Day of Devotion

The International Society for Krishna CONsciousness (ISKCON) will be displaying a model of the final architecture of the New Vedic Cultural Centre soon to be opened at Kondhwa. More than 70,000 devotees will be participating in the Abhishek Festival,where special darshan of the deities,Radha Kunjabihari,Gaur Nitai and Balaji,with day-long ‘Hare Krishna’ and ‘Sri Balaji’ kirtans will be held. “This is the most important event of the year for me; I wait for it eagerly. I can spend time exclusively with the Lord and his devotees for two or three days,forgetting everything else,” says Rajesh Jalnekar,a devotee at ISKCON Pune,who is also the director of Vishwakarma Institute of Technology (VIT),Pune. “I am looking forward to making resolutions to advance in my spiritual life by taking part in the morning programme,which includes mangal aarti,chanting,darshan of the Lord,attending Shrimad Bhagavatam classes,abhishek kirtan,skits,fasting,meeting devotees and rendering various services,” he adds.

The day is called Krishnajanmashtami,Janmashtami or Gokulashtami in the southern parts of the country. Severals mandals across the city organise dahi handi competitions,where young boys of the locality,who call themselves govinda pathanks,build a human pyramid,while one among them climbs to the top to break an earthen pot full of curd and money. Chants of Govinda aala re rise in the air. And during this period, brightly coloured earthen pots for the competitions are specially made by the potters at Kumbharwada.

The Dagduseth Ganpati Trust is noted for organising a lavish dahi handi competition every year in the heart of the city at Budhwar Peth. “The day after Janamashtami is called ‘Gopal Kala’. The dahi handi and gopal kala competitions are organised on this day by the youth committee of the Dagdusheth Ganpati Trust,” informs Shashikanth Dabhade,chief trust accountant. “Teams of 20-50 boys,from all corners of Maharashtra,come here to try their luck and skill at breaking the handi. The Baramati team won last year. The prize money this year will range between Rs 70,000 and Rs 1,00,000,” says Dabhade.

The Sri Singheri Math Mandir near Kothrud bus-stop celebrates Sri Krishna Janmashtami in a more subdued,though meaningful way. “Aarti will be performed at 10.30 am and 7.30 pm,but devotees will come for darshan throughout the day. After bathing Sri Krishna’s idol in panchamrit,which is mainly made by mixing curd,milk and sugar,we decorate it and perform our ritualistic puja,” describes Gayatri Omkar,wife of the pujari at Sringeri Math Temple.

All Indian festivals entail the preparation of mouth-watering treats. Janmashtami is no exception. The aroma of delicious Chena Murki,Kaju barfi,Makhanne Kheer and Aval waft in the air on this day. They are either prepared to perfection at home or served as special prasad at Krishna temples.

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