Krishna Janmashtami 2021: Why we celebrate the festival?

Janmasthami is widely celebrated across India and is popularly knowns as Krishna Janmashtami.  Devotees celebrate this day with joy and enthusiasm.

People decorate their house with flowers, diyas and lights & wear new clothes and worship Lord Krishna. 

Janmasthami is not only a festival, it is a grand festival, the birthday of Lord Krishna, who is believed to be the eighth incarnation of Lord Vishnu, was born on this day to destroy Mathura's demon king, Kansa. 

The date of Krishna Janmashtami is on Monday, 30 August 2021. 

During this occasion, Krishna temples are decorated. One can see bhajans and kirtans, devotional songs are taking place along with satsangs.  Most of the places are hosting dance-drama based on the depiction of the life of Krishna.  

Dal Handi is an important event during this festival since as a kid Lord Krishna was named "Makhanchor" or the one who steals butter. During Dal Handi the same stealing butter activity of Lord Krishna is narrated.  Keeping the earthen pot or handi is filled with butter, dry fruits and milk is kept at a considerable height and tighten with the help of ropes. The interesting part is to reach the handi by making a human pyramid and most of the local boys gather to break the pot.  Generally, it is fixed at a height of 20-30 feet from the ground.  The boy who stands at the top is called Govinda and the groups are either called handis or mandals. 

During the Krishna Janmasthami, one can visit the various Krishna Temples.  It is worth watching the decorated idol of Krishna with new sparkling clothes, mukut, and other jewellery. Major Krishna temples are decorated with lights and flowers and organize recitation of ‘'Bhagavata Purana and Bhagavad Gita." The chiefly are: 

• ISKCON temples
• Banke Bihari Temple, Vrindavan
• Dwarkadish Temple, Dwaraka
• Krishna Balaram Mandir, Vrindavan
• Sri Krishna Temple, Udupi
• Guruvayur Temple, Kerala
• Govind Dev Ji Temple, Jaipur
• Rajagopalaswamy Temple, Tamil Nadu
• Jagannath Temple, Puri, Odisha
• Prem Mandir Vrindavan
• Shri Nathji Temple, Nathdwara, Rajasthan

In major areas, one can see some decorated Jhakis are taking place which makes a unique impression on the festival. 

It is an important festival of Hindu.  Devotees are doing fasting, singing devotional songs of love for Krishna, and keeping a vigil into the night and praying to Lord Krishna.  After Krishna's midnight hour birth, the idol of baby Krishna are washed and clothed, then placed in a cradle.  After that, the devotees break their fast, by sharing food and sweets. 

Particularly, it is celebrated in Mathura and Vrindavan along with major Vaishnava and non-sectarian communities mainly find in West Bengal, Bihar, Manipur, Assam, Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and all other states of India. 

Especially, the temples of Mathura and Vrindavan are enjoyable to watch during Janmasthami.  One can see the most extravagant and colourful celebrations, as it is believed Lord Krishna have been born and spent his growing years here. 

According to Hindu tradition, Janmasthami is celebrated when Krishna is believed to have been born which is in Mathura, at midnight on the eighth day of Bhadrapada month. The main reason for celebrating this festival is to dispel the evil from the earth and strengthen the principles of unity by bringing people together and maintain the spirit of brotherhood.