“Divine intervention at Iskcon temple for Bangalore”

Sri Krishna Chandra

Shruti Goutham | Place: Bangalore | Agency: DNA, Thursday, Sep 2, 2010, 11:32 IST — “Lord Krishna’s birth is marked as a divine appearance as per Hindu mythology.

He is known to have taken the human form to save the world from the wickedness of demons and to propagate the theory of bhakti and good karma, nearly 5,000 years ago. And Krishna Janmashtami is a celebration of his birth,” says Madhu Pandit Dasa, president, Iskcon, Bangalore.

The festivities began on Tuesday for Krishna devotees. At the stroke of midnight, Iskcon temple had made special arrangements to cater to nearly two lakh devotees.

Pandit Dasa says, “The puja is typically an elaborate abhisheka for two hours with more than 30 to 40 varieties of flowers, fruit juices such as melon, grape, banana and orange and a special aarti with 18 types of lamps.” While in the south, the festival is essentially celebrated on ashtami, as Krishna was born on the eighth day of the second fortnight in the month of Sravan in Dwapara yuga, the north of India celebrates it as per the star constellation, as he was born under the Rohini nakshatra,” says Pandit Dasa.

Iskcon, he says, “has adopted the practice of celebrating it on both days in all its centres.”

Dinesh Mehta and his family were living in California for nearly 20 years. They’ve just shifted base to Bangalore. “While in California, the local Gujarati Vaishnav Samaj came together to hold all-night celebrations and the entire family participated with great gusto,” says Mehta. But here, he says, “the fervour is missing.”

Rekha Phadnis from Malleswaram says, “On ashtami, one typically fasts the whole day, breaking it only after the puja at night.” Phadnis shifted base from Mumbai nearly 55 years ago.

Having lived in Bangalore for so long, her family has assimilated into the local milue and their celebrations are a mix of both Maharshtrian and Kannadiga culture. Snacks such as chakkali and sweets like laddu are prepared at home along with the conventional mosaru avalakki and benne (butter) nayvedya for Lord Krishna as he’s known to have a special liking for it.

During the puja she usually plays bhajans on the stereo – “a modern day fixture in most houses today,” she says. Phadnis has also been following Janmashtami puja in the famous Krishna temple in Udupi since Tuesday as many tv channels have been telecasting it.