Krishna Jayanthi
Krishna Jayanthi or Janmashtami is a Hindu festival that marks the birth of Lord Krishna, the 8th avatar of Vishnu. It is celebrated usually on the 8th day (Ashtami) of the month Shravaana. It is an important festival for Vaishnavites.
Hindus celebrate the festival by fasting, singing, praying, going to Vishnu or Krishna temples. Dance enactments, devotional singing throughout the night, fasting and indulging in festivities are part of the celebrations too. Some communities organize dramas on Krishna called Rasa Lila. Another such celebration is Dahi Handi in which a pot of butter is tied high up to a pole and people form a human pyramid to get to the pot and break it.
After the midnight hour, statues of baby Krishna are washed and placed in a cradle. Another tradition is to draw tiny footprints outside houses, walking towards houses.
On the eve of the Kali Yuga, many tyrants like Kamsa, Janardhana and Kauravas insulted Bhoomidevi. Distressed, she went to Brahma in the form of a cow. When Brahma prayed to Vishnu, he replied by telling that he, Vishnu and Shesha (the serpent on which Vishnu rests) will come to Earth as the seventh and eighth sons of Vasudeva and Devaki. At that moment Vasudeva was marrying King Ugrasena’s niece, Devaki. During the procession, a voice from the skies told “O foolish Kamsa, the eighth son of Devaki is destined to kill you”. Ugrasena’s son, Kamsa, upon hearing that seized Devaki’s hair and pulled out his sword. But, Vasudeva stopped Kamsa by promising him that they would hand over every child born to her. Kamsa agreed and the procession went on. Immediately following Krishna’s birth, his father Vasudeva took Krishna across Yamuna to his foster parents in Gokul, Nanda and Yashoda. Many years later, he killed Kamsa and rescued his parents from imprisonment.
There were many deeds by Lord Krishna such as rescuing the people of Vrindavan from the serpent Kalinga, killing evil people like Narakasura, Shisupala and Kamsa and he tried to help his cousins, Pandavas in the Kurushetra war and the advice he gave to Arjuna during wartime is known as “Bhagawad Gita”.
Krishna Jayanthi is one of the important festivals in our country and it is dedicated to one of our most beloved gods, Krishna. It is with great devotion that we celebrate this festival
