City’s temples are being illuminated for the upcoming Janmashtami festival slated on Saturday. The mood of celebration has already set in with the devotees thronging the temples, chanting prayers and singing devotional songs.
Arrangements for making the tableaus depicting myriad facets of lord Krishna’s eventful life will start from Friday. The ones to be brought out by Sagargiri Ashram will deal with the lord’s Rasleela, his childhood pranks and the like. Things would begin at 6 pm when the priest will perform abhishek by pouring mixture of water and milk over the lord, said the head priest of Shri Sagargiri Ashram, Jagdish Uniyal. Dintaras Das, a priest from Shri Chaitanya Gaudya Math, Dehradun, said they will celebrate Janmashtami on September 6. “This is because we believe that the real celebration should be held after the time the lord was born. However, it would be preceded by Shobha Yatra that would be taken out on Friday at 3 pm. On September 6, the Mangal Aarti would begin at 4.30 am, marking the beginning of the real celebration. Rituals related to worship would be held at 9 am. From 10 am till 12 pm, bajhan and kirtan would be held to mark the celebration. After 12 pm, the priest will perform the Mahabhishek by pouring the holy mixture of water and milk over the lord. It would be followed by puja, bhog and aarti,” he said. He further added that on September7, Mahaprasada would be distributed among the devotees. “We would provide fruits to those who would be fasting,” he added.