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NEW DELHI: Devotees made a beeline for the ISKCON Temple in the city on Monday to celebrate the birthday of Lord Krishna. The celebration was grand; and as devotees enthusiastically greeted each other, the most common form of greeting heard was "Happy ...
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NEW DELHI: Devotees made a beeline for the ISKCON Temple in the city on Monday to celebrate the birthday of Lord Krishna. The celebration was grand; and as devotees enthusiastically greeted each other, the most common form of greeting heard was "Happy Birthday", to which the response was usually, "same to you" - reflecting the belief that on Janmashtami, Krishna is born in each one of us.
Ten stalls were set up, including one on science and spirituality; one selling medicines and cosmetics obtained from cows; and another by the temple's Youth Forum. Rock music chants, abhisheka ceremony (when Radha-Krishna idols are bathed with water, milk, honey, and juice), kirtan, aarti, prasadam, and darshan were also part of the festivities. A bhog of 1,008 dishes was also offered to Lord Krishna, whose idols were dressed in finery created by artists from both Delhi and Varanasi. The temple was decorated with lights, flowers in bright colours, and a blue and white ceiling cover in the open areas.
At 4am, when the temple opened for aarti, there were about 4,000 devotees there, and the number was expected to go up to at least 8 lakh over the day. "Last year, we had 6.5 lakh visitors; but this year, we are expecting more as it is not raining," said Rishi Kumara Dasa, director of English media, ISKCON. The rush is the greatest for the midnight prasadam, with around 70,000 devotees expected at the temple. This is the time, it is believed, Lord Krishna was born. At any given time of the day, there are several thousand devotees at the massive temple, and about 100 cops to control the crowd.
Apart from the usual visitors, about 2,500 people do seva at the ISKCON Temple on this day. "I have been volunteering at the temple for the last three years to spread the message of Krishna," said Sunny Gupta, 27, who works in sales.
"We called a pandit home and around 10 people from our family to be part of the puja. We also made special food like khichdi, halwa, and payasam. The ceremony lasted for around an hour and a half," said Mainak Sen, an advertising professional.
Kirat Arora, 22, went to a temple right behind her house. "It's more convenient because it is barely two minutes from my house so I know I'll definitely make it. Besides, one can worship god from anywhere," she said.
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