Janmashtami 2024: Delhi-NCR residents are gung-ho to welcome Krishna

Enchanting wisdom, immense compassion, glorious melodies of the flute, and divine love — there’s so much to Krishna's life. This is what makes his birthday a special occasion. Preparing to celebrate the Krishna Janmashtami (August 26) with much pomp and show, are several residents of Delhi-NCR.

All geared up to ring in Krishna's birthday are members of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), who will be organising a grand Sri Krishna Janmashtami festival across the 20 temples in NCR. “We are expecting lakhs of devotees to join in the celebrations,” shares Yudhistir Govinda Das, country director of communications for ISKCON.

The Maha Abhishek of Lord Krishna will begin at 10.30pm wherein devotees would bath the God's idol with Panchamrit, 10 varieties of fruit juices, frankincense powder, and 10 varieties of flowers. At midnight, an offering of 1,008 preparations will be offered to the deities followed by the Maha Aarti. Yudhistir adds, “The temple in Delhi (East of Kailash) will be decorated with more than 30 varieties of flowers from India and aboard. Special dresses for the deities have been prepared by the famous artisans of Vrindavan. The evening view of the temple would be something to look forward to as we aim to decorate the temple with many colorful lights.”

This isn't all for at ISKCON Gurugram, Janmashtami celebrations will be an astounding experience as there are preparations to include a virtual reality based Krishna Xperience Facility (KXF). “Through the KXF, visitors will be able to witness 3D animated stories of Krishna. This will be enabled through Meta Quest headsets that will be made available at the KXF stall,” informs Rambhadra Das, President, ISKCON Gurugram, adding, “We found that the mothers of infants usually have a difficulty finding a suitable place to feed the babies while visiting the temple during the rush on Janmashtami. So we've decided to make their visit and that of their young ones more comfortable by providing dedicated feeding areas.”

Besides this, those looking forward to enjoy special food items must visit the Krishna Food Street at ISKCON Gurugram. In the evening, Gandharvas Rock Band will perform a Rock Kirtan; from 6 to 10 pm. There will also be a selfie stall where visitors can click selfies with Krishna and another stall selling Krishna toys.

For those celebrating the festival at home, the celebrations will be marked by fasting and feasting. Rajiva Singh, a Noida resident, shares, “We will celebrate Janmashtami in the traditional way by fasting, followed by prayers at the midnight. During the day we will make rangoli and decorate the temple at home. In the evening, we make it a point to visit the temple for the aarti.”

Echoing similar sentiments, Geeti Gupta, a resident of Gururgam, shares, “I am celebrating by fasting and then feasting on the day. To fast means to conserve and conquer my basic desires. To feast is to enjoy the bliss that comes after letting go of egos and desires… I live in Vipul Belmonte, wherein the association will be celebrating Janamashtami. Our condominium’s old and young Gopikas will perform garba whereas our young girls and boys will dress up as Radha and Krishna, to perform the raas and participate in a fancy dress competition. Bhajan aarti and Shri Krishna Jhankis will be the highlight of the evening."

Another Noida resident, Juhi Rastogi, a compliance officer, informs how her society, Ace City in Greater Noida, is gearing up to celebrate the festival in full form: “We will have the shobhayatra at 4pm, followed by the dahi handi programme. There will also be a kirtan and Krishan Leela from 7pm onwards.”

Story by Naina Arora

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