krishna in different regions

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In maharashtra, people connect with lord krishna through the image of vithoba of pandharpur. Poet-saints of maharashtra such as eknath, tukaram, and gyaneshwar brought krishna to the masses. In Rajasthan and gujarat, shri krishna is accessed through shrinathji of nathdwara.

People from odisha connect with lord krishna through the local image of Jagannath in puri temple. In assam, it is through the many namghars, which was established over 500 years ago by Shankardev. Here, there are no images of krishna. He is accessed through chanting, singing, dancing and performances.

In tamil Nadu, lord krishna is rarely distinguished from Vishnu. He inspired the collective of poets known as alvars. In Kerala, about 400 years ago, the Sanskrit poetry known as narayaniyum was composed. It tells the story of the bhagavata purana in a very short form and it is popular in the guruvayur temple. (North India is completely unaware of these traditions.)

In south east asian countries like cambodia, Krishna is heroic. He wrestles and defeats demons, but there are no references to his pastoral roots.

So the shri  krishna who became popular in South east Asia over 1,000 years ago is vasudev krishna of the mahabharata, not gopal krishna of the bhagavata. krishna is thus very different when seen through the lens of geography, as he is when seen through the lens of history.


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