krishna

Celebrating Krishna Janmashtami in Mathura and Vrindavan

Jai Shri Krishna!! Today, the entire world will be celebrating the birthday of the naughtiest and sweetest reincarnation of Lord Vishnu, Lord Krishna. And this time like always, it will be celebrated with a lot of love, devotion and happiness by his millions of followers, spread across the entire world.

Born on the Ashtami of Bhadrapad in Mathura, Krishna is worshipped on both his childhood and adult form. Every city, every town and every home celebrates the birthday in their own special ay. Some sing bhajans all night, while some cook all the favorite food items loved by little Krishna, while some visit temples to pray to Lord Vishnu. However, the celebration in the heavenly cities of Mathura and Vrindavan, birth place and town where he spend his childhood days, are at a total unmatched zeal compared to other places.

Celebrations in Vrindavan and Mathura

The celebrations in these two places are completely unique from the other towns. Followers from all across the country and world gather in Vrindavan to celebrate the functions throughout the day and later go to Mathura to join the prayers held in the temples prior to the birth of Krishna.

Decoration_of_JanmashtamiIn Vrindavan, the celebrations start 10 days before ashtami. People play rasleela and perform scenes from the various stories of Krishna’s life, as well as Mahabharata. Alone in Vrindavan, there are 4000 temples of which, the ISCKON temple, Ranganathji temple and the Radharaman temples are some of the main temples where followers pour in, in thousands to pray and enjoy the events.

Later in the evening, people descent to Mathura, where the celebrations begin almost a month earlier. Ghatas and Jhulanotsav are the two most important aspects of the celebrations in Mathura. Swings and cradles are decorated in the courtyards of people with flowers and colorful rangolis to welcome lord Krishna. On the other hand, Ghatas are themed celebrations, where all the temples in Mathura and the city itself are decorated on a chosen theme, also including the clothes of Lord Krishna’s idol in the temples. The celebrations continue until the birth day of lord Krishna, with small kids playing drama related to the naughty acts played by Krishna himself.

At midnight, abhishek (bathing the idol with milk and curd) is done to the idol of Krishna after which he is dressed in new, beautiful and traditional clothes and then placed into a decorated cradle. According to a popular belief, it is believed that any person who rocks the cradle on this day, his wish is granted by Lord Krishna.

So, this Janmashtami, rock the cradle of the little bal gopal in your house and welcome lord Krishna in his infant form with a lot of love and happiness.

Image source: Holidify.com

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