VIJAYAWADA: The citizens of the city are gearing up for Sri Krishnashtami celebrations on a grand scale. All temples and other preferred locations by various communities are being spruced up for the special ‘poojas’ to Lord Krishna.
Children dressed as Lord Krishna take part in the fancy dress competitions and break the ‘Utti’, during the celebrations.
The actual celebration of Janmashtami takes place during the midnight as Sri Krishna is believed to have been born in the midnight. The day is celebrated with devotional songs and dances, ‘poojas’, ‘arti’, breaking of the ‘utti’ and others. The houses and temples are beautifully illuminated and decorated with flowers and footprints in his remembrance.
Every year, various associations and temples organise the Krishnashtami celebrations with great zeal in all parts of the city. The International Society for Krishna consciousness (ISKCON) organises the programmes at Radha Shyamsundar Mandir at Undavalli. This year, ISKCON is going to celebrate the festival for three days with around 300 children from various schools in the city at Nalanda Vidya Niketan.
President of the Vijayawada ISKCON Association Ram Murari Das said that several programmes including fancy dress competition for children, flower arrangement competition for parents, ‘kolatam’ and breaking of ‘utti’ would be organised on the day of the festival. Later, a ‘Shobha Yatra’ would be organised from Benz Circle to ISKCON Association office in the Rajagopalachari Street. The special ‘poojas’ and the 118th birth anniversary celebrations of ‘Bhakti Vedanta Swamy’, the founder of the ISKCON at Undavalli Krishna Temple would be organised on Aug 18 and 19.
“The festival of Janmashtmi, which is also known as Krishnashtmi, is a symbol of absolute faith of people in Lord Krishna. The enthusiasm of people can be witnessed in all parts of the country and the zeal with which Janmashtmi is being celebrated is unmatchable,” said Ram Murari Das.