Eight days after the full moon in Shravan is Janmashtami,or the birthday of Lord Krishna.Krishna is belived to have been born at midnight.People offer prayers in temples at night.In Some temples a small idol of baby Krishna is put into a cradle at midnight and rocked.In Mathura where Krshna was born.Janmashtami is celebrated with a great deal of fevour and feeling.
Mathura , the birth place of Lord Krishna , where his parents lived in captivity of the evil Kansa, celebrates Janmashtami with great enthusiasm.Krishna as a young boy vanquished his maternal uncle Kansa to ascend the throne and free his parents.
Janmashtami Celebration in Mathura and Vrindavan
There are about 400 temples decided to Lord Krishna in this sacred city , and the major festivities are held at the Banke Bihari,Rangaji, Shri Krishna Balram temple and Gopinath temple.The Raslila of Braj is thematically the basis of many performing arts.
In Vrindavan , every year the Raasleelas or the folk theatrical staging events of Krishna,s life begin much before the Janmashtami day.These Raasleelas are staged by professional drama troupes or even young children.These dramas,charactrised by colourful costumes and equally colourful backgrounds accompanied by musicians are very popular among the people.The language , spoken by the actors and the actresses, is the Brajbhasha, but sometimes Hindi is also used.
Janmashtami Celebration Maharashtra ,South India and Other Parts of India
In Maharashtra Janmashtami witnesses the exuberant enactment of the god's childhood endeavours to steal butterand curd from earthen pots beyond his reach.The earthen pots of curd and butter are hung up over the streets.Young men enacting an episode from Krishna's childhood from human pyramids by climbing on each other's shoulders and try to brake these pots.
In South India , Janmashtami or Gokulashtami is celebrated with prayers, devotional renditions and offering of fruts and special prasadams to Lord Krishna.In some houses , a typical setting of 'Gokulam' is arranged with mud images of Devki,Vasudeva with little Krishna perched in a basket on his head , as well as other things related to Krishna's legends.
