Art & Culture
In Pictures: ISKCON celebrated Janmashtami with religious fervour!
Sri Krishna Janmashtami was celebrated with magnificence and religious fervor at ISKCON. The temple was grandly decorated that it heralds the most celebrated event in the whole universe. Huge crowds thronged the temple for Darshan till midnight.
Lord Krishna’s birth is marked as a divine appearance as per vedic scripture. He is known to have taken the human form to save the world from the wickedness of demons and to propagate the philosophy of bhakti, nearly 5,000 years ago. And Krishna Janmashtami is a celebration of his birth.
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. 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. An offering of 108 dishes to Lord Krishna known as ‘Bhog’ takes place at midnight and thereafter it is distributed among devotees. The idol is beautifully decorated with flowers. The platform on which the idol is kept is also equally laden with flowers.
This is followed by Bhajans (devotional songs) sung with various musical instruments in the glory of the Lord, dances are performed by devotees to rejoice the birth of Lord. Finally plays or dramas are held enacting the various phases and leelas of lord Krishna’s life. Reading of Scriptures from Bhagawad Gita especially the episode of Birth of Lord Krishna is a special feature during Janmashtami.
ISKCON celebrates Janmashtami festival at its various centres all over the world. Main Celebrations are held in the prominent cities of United States including New York. Discourses and lectures are organised to mark the festival and spread the accomplishments of Lord Krishna. ISKCON is an acronym of International society for Krishna consciousness. The organization was founded by Srila Prabhupada, an ardent devotee of Lord Krishna. At the age of 69, Srila Prabhupada left for United States. In 1965, ISKCON was established with its headquarter in New York.
ISKCON is a monotheist faith organisation that believes Lord Krishna is supreme to all the other deities in Hinduism. The organisation is famous all over the world. ISKCON took the western countries by storm with its mantra chanting of “Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna Hare Hare; Hare Rama, Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare”
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