Bhaktivedanta Narayana Gosvami
From the book “Sri Vraja-maṇḍala-parikramā”:
Ānyora village lies on the parikramā path two miles south of the town of Govardhana. The village of Jatīpurā, or Gopālapurā, lies to the west of Ānyora, on the other side of Govardhana Hill. Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam74describes how on the advice of Kṛṣṇa, Nanda Bābā and the other Vrajavāsīs began worshipping Girirāja instead of Indra. It also describes how they performed the Annakūṭa festival for Girirāja here. They cooked many delicacies in their homes, filled hundreds of carts with milk, yoghurt, rabaḍī and other kinds of preparations, and presented them before Girirāja. Śrī Kṛṣṇa Himself offered everything to Girirāja and at the same time assumed a huge four-armed form, with which He devoured all the offerings by extending His long arms. Begging for more to eat, He called out in great happiness, “Āno re, āno re! – Bring more, bring more!” Kṛṣṇa folded His hands and said, “We are poor Vrajavāsīs. Whatever we have, we have presented before You. Please be satisfied with this.” In His four-armed form, Girirāja drank the water of Mānasī-gaṅgā, Kusuma-sarovara and other ponds, and exclaimed, “Tṛpto ’smi, tṛpto ’smi! – I am satisfied, I am satisfied!” and wiped His hands and mouth with His cloth. He told the Vrajavāsīs to ask for a boon, and they simply requested this: “May this lālā of ours, this darling Kṛṣṇa, always remain happy and live long.” When that four-armed form disappeared, Kṛṣṇa asked the Vrajavāsīs, “Did you ever receive darśana of Indradeva? Girirāja is very kind. He fulfils everyone’s desires.” After worshipping Govardhana, the Vrajavāsīs considered their lives fully blessed.
This place has been named Ānyora-grāma because it is here that Girirāja called out “Āno re, āno re!” The natural impressions of the Vrajavāsīs’ bowls in the rocks of Girirāja can be found where the Annakūṭa was performed. Nearby is a bajanī-śilā, a stone which emits a sweet sound when tapped with a piece of rock, or with a stick or a finger.
Rajashekhara Dasa
From the book “Chaurasi-kosa Vraja Mandala Parikrama”:
This village received its name during the annakuta festival when all the Vrajavasis led by Nanda Maharaja worshiped Govardhana Hill. The word ‘anna’ means ‘rice’ as well as other grains and in this particular case, refers to rice-based vegetable preparations, as well as other grain-based foodstuffs like: puris, rotis, paratas, samosas, kachoris, pakoras and many other varieties of sweets and cakes including: malpua, halva, burfi, sandesh, gulab-jamun, laddus, jalebi, kshira, ras-malai and kalahkand. Krishna then exhibited His mystic powers and assumed a gigantic form of the personified Govardhana Hill named Giriraja Maharaja, the ‘King of all Mountains’ and after sitting down on the ground, He ate the many thousands of offerings prepared by the Vrajavasis. While eating this wonderful annakuta feast, Giriraja Maharaja was enjoying the food so much that He kept snapping His fingers and happily saying, “Aniyora! Aniyora!” or in other words, “Bring more! Bring more!” The Vrajavasis were very happy that Giriraja Maharaja had Himself appeared before them just to accept their offerings, and they continued cooking and kept bringing more and more food until Giriraja Maharaja was fully satisfied. After Giriraja Maharaja had eaten all the offerings, He disappeared from that place. Krishna and Balarama then led Nanda Maharaja and all the Vrajavasis along with their cows on parikrama around Govardhana Hill.
In this village one can see the Sankarshana Mandira and the Prakata-sthala, the appearance place of the Gopala Deity which was discovered by Shrila Madhavendra Puri hidden in the ground. Madhavendra Puri then arranged for Lord Gopala to be installed on the top of Govardhana Hill. A temple was later built there for the Deity which is known as the Gopala Raya Mandira. During the despotic Mohammedan rule in India, Lord Gopala was moved to the safety of Nathadwara in Rajasthan and became famous as Shri Nathaji. At the present time a Govardhana-sh/la is being worshiped in the Gopala Raya Mandira on top of Govardhana Hill.
