Janmashtami : The Birth of “ EIGHTH ” child of Mother Devaki : A pride of festival for the “ HINDU’S ”

Pic- : The " SCENE" of the pooja ie workship of Lord Krishna at my home 

Janmashtami : The Birth of “ EIGHT ” child of Mother Devaki : A pride of festival for the “ HINDU’S ”

Why is this festival called as “ JANAMASHTAMI ”

Well- janam in hindi is  birth  and the word ASHTAMI in hindi means EIGTH  Janamastami in a simple parlance is the BIRTH OF THE EIGHT “ SOUL ” .In other words it means “ the birth of the EIGHTH child ” in the family.

 It was the ruler KANSA who was the maternal uncle of Lord Krishna. He was cursed by the GOD infact by mother ie MAA LAXMI that the EIGHT child that Mother Devaki the cousin sister of King Kansa , when delivered by mother Devaki, that child would grow up and would KILL Kansa. Lord Krishna an incarnation of Lord Vishnu took birth as the EIGHT child of Mother Devaki and it was Lord Krishna who killed King Kansa. Here it may be told that  and it may be added that prior to Lord Krishna taking the birth,  Mother Devaki had the mortification of seeing as many as SEVEN child killed by the ill – wicked  King Kansa.

 Thus this festivity, the JANAMASHTAMI gathered such an importance in the annals of the Indian festival.This day is celebrated and is worshipped all across the country by the Hindu’s as the day for offering the pooja , ie , the worship for Lord Krishna.

 Janmashtami, Hindu festival celebrating the birth (janma) of the god Krishna on the eighth (ashtami) day of the dark fortnight of the month of Bhadrapada (August–September). The number eight has another significance in the Krishna legend in that he is the eighth child of his mother, Devaki

Mathura and Vrindavan takes the centre stage

This festival though  is celebrated all over India with gaiety and reverence, yet the two city which goes WILD in celebration of this festival is the two city of Uttar Pradesh, namely Vrindavan and Mathura. People to receive the greatest blessing of the Lord Krishna today if possible and if the occasion allows them, they do NOT fail to take a HOLY DIP at the “ RADHA- GOPAL” Kund . It is believed that those who take a DIP at this kund ie the POND, do not FAIL in their LOVE-AFFAIRS and if that affair is converted into marriage, then the MARRIAGE does not fails as the bonding of the LOVE between the couple is as STRONG as the love that existed between  Radha and the Lord Krishna.

The procedure of the " pooja " :

The occasion is observed especially in Mathura and Vrindavan (Brindaban), the scenes of Krishna’s childhood and early youth. On the preceding day devotees keep a vigil and fast until midnight, the traditional hour of his birth. Then the image of Krishna is bathed in water and milk, dressed in new clothes, and worshipped. Temples and household shrines are decorated with leaves and flowers; sweetmeats are first offered to the god and then distributed as prasada (the god’s leftovers, which carry his favour) to all the members of the household.

Pic:: The " PRASAD" ie the " LEFT-OVER" of the Lord 

 The devotees of Krishna commemorate the events of his birth by preparing elaborate representations of Mathura, where he was born, the Yamuna River, over which he was transported to safety, and Gokul (ancient Vraja), the scene of his childhood, using small images of the god, the other participants, and the animals and birds of the forest.

Dahi- Handi “ PHOD ” : A game that the " Lord " played , played to feel like him

 This day marks the very amusement rejoicing in the form of a game which in India is known as “ DAHI-HANDI-PHOD ”  where a small water pot which is filled with the mixture of Honey, Curds and milk is hanged at a particular height and the team of people make an attempt to break it.

Pic :: The scene of the " DAHI-HANDI-PHOD " 

 It is believed that who breaks it-  he who finally breaks it ,  and his team, is , and are ,  filled with the pleasantly-sweet -  and -  the -  most memorable incidents that occurs and happens to them ,  all through the year for them and their households to enjoy it. In other words,  it  is believed to be a blessing full  and filled with the deliciousness of milk, honey and curds,  in terms of the beautiful tastes ,  of the blessings , that comes from the Lord to those and the members of the team, who win this game by breaking the water pot that is filled with the items that I have mentioned here.

Pots of milk are hung from tall poles in the streets, and men form human pyramids to reach and break the pots—this in imitation of Krishna’s childhood play with the cowherd boys, when they stole the curds hung out of reach by their mothers. The festival is also a time for group singing and dancing.

There are a few more very interesting things that I would like to write for them who are the                    “ SANATANI’S ” Hindu but I would put it here tomorrow for some reason and till then KINDLY allow me to end and wind up this article as I need to perform some after pooja ceremony at the house.

Regards

Thanks

Pics::

Shyamal Bhattacharjee

Mr Shyamal Bhattacharjee, the author was born at West Chirimiri Colliery at District Surguja, Chattisgarh on July 6th 1959 He received his early education at Carmel Convent School Bishrampur and later at Christ Church Boys' Higher Secondary School at Jabalpur. He later joined Hislop College at Nagpur and completed his graduation in Science and he also added a degree in    B A thereafter. He joined the HITAVADA, a leading dailies of Central India at Nagpur as a      Sub-Editor ( Sports ) but gave up to complete his MBA in 1984 He thereafter added a Diploma In Export Management. He has authored THREE books namely Notable Quotes and Noble Thought published by Pustak Mahal in 2001 Indian Cricket : Faces That Changed It  published by Manas Publications in 2009 and Essential Of Office Management published by NBCA, Kolkatta  in 2012. He has a experience of about 35 years in Marketing .

 

Signature of Shyamal Bhattacharjee