Celebrated all over India a to mark the birth of Lord Krishna, Janmashtami Festival is specially celebrated at Mathura. The feverish pitch that you can see at Sri Krishna Janmabhoomi Temple (the birth place of Lord Krishna) at Jamashtami is bewitching. Celebrated in August or September every year (in the Hindu month of Bhadrapad on a no-moon night), Krishna is believed to be an incarnation of Lord Vishnu, who took birth to deliver His devotees from the tyranny of a cruel king called Kansa, who also happened to be his maternal uncle. On this day, people fast for all day and eat only after midnight, the time when Krishna was born.
The beautiful jhankis and live enactments of birth scenes of Lord Krishna can be seen in almost all the Krishna Temples in India. The story of his birth is quite interesting – Kansa was evil but really loved his cousin sister Devki. In accordance with her wishes, he got her married to a brave king called Vasudev who was an ardent devotee of Lord Vishnu, even though he hated the name of the Lord. Just when he was about to take Devki to her in-laws’ palace, there was a divine prediction, which told Kansa that the eighth son of Devki would kill him. Infuriated and bewildered, Kansa imprisoned Devki and Vasudev on the spot. Determined not to take any risks, Kansa killed first six sons of the couple. Seventh was transferred by divine Maya to the womb of other wife of Vasudev, who had hidden herself in the house of the Yadav leader – Nanda Rai.
When Krishna was born, magically all locks and chains binding Vasudev opened by themselves and guards went to sleep. Vasudev decided to take Krishna to a safe place. It was stormy night and Vasudev had to struggle across fuming River Yamuna to carry Krishna to Nanda’s place. Nanda’s wife Yashoda had given birth to a daughter. Vasudev replaced his daughter with Krishna, thinking that Kansa would not kill a girl as the prediction was about a boy. Nanda found the baby in the morning and there were celebrations at his place on the arrival of his heir and son. Graphic representations of these scenes speak volumes about what even Gods have to endure when they take birth on Earth. Rasleelas, plays and dance performances take place all over North India to commemorate the events of the night. At midnight, prayers are offered to idols of newborn Krishna.
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