Krishna Janmashtami

Vow. August is full of nostalgic memories of my treasured moments. Raksha Bandhan, Independence day and now its KrishnaJanmashtami. In hostel, I am sure that this Festival will also go unnoticed  and without any craze like last year. 

Beautiful Roadside Jhanki

On this day, all the temples are decorated with lightening, ice and flowers and many other things hard to recall now, In our town, there used to be a  competition among all the temples for getting the maximum public, for the longest queues . Not this, on the roads, one can see a 3,4 people sitting in a spectacular Jhanki under a tent. 

Everywhere in a temple as well as on these small jhankis, one can see a small sculpture of Sri Krishan Bhagwan(In Hindu mythology, he is considered as one of the greatest Gods who give the world a lesson of Bhagavad Gītā when Arjun was facing a quandary for fighting against his relatives for keeping the Dharma, It was a dilemma of prioritizing between fighting for the right and fighting with one’ relatives )

Courtesy: Google Images,God on Hammock

Sculpture of God Sri Krishna is laid simply on the Hammock with one end towards the general public or religious persons who come to lessen the effect of their sins and to demand some other things. People simply come and moves the loose end of rope for few seconds and leaves. This is a very beautiful soothing site. Swinging the end slowly gives a satisfaction to visitors as it is supposed to give the pleasure to the god and can be considered as a lullaby.

During childhood, I used to go with friends. When entered in college, IT becomes difficult to find the company as the parents and other elders at home didn’t prefer due to rush as well as long standing hours in queue. At teenage , I also observed fast during this day but gradually didn’t know what happen and the zeal abated. One of my cousins who lived with us ‘Saransh’ who is 10 years younger than me loved to go and watched the decorated temples, So many times, I went with him to  watch the temples along with him. As my home is located at such a strategic location, all the temples are very near. So, we used to cover the Jhankis on Road by scooter and then rest of the temples by walk. 

Courtesy: Google Images/Children acting as Krishna, Balram, Radha etc..

‘Bhuteshwar’ temple  is decorated with ice. Hari darshan is known for its infused creativity in all its Jhankis and surprises people every year. ‘Ganga Temple’ is popular for the spectacular Jhankis and is the one most close to my heart. Every temple has its own USP. There is record consumption of ice on this day. Some make the Pseudo Himalayas, in some temples you find the artificially created Zig-zag path like Himalaya mountains which give once a feel of real Vaishnodevi temple in J&K, some makes the environment vey cool. I remember when we used to wait for hours before entering the temple. Now, when I think about it, it made me feel good. But when somebody asked me to go and visit the temple, I started looking for my lost zeal but never find anything.

I love the way it is celebrated. These days, craze seem to be fading due to this modernization even I am a victim. 

This festival is celebrated in a different manner in different parts of country.  I am not aware about South India but in Mahraastra, It is celebrated with tremendous zeal and is known as ‘DahiHandi.’ 

Mathura, where Sri Krishna is believed to be born and Vrindavan(15 km from Mathura), where he spent his most naughty childhood days celebrate this festival with full passion and energy. 

This is day when the brave tales of the God are remembered and their examples are given by the parents to their children. Parents told their children about the Philosophy of Gita which one can always refer at the time of crisis to find the solace.