A festive mood took over the national Capital on Thursday as people decked up to celebrate Janmashtami, the birth of lord Krishna, in temples across the city. Amid high security and heavy police deployment in major temples, devotees thronged in large numbers at various temples, chanting Hare Krishna Hare Rama as the celebrations began with an aarti early in the morning. The lakshmi Narayan temple, also known as Birla Mandir, and the Gouri Shankar temple in Old Delhi were specially decorated for the occasion. Children dressed up like Krishna and Radha added to the festive fervour.
Birla Mandir was decorated into a majestic monument with garlands and colourful lights all around. For the devotees, the temple compound was not less than a wonderland.
A group foreigners who were able to make the visit to the temple for the first time, were amazed to see rich Indian religious tradition. Jiang from China, who visited the temple to see lord Krishna’s birthday for the first time, said, “It’s a great feeling to see such a rich Indian tradition. I feel connected with India.”
Movement of vehicles was banned around 50 metre radius of the oldest Birla Mandir. “Pilgrims are allowed entry from the main gate while exit will be permitted through back gate only,” said Vinod Kuimar Mishra, administrator, laxmi Narayan temple. lost-and-found centre and medical camp were also set up at entry and exit gates. As many as 16 parking areas were made available for pilgrims to park their vehicles, said traffic police official.
“To attract the devotees this year, authorities have showcased Kalpvraksh (a holy tree also known as wish tree) at the temple compound. This tree has lot of significant in the Hindu mythology,” the temple administrator said.
Every year temple sees about 1.5 lakh devotes, however, this year the temple is likely to witness even bigger number of devotees, he added.
Not just the Hindus, a large number of devotees from non-Hindu devotees too visited the temple to celebrate Janmashtami.
Tina Dolma, a Christian young woman from the North-East, was happily swinging Bal Gopal, the child form of lord Krishna after waiting for her turn for almost an hour.
The authorities of ISKCON temple informed that whole campus was decorated with flowers and lights. A special arrangement of flowers was also done by the artists, especially called from Vrindavan (Uttar Pradesh) for the festival.
According to Sunita Sikarwar, a resident closer to the temple in East of Kailash, “Since ISKCON is primarily devoted to lord Krishna, the temple has been adorned beautifully and was under preparation for the past one month.”
Another devotee, Isha Mukherjee, who has been visiting the temple for years, said the festivities at ISKCON bring back the good memories from so many years.
As many as four companies of police were deployed in and around ISKCON temple to keep at bay any untoward incident during the celebrations. Around 350 additional personnel were also deployed for securing the area.
The roads towards ISKCON temple were barricaded and the visitors walked a long stretch to reach the temple.