With the celebration of Raksha Bandhan being over, Dehradun is gearing up to celebrate Janmashtami slated for August 25. The temple priests and devotees are now busy decorating the temples. lord Krishna having been born at midnight, the devotees would fast for the day preceding the celebration to break only after the aarti (prayer) is performed after 12 midnight, said a Dehradun-based priest.
Students from some schools based in Dehradun are now preparing hard to stage plays depicting the myriad aspects associated with the life of lord Kirshna known in religious parlance as Krishna lila. Such plays are staged generally a couple of days preceding the occasion. Besides, kirtan, aarti and religious discourses on the life of the lord would be organized in the city to mark the day.
Vinod Kumar Jha, a priest of Sai temple, Rajpur, said that like the previous years, Janmashtami would be celebrated in the Sai temple this year grandly too.
"The temple will be cleaned first. Then we would decorate it with flowers. Preparations have already begun. Thousands of devotees throng the temple to pay obeisance to the lord. Most of them fast for the whole day. Prayers are held in the evening at the temple. At midnight that marks the time of the advent of the lord, they break fast," he said.
A priest associated with Panchayati temple said that the works to decorate the temple suitably for the occasion of Janmasthami have already started. "A large number of devotees come here to offer prayers to the lord every year. This year too, there would be no exception," he added.
Urmila, a resident of Salawala, said that they are readying themselves to embrace the occasion with the religious fervour the occasion deserves. "last year I fasted on Janmashtami. This year too, I would do the same," she said.