Shri Krishna is considered to be an incarnation of Lord Vishnu. Shri Krishna has been the center of our faith since ages. The birth anniversary of Shri Krishna is celebrated as Janmashtami. The festival of Shri Krishna Janmashtami is a very encouraging and holy festival for Hindus. Janmashtami is celebrated with great pomp not only in India but also abroad.
On the day of Shri Krishna Janmashtami, there is a huge crowd of devotees in the temples. Devotees worship the Lord and offer him food. People wear new clothes in their homes by anointing the Balagopal form of Krishna with milk, honey, water etc. At night, they also do bhajan kirtan.
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what is janmashtami
This festival of Shri Krishna Janmashtami is a special day for every Hindu. It is believed that by pleasing Lord Krishna with devotion on this day, children, prosperity and long life are attained. The holy festival of Janmashtami is celebrated by all Hindus as the birth anniversary of Lord Shri Krishna.
On this festival of Janmashtami, fasting is observed by all Hindus to please Lord Shri Krishna on his birthday.
Why is Shri Krishna Janmashtami celebrated?
Lord Krishna was the 8th son of Devaki and Vasudeva. The rest of his sons and daughters were killed by the tyrannical king Kansa. Kansa was the king of Mathura city, which was very tyrannical, ruthless and cruel. All the people in his kingdom were troubled by his tyranny. His atrocities were increasing day by day. Once upon a time, suddenly there was an Akashvani, and that Akashvani said that his sister Devaki’s 8th son would kill her. Hearing this, Kansa put his sister Devaki and her husband Vasudeva in the prison house. Kansa killed seven of Devaki’s earlier children. When Devaki gave birth to Shri Krishna, Lord Vishnu ordered Vasudeva to bring Shri Krishna to Yashoda Mata and Nanda Baba in Gokul, where he would be safe from his maternal uncle Kansa.Shri Krishna was brought up under the supervision of Yashoda Mata and Nanda Baba. Eventually Shri Krishna brought relief to the people by killing the tyrannical mother Kansa.
Sin and darkness were destroyed after Lord Vishnu was born on earth as Shri Krishna. Sin was destroyed in the world and love and devotion re-awakened. That is why we celebrate the birthday of Lord Shri Krishna with great happiness and the birth anniversary of Shri Krishna is celebrated as Janmashtami. That’s why people celebrate the festival of Janmashtami every year since then in the joy of Krishna’s birth.
When is Krishna Janmashtami celebrated?
The day of birth anniversary of Lord Shri Krishna is celebrated with great pomp. The birthday of Lord Shri Krishna is celebrated as Krishna Janmashtami festival. Lord Shri Krishna took his incarnation in Mathura at midnight on the Ashtami of Krishna Paksha of Shravan month to destroy the tyrannical Kansa.Therefore, this festival of Krishna Janmashtami is celebrated after Rakshabandhan on the Ashtami date of the Krishna Paksha of Bhadrapada month (Bhado month) of the Hindi calendar Vikram Samvat. According to the scriptures, on this date Lord Krishna appeared in the prison of Kansa in Mathura in Rohini Nakshatra. On this day the Moon was in Taurus and the Sun was in Leo.
Krishna Janmashtami is celebrated every year by Hindus on the eighth day of the Krishna Paksha of Bhadrapada month according to the Hindu calendar (calendar) from the birthday of Lord Krishna. This year in the year 2022, Krishna Janmashtami will be celebrated on Thursday 18th August and it will end on Friday 19th August.
Shri Krishna Janmashtami begins – 18 August Thursday 2022
Shri Krishna Janmashtami ends – 19 August Friday 2022
How is Shri Krishna Janmashtami celebrated?
