Mangalore/Udupi: Krishna Janmashtami Celebrated Across Districts with Ardour
Pics: Spoorthi Ullal (Mangalore) / Hemanath Padubidri (Udupi)
Daijiworld Media Network – Mangalore/Udupi (VA)
Mangalore/Udupi: The time of the year to celebrate the birth of Lord Krishna has arrived. Krishna Janmashtami, as Hindus call it is the prominent festival where devotees throng to the Krishna temples to celebrate his birthday with great fervour.
Lord Krishna or Sri Krishna, an Avatar of the Hindu deity Vishnu is one of the highly revered deities of Hindus. Stories of his divine sports (Leela), mostly aimed at annihilating the demons, are passed over to children through generations.
In Kumpala, Shree Krishna Bhajana Mandira, Moorukatte, Kumpala Thokkotu here Mosaru Kudike will be held in the evening at 6 pm after the grand Shobhayathra.
The enthusiastic youth of ABC Friends Circle, Thokkottu are performing ‘hulivesha’ (tiger dance) across locality.
Central market and area surrounding Town Hall provided a colourful sight to the eyes with flower vendors busy trading all kinds of flowers in a variety of hues.
Scriptures say that Lord Krishna was born to Vasudeva and Devaki in a prison cell in Mathura about 5,000 years ago. He was born on the eighth day (Ashtami) of the dark fortnight of Shravana month, and the ruling star at the time of his birth was Rohini. As Ashtami and Rohini nakshatram can fall on different days, people celebrate the Lord’s birth anniversary as per their customs. This year the festival falls on Sunday August 21.
Lord Krishna was born in a prison cell to Vasudeva and Devaki over 5,000 years ago. The day on which he ws born happened tobe the eighth (Ashtrami) day of the dark fortnight of Shravana month, and the ruling star as per Hindu customs at the time was Rohini. People celebrate Lord Krishna’s birthday mostly on Ashtami day, while some also follow the practice of celebrating it on the day on which Rohini is the ruling star. In Udupi, where it is celebrated on Ashtami day, the day is known as ‘Srikrishna Jayanti’ if Rohini Nakshatra is the ruling star on Ashtami day; otherwise it is just called ‘Srikrishna Janmashtami’.
There’s a festive look in the Krishna temples as the monuments of Lord Krishna are beautifully adorned with garlands and colourful lights.
It is also time for 'Little Krishnas' to shine. In a variety of competitions organized to mark Janmashtami the tiny tots dress themselves in fancy and colourful costumes resembling Sri Kirshna adding extra attraction to the festival.
In Mumbai and Pune the Janmaashtami is popularly known in as Dahi Handi which is celebrated with enormous zeal and enthusiasm. The handi is a clay pot filled with buttermilk that was positioned at a convenient height prior to the event. The topmost person on the human pyramid tries to break the handi by hitting it with a blunt object. When that happens the buttermilk is spilled over the entire group, symbolizing their achievement through unity.
Various handis are set up locally in several parts of the city, and groups of youngsters, called govinda, travel around in trucks trying to break as many handis as possible during the day. In the coastal regions it is called mosaru kudike.
Various delicacies which are the speciality of Ashtami festival like Moode, Kottige, laddus will be prepared in the Hindu homes today which is also a prominent part of the celebrations.
Paryaya Shirur Mutt head, Sri Lakshmivarateertha Swamiji, has got a large number of currency note garlands made. These garlands will be offered to people dressed and made up in different costumes (Veshas). A total of Rs 15 lac worth currency notes have been used to make these garlands, it is learnt. The Mutt plans to present a garland worth Rs 1,000 to each of the Huli Veshas (tiger), Rs 500 to Veshas depicting legendary or folklore characters, and Rs 250 worth of garlands to the young children who participate in the ‘Muddukrishna’ contest. In addition, money is also paid to band sets and other instrumentalists. The total expenses the Mutt will meet this time to celebrate Janmashtami has been put at Rs 50 lac.
1,50,000 Chakkulis, 75,000 Laddus, etc are under preparation. On Vittal Pindi day, the chariot of the Lord will be fashioned on the basis of folk art of the region. ‘Mahapuja’ will be held at 11 pm on Sunday, while ‘Arghya Pradana (libation)’ will be conducted at 11.47 pm. The ‘Muddukrihna’, and ‘Muddu Radhakrishna’ competitions will be held at Rajangana on the afternoon of Sunday. At 11 am on Monday, noted drummer, Shivamani, will enthrall the people with his histrionics. A beautiful sand sculpture of Lord Krishna is also specially made for the occasion.