Govind Devji

Govind Devji Temple within the City Palace complex in Jaipur is one of the most important Krishna temples in Rajasthan and holds particular historical and devotional significance. The temple is dedicated to Lord Govind Dev, a form of Lord Krishna, and houses a deity believed to be an exact likeness of Krishna himself, made by his great-grandson Vajranabh based on descriptions from those who had personally seen the lord. The original deity was installed in Vrindavan in the 16th century by the saint Rupa Goswami and later brought to Jaipur by Maharaja Sawai Jai Singh II in the 18th century to protect it from Mughal threats. Jai Singh placed the temple within his own palace complex so that he could have darshan directly from his bedroom window, a devotion that shaped the entire layout of the palace. The temple is one of the few in India where the deity receives seven daily darshanadiscourses (aartis) attended by thousands of devotees. During Janmashtami and Holi, the celebrations at Govind Devji are among the most spectacular in Rajasthan.