Celebrating Janmastami.

Although Kolkata is famous for its Durga Puja celebrations, Janmashtami is also celebrated with much religious fervor and devotion in the city. The birth of Lord Krishna, the universal icon of love, heralds the victory of good over evil. Krishna, the eighth Avatar of Lord Vishnu, was born to Devaki and Vasudev under dire circumstances in a prison.

Krishna was born at midnight on the eighth day of the dark half (Krishna Paksha) of the Shravan (July/August) according to the Hindu calendar. While Shaivyas celebrate Janmashtami on the following day, the Vaishnavas, or the followers of Vishnu, celebrate on the first day.

People begin the festival by fasting on the previous day and staying awake throughout the night to commemorate the birth of Lord Krishna at night. At the stroke of midnight, the idol of the Bal Gopal or infant Krishna is bathed placed in a cradle or jhula and devotional songs are sung while worshipping him. Milk –made sweets and other diary products like kheer and butter are traditionally prepared on this occasion.

Janmashtami is also celebrated with much gaiety at the Birla Temple on Asutosh Chowdhury Avenue. In some areas of the city, Raslila or an enactment of Krishna’s pranks with Radha and her friends in Vrindavan, is also organised. The breaking of ‘dahi handi’ or a pot of milk, butter, curd, honey and dry fruits, hung high up is another popular event of Janmashtami. Young boys join together to build human pyramids high enough to reach the handi and break it. This is symbolical of Krishna’s childhood pranks when he used to steal butter from pots deliberately kept out of his reach by mother Jashoda.

In Kolkata, Janmashtami is a gala affair at the International society for Krishna Consciousness or ISKCON temples in the city. An offering of 108 dishes known as ‘Bhog’ is made at midnight to Lord Krishna and distributed among devotees thereafter. Men and women, dressed in saffron, dancing to the rhythm of “Hare Rama, Hare Krishna” is a wonderful sight at these temples.