Janmashtami is a festival of happiness. The form of Janmashtami generally remains the same everywhere, such as worship, fasting – fasting, bhajan – kirtan etc. Nevertheless, there is a slight difference between them in many places. Holi of flowers is played on this day in many places, Holi of colors is also played in many places. On the day of Janmashtami, in the early morning after taking bath etc. people worship, go to temples. Many people get Katha done at home. In the evening, they do Bhajan-Kirtan.There is also a law to observe fast on the day of Janmashtami. Fruits should be eaten according to one’s ability.
Temples are specially decorated on the day of Shri Krishna Janmashtami. On the festival of Janmashtami, the seductive incarnation of Shri Krishna is seen in the form of tableaux. On the day of Janmashtami, tableaux are decorated in the temple, Lord Krishna is swinging, Raslila is organizedBhoj etc. are organized in many big temples.
Significance of Shri Krishna Janmashtami
Krishna Janmashtami has a special spiritual and cultural significance of its own. Lord Krishna is addressed by names like Yogeshwar, Mayapati because of the faith and belief of the devotees that Lord Krishna bestows them with spiritual contemplation and spiritual power. With the help of this spiritual power, devotees can attain salvation. This festival has special significance to accumulate this power. There is a tradition of fasting on Janmashtami, in which different fruits are eaten apart from daily food and drink, some people drink only water, due to which our stomach also gets rest and the body also remains healthy. Bhajan-Kirtan not only gives peace to the mind, but also gets the juice of the ocean of devotion.
This festival is one of the various cultural festivals of India. This festival is celebrated not only in the country but also abroad. That is why Janmashtami festival has a special role in tying the whole country in one thread, in tying it in a bond, in promoting social values. This explains the Indian vision of unity in diversity. There has also been a tradition of Dahi Handi on Janmashtami in many places of Bharat, which increases mutual affiliation in the society.
Story of Shri Krishna Janmashtami
Lord Krishna took birth on earth as the eighth son of Devaki and Vasudeva. And at the time of birth there was an Akashvani that this son of Devaki would kill Kansa and later he killed the tyrant Kansa and saved the people from the tyranny of Kansa.
There was an outcry in the entire Mathura city due to the atrocities of Kansa. Innocent people were being punished. Even Krishna’s maternal uncle Kansa unnecessarily put his sister Devaki and her husband Vasudeva in a dungeon (jail).
Not only this, Kansa had already killed seven children of Devaki due to his atrocities and Lord Krishna again took birth in this earth as the eighth son from the womb of Devaki.
On the birthday of Krishna, it started raining heavily in the sky, there was a thick darkness all around. To take Lord Krishna to a safe place, Vasudeva, keeping Lord Krishna in a basket on his head, crossed the boiling river of Yamuna and reached the place of his friend Nanda Gopa, and there Krishna came to sleep with Lord Yashoda. In this way Yashoda brought up Lord Krishna, the son of Devaki. That is why it is said that Lord Krishna had two mothers, Devaki and Yashoda.
From childhood, Lord Krishna killed the wicked sent by Kansa and thwarted all attempts by Kansa to harass the subjects, then finally one day killed Kansa and liberated the people from his atrocities.
Dahi Handi Festival
We all know that Lord Krishna was naughty and mischievous in his childhood. He loved to eat butter, for which he used to steal butter from the pot of others and eat it.
This leela of Lord Krishna is recreated afresh on his birth anniversary. In many parts of the country, a program of breaking the pot is also organized on this day.Dahi-Handi or the ritual of breaking the pot, which has become the hallmark of Janmashtami festival, refreshes the memories of Lord Krishna in the hearts of the devotees.
Why Janmashtami is celebrated for 2 days?
According to the Hindu calendar, Lord Krishna was born on the Ashtami date of the Krishna Paksha of Bhadrapada month. Ashtami Tithi is on this day. At the same time, Lord Krishna was born in Rohini Nakshatra, due to which sometimes the day of Ashtami Tithi and Rohini Tithi is different. This is the reason that in the year where Ashtami date and Rohini Nakshatra date are different, Shri Krishna Janmashtami is celebrated for 2 days in that year.
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