Indore: From midnight on Sunday night, devotees thronged the temples in the city, including Khajrana Ganesh, Gopal Mandir and Radha Krishna temples, besides others. In the afternoon, the crowd was almost out of control in most temples, especially the Khajrana temple.
Taking quick action to prevent any possible spread of coronavirus, health department teams asked every person to be tested for Covid-19 before entering a temple. Other protocols of wearing masks, social distancing, sanitisation and so forth were strictly followed. Following the example of the Khajrana temple, other temples were instructed to do the same.
“Lord Krishna was born in Rohini Nakshatra. This year, Rohini Nakshatra started at 6.38 pm on Monday and will remain till 9.43 am on Tuesday,” priest Vijay Trivedi said. So, Krishna Janmashtami was celebrated on Monday and will be celebrated on Tuesday, as well.
There were discourses by Sadhvi Paramananda Saraswati from early in the morning at Geeta Bhawan, Manoramaganj. Gopaldas Mittal, president of the Geeta Bhavan Trust, said, “This year, we decorated the Krishna temple with flowers, balloons and electric lights.” Further, the Lord was placed on a swing for the Jhula festival.
Janmashtami celebrations at Gopal temple. | FPJ
A Panchamrit bath and Abhishek were organised at Gopal Mandir, Rajwada. The entire temple was filled with devotees attending this special event. At Hansdas Math, the Lord was adorned with five kilograms of silver. Lord Krishna’s swing was decorated with flowers. In Banke Bihari temple, Panjiri Prasad was distributed.
Abhishek was organised at Yashoda Mata temple early in the morning. The celebrations continued till late in the afternoon. Mahaprasad was distributed by performing Maha Aarti in the night. Bhajans and kirtans were organised at the Radha-Krishna temple, Aada Bazaar, at 3 pm. From 10 pm on Monday to 12 midnight on Monday night, people recited and sang the story of the birth of Lord Krishna.
Aarti and bhajans started at 7 am at the ISKCON temple, Nipaniya, and a Maha Aarti was organised at 12 noon. On August 31, the 125th birth anniversary festival of Prabhupada will be celebrated at ISKCON.
On the other hand, Krishna Janmotsav will be celebrated in Shri Lakshmi Venkatesh Devasthan, Chhatribagh, on Tuesday.
Janmashtami celebrations in Indore. | FPJ
