Shrinathji is a form of Krishna, manifested as a seven-year-old child. Shrinathji is the central presiding deity of the Vaishnava sect known as Pushtimarg (the way of grace) or the Vallabha Sampradaya, established by saint Vallabhacharya.
Shrinathji is worshipped mainly by followers of Bhakti Yoga and the Vaishnavas in Gujarat and Rajasthan, as well as the Bhatias among others.
Vaishnavism (Sanskrit: ą¤µą„ą¤·ą„ą¤£ą¤µą¤øą¤®ą„ą¤Ŗą„ą¤°ą¤¦ą¤¾ą¤Æą¤, romanized:Ā Vaiį¹£į¹avasampradÄyaįø„), also called Vishnuism, is one of the major Hindu religious traditions, that considers Vishnu as the supreme being leading all other Hindu deities, that is, Mahavishnu. It is one of the major Hindu denominations along with Shaivism, Shaktism, and Smartism. Its followers are called Vaishnavites or Vaishnavas (IAST: Vaiį¹£į¹ava), and it includes sub-sects like Krishnaism and Ramaism, which consider Krishna and Rama as the supreme beings respectively. According to a 2020 estimate by The World Religion Database (WRD), hosted at Boston University's Institute on Culture, Religion and World Affairs (CURA), Vaishnavism is the largest Hindu sect, constituting about 399 million Hindus.
The ancient emergence of Vaishnavism is unclear, and broadly hypothesized as a fusion of various regional non-Vedic religions with worship of Vishnu. It is considered a merger of several popular non-Vedic theistic traditions, particularly the Bhagavata cults of VÄsudeva-Krishna and Gopala-Krishna, as well as Narayana, developed in the 7th to 4th century BCE. It was integrated with the Vedic God Vishnu in the early centuries CE, and finalized as Vaishnavism, when it developed the avatar doctrine, wherein the various non-Vedic deities are revered as distinct incarnations of the supreme God Vishnu. Narayana, Hari, Rama, Krishna, Kalki, Perumal, Shrinathji, Vithoba, Venkateswara, Guruvayurappan, Ranganatha, Jagannath, Badrinath and Muktinath are revered as forms or avatars of Vishnu, all seen as different aspects of the same supreme being.
Vallabha, also known as VallabhÄcÄrya or Vallabha DÄ«kį¹£ita (May 7, 1478 ā July 7, 1530 CE), was the founder of the KrĢ„į¹£į¹a-centered Puį¹£į¹imÄrga sect of Vaishnavism, and propounded the philosophy of ÅuddhÄdvaita.
His biography is depicted in several sectarian Puį¹£į¹imÄrga hagiographies. Born into a Telugu Brahmin family, Vallabha studied Hindu philosophy from early age, then traveled throughout the Indian subcontinent, particularly the Braj (Vraja) region, for over 20 years. He became one of the important leaders of the devotional Bhakti movement. He won many philosophical scholarly debates against the followers of Advaita VedÄnta. He began the institutional worship of ÅrÄ« NÄthajÄ« on Govardhana Hill. He acquired many followers in the Gangetic plain and Gujarat. After his death, the leadership of his sampradÄya passed to his elder son GopÄ«nÄtha.