Janmashtami, the birthday of Lord Krishna is celebrated with devotion and religious fervor worldwide in the Bhadrapad month during Shukla Paksha Ashtami which falls in August or September. This year, the celebration will begin on the 18th August to end on 19 August 2022.
The festival is celebrated with great pomp and show all over the world. For a week before Krishna Janmashtami, people observe Gita Week, by reading the stories of Krishna and reciting soulful bhajans. In return for his blessings delicious prasad or offerings are made to the Lord consisting of laddoos and modaks along with other sweets like halwas made out of wheat flour mixed with sugar or jaggery syrup, sweet dumplings, paneer ke laddoo, ghee laddoo and kheer a myriad of other specialities prepared by devotees at home on this day of Krishna Janmashtami. Many families distribute these sweets amongst extended family members, friends and neighbours on this occasion, as symbolic tokens of love and affection towards them.
Temples are decorated with lights and flowers, rangoli patterns (made from coloured powders), and pictures depicting scenes from the life of Lord Krishna, including images with his flute or a peacock feather.
On this day, people visit these temples in their neighbourhood or towns to pray to Lord Krishna. They may also make offerings of food and sweets at the temple. The celebrations are also marked by the wearing Lord Krishna's favourite colours which are yellow or blue. If you have a little boy baby or child in your house, it is considered auspicious to dress them as Lord Krishna. This is said to bring positive energy and good luck to your home. At Jayshree Rivaz, we have a myriad of traditional clothing sets to honour this age-old tradition. Browse and shop our Krishna collection here.
In many homes, a table is set up for Lakshmi (the Goddess of wealth) and Ganesha. An image of Krishna or his consort Radha might be placed on the altar with offerings from friends and family members. Devotees offer special prayers to Lord Krishna and his consort Goddess Radha, sing songs and devotional hymns dedicated to him.
In Mathura, where Lord Krishna was born one can see huge processions of women carrying pots filled with water (kalash) decorated with flowers, leaves, fruits and garlands for offering it to Lord Krishna who had taken birth at midnight after being delivered by his mother Yashoda, from a prison house where she was kept by Kansa her brother-in-law.
We hope you have enjoyed our blog post on the upcoming celebration of Krishna Janmashtami. The festival is a time for people to come together and pray to Lord Krishna, in addition to fasting and praying during the day. Don’t forget to send us your festive Krishna Janmashtami celebration pictures especially if you adorned your baby boy with Krishna attire this year! We would love to see your creative outfit inspiration!
