Janmashtami, also known as Krishna Janmashtami, is one of the most important festivals in Hinduism, celebrated for the birth of Lord Krishna.
He is definitely one among the most admired and deeply loved gods in of Hinduism.
It is a festival of great spiritual significance, it is is marked by devotional singing, vibrant celebrations, fasting, and reenactments of Lord Krishna's life.
Janmashtami is celebrated with great fervor across India and in Hindu communities around the world.
In 2024, Janmashtami will be celebrated on Monday, August 26th. The festival usually falls on the eighth day (Ashtami) of the Krishna Paksha (dark fortnight) in the month of Bhadrapada, according to the Hindu lunar calendar.
This timing typically corresponds to August or September in the Gregorian calendar.
All these timings may vary by a few minutes depending upon the place and the lunar calculations followed by the different Hindu communities.
Janmashtami is a festival that has great spiritual and cultural significance. This celebrates the birth of Lord Krishna, who was considered the eighth avatar or incarnation of Lord Vishnu, one of the principal deities in Hinduism.
Lord Krishna's life and teachings have formed the very crux of the Bhagavad Gita, the most sacred scripture of the Hindus. And his birth is said to be a divine intervention to restore dharma upon the earth.
Lord Krishna was born in Mathura, in the state of Uttar Pradesh in present-day India, over 5,000 years ago. The story of his birth is an event recounted with extraordinary circumstances, for his parents, Devaki and Vasudeva, were imprisoned by none other than Devaki's own brother, King Kansa.
There was an ominous warning of death to King Kamsa, warning him that Devaki's eighth son would kill him. Vasudeva secretly carried the newborn child across the Yamuna River to Gokul, where he was brought up by his foster parents, Nanda and Yashoda, to protect him from the wrath of Kansa.
Krishna's life is thus replete with miraculous events and divine exploits, but more importantly, it is imbued with lessons in dharma.
Indeed, he is most remembered as a playful child and a wise guru in the epic Mahabharata, where he delivered the Bhagavad Gita upon the Battlefield of Kurukshetra to Warrior Arjuna.
More importantly, Janmashtami is a festival of the birthday of Krishna but also imbues very deep spiritual lessons he brought into humanity.
Some of the essential teachings and symbolism associated with Janmashtami are as follows:
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Janmashtami is celebrated with immense enthusiasm and fanfare all over India and in most parts of the world. It comprises the two days' festivities.
The first day of the festival is kept for fasting, and the second day is for feasting and celebrating.
Many devotees fast during Janmashtami, not even taking water until midnight the time they believe Lord Krishna descended in time.
Fasting on Janmashtami is called Nirjala Upavasa and is taken to purify both the mind and body since it brings the soul of the devotees into integration with Lord Krishna.
This much-anticipated birth is celebrated with special midnight pooja, during which the devotees offer their prayers, sing devotional songs, and chant mantras.
The baby Krishna is welcomed with an idol or an image and laddu Gopal in a cradle, which too is often worshipped with offerings of sweets, fruits, and flowers.
In Maharashtra, especially Mumbai, the festival is much observed enthusiastically in the form of a popular event known as Dahi Handi.
In this, a human pyramid is formed to break an earthen pot that hangs high above the ground, containing curd, butter, or any other dairy product.
This event really recaptures the spirit of Krishna in his childhood days, when he and his friends would form a human pyramid at Dahi Handi to steal butter from the hanging pot of the gopis.
Dahi Handi is a very thrilling and dynamic event that pulls a crowd along with the participants.
Houses and temples are beautifully decorated for Janmashtami. Homes are decorated with flowers, rangolis (colourful floor designs), lights, and so on.
Thousands of lamps are lit in temples, and especially in the Krishna Temples. The idol placed in the cradle, generally baby Krishna's idol, is dressed in new clothes and ornaments. The cradle is also beautifully decorated.
The festival fosters devotional singing, or bhajan kirtan. It is inherent to the celebration of Janmashtami. Usually, devotees of this supreme deity demonstrate lila-the divine play of this supreme divinity-and conduct themselves like words in singing his praise, achieving some wild climax in music.
The very sound of bhajans (devotional songs) and kirtans (chanting of holy names) fills the air, in temples and community centers, wherever groups of devotees congregate for unbroken singing, often through the night, in celebration of the divine birth.
It is not only celebrated in India, but Janmashtami is also celebrated by Hindu communities all over the world.
In countries with significant populations of the Indian diaspora like the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and South Africa, Janmashtami is marked with great enthusiasm.
Special events at temples and cultural organizations will include poojas, cultural programs, and feasts that bring communities together in revelry to mark the occasion of Krishna's birth.
The International Society for Krishna Consciousness also plays an important role in organizing the celebration of Janmashtami in the United States.
The ISKCON temples spread across the country have huge festivals where the chanting resounds, dancing is done, drama performances take place, and prasad is distributed to people.
In the United Kingdom also, a big ISKCON temple called Bhaktivedanta Manor, which is sited near London, serves as a center of attraction during Janmashtami. Thousands of devotees get attracted to this event.
