The birthday of Lord Krishna [Orissa Famous Festival - Janmastami]

The birthday of Lord Krishna, the eighth incarnation of Lord Vishnu, is celebrated as Janmastami. It falls on the eighth day of the dark half of the month of 'Bhadraba' or 'Bhadra'. Of all the divine incarnations of the God, Sri Krishna is the most adored. By virtue of His divine 'Leelas' or sports, Krishna has take place the darling of the humanity.The reason of taking this avatar or incarnation was, as explained in the 'Bhagavat Geeta', the annihilation of evil and the establishment of truth and virtue.
As such, from His childhood beyond Krishna destroyed numerous demons (suggestive of evil forces) that were harassing the Gods and men alike.

Lord Krishnas birth heralds the hope for the destruction of the demon Kansa and so it becomes memorable as the eventual triumph of good over evil. Later on, as an ally of the 'Pandavas', He brought about in the attention of truth and justice, the war of 'Kurukshetra' to demolish the evil 'Kauravas' and restore legitimate rights to the honest and truthful Pandavas. It was from this battlefield that He delivered His Message to the suffering humanity. All His Leela have been elaborately explained in the Bhagavata Geeta, Mahabharata, Hari Janma and many other religious books.

Lord Krishna was born at mid-night when the moon entered the house of 'Vrisabha' at the constellation of the star 'Rohini' on the eighth day of the dark half of the month of Bhadrab. Thus, it became customary to observe fasting up to mid-night till the exact hour of birth.

The festival is widely celebrated in all vaishnavite temples, monasteries and houses. Clay images of Krishna are also worshipped on this occasion. The festival is devoutly observed by the cowherd community of Orissa, as Krishna lived and spent his childhood days in Gopa. The next day is observed as 'Nandotshaba' by this particular community as reminiscence of the festival that was held by Nanda Raja, to celebrate the birth and arrival of Krishna.

The general pooja process begins early in the morning with devotees giving a bath or abhishek to Bal Gopal's idol with gangajal, ghee, water, honey and curd. The idol is then adorned with new clothes (preferably in yellow colour), stone or other precious jewellery.

After that, the idol of lord is offered bhog, the contents of bhog may vary. Fruits, kheer, pedha, milk, and milk products are made. There are devotees who offer chappan bhog(56 dishes) to Bal Gopal. Thereafter, special Krishna pooja is performed. The cradle containing the divine infant's idol is rocked, conch is blown. Devotees sing Krishna arti, some people read out 108 names of lord. They get totally immersed in the name and praise of Gopal. After the entire pooja is over, devotees break their fast by having panchamrit.

There are certain special items required for Krishnashtami pooja. Read more