Festivity has gripped the nation on Krishna Janmashtami, which is observed on the birth anniversary of Lord Krishna. While worshiping Lord Krishna is a big ritual, Dahi Handi festival is also a key attraction in Maharashtra and across India.
Lord Krishna, an Avatar of L0rd Vishnu, was born exactly at the stroke of midnight. Lord Krishna took birth to kill Kansa, the wicked king of Mathura.
Janmashtami is being observed on August 18, the Janmashtami tithi (timing) begins on 5.55 pm on August 17 and ends on 6.06am on Monday.
No grains should be consumed during Krishna Janmashtami fasting until the fast is broken on next day after Sunrise.
FAMOUS ATTRACTIONS
As temples are being tastefully decorated across the national capital and elsewhere, some of the temples in Delhi and nearby areas you can visit include Laxmi Narayan Temple (the nearest Delhi Metro station is RK Ashram Marg Metro Station), ISKCON in the East of Kailash (Nearest metro station is Nehru Place Metro Station), Chattarpur Mandir (Nearest metro station is Chattarpur Metro Station), Sri Sri Radha Govind Dev Temple, Noida (The temple is located in Sector 33) and Mathura and Vrindavan (Mathura is the birth place of Lord Krishna and in Vrindavan Lord Krishna spent his childhood).
Hindus flock to Mathura
Hundreds of thousands of devotees thronged the Krishna in Mathura to celebrate Janmashtami, with the celebrations reaching a crescendo on Sunday. The celebrations are on in the entire Braj area comprising Mathura, Agra and Hathras districts.
The Yamuna is flowing to the brim. Mathura’s ghats are filled with pilgrims who began arriving from Thursday taking advantage of the extended holidays including Independence Day on Friday.An official said an estimated 200,000 people had already gathered in the region.In Gokul, across the Yamuna, celebrations started on Saturday and will continue for three days.Officials in Mathura said more than 4,000 security personnel have been deployed to secure the Sri Krishna Janmabhoomi campus. Janmashtami is celebrated by some Sunday and by others Monday. Faced with a steep demand for flowers, some like the ancient Keshav Dev temple have made arrangements to get fresh supplies from Kolkata and Bangalore. Mathura, located about 50 km from Agra and 145 km from Delhi, is the birthplace of Lord Krishna.
No kids below 12 in human pyramids
Earlier, the Supreme Court had barred children below the age of 12 from participating in forming human pyramids on Dahi Handi – an earthen pot filled with butter milk – festival event largely celebrated in Mumbai on the occasion of Krishna Janmashtami.
The apex court bench of Chief Justice R.M. Lodha, Justice Kurian Joseph and Justice Rohinton Fali Nariman, while barring children below the age of 12 years from participating in human pyramid, put on hold the Bombay High Court order that had said that children below the age of 18 years would not participate in human pyramids.
“I have seen it for 13 years. These MLAS come and give awards of Rs.1 lakh or so and young people go crazy. So many people fall down,” said Chief Justice Lodha who was a judge of the Bombay High Court from 1994 to 2008.
The apex court order came on a petition by Amit Jaising Saraiya and others challenging the August 11 order of Bombay High Court which excluded children below 18 years of age from participating in human pyramids. The court issued notice to Maharashtra government and other authorities in the state seeking their response in eight weeks.
The high court by its August 11 order had asked the Maharashtra government to make changes in its circular prohibiting children below 18 years of age from participating in Dahi Handi show. The state government by its earlier circular had prohibited children below 12 years from participating human pyramids,The high court had also asked the state government to amend Bombay Police Act and the Maharashtra Police Act which define dangerous activities to include the human pyramids formed during Janmashtami celebrations thereby making it a penal offence. The apex court said that it would be incumbent upon the organisers of the events to ensure that the safety measures recommended by the Maharashtra State Commission for Protection of Child Rights are adhered to during the Dahi Handi event.
Source India Today
