye goloka-dhama-dhisanadhipataye svayam-bhagavate sa-balaya namas te namas te.

Om. Obeisances! Obeisances to You! Obeisances to You, the lifter of Govardhan Hill, the pleasure of the cows, land, and senses, the Lord who resides in Gokula as the protector of the cows, the master of the gopas, the husband of the gopis, the lifter of the elephant among mountains, an ocean of mercy, the creator of the universes, the auspiciousness of the universes, the home where the universes dwell, the enchanter of the universes, the enchanter of many millions of Kamadevas, the lover of King Vrsabhanu's daughter, a lamp shining in King Nanda's family, all-attractive Sri Krishna, the perfect and complete original Supreme Personality of Godhead, the master of countless universes, the master of the transcendental abode of Goloka, the companion of Balarama!