The three-day Janmashtami festival will be celebrated this year with great gusto, at the Radha Gopinath temple of Indian Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) at Girgaum in South Mumbai from September 2. The theme this year is Makhan Chor set against the backdrop of Rajasthani art, culture, murals, palace scenes and origami paper decorations made by children and devotees.
The celebrations are inspired from “JaiSriVrindavan”. Jai stands for Jaipur, Sri stands for Opulence and Vrindavan stands for Lord Krishna’s Eternal Abode. It is a perfect blend of Jaipur paintings, palaces, art and crafts with motifs inspired by the peacocks and paisley that are always adorned by the lord of Vrindavan.
Various types of sweets, savouries and vegetables, rice items and juices would be offered to Lord Sri Krishna and Radha during the three-day celebrations. For the Maha Bhog, more than 1008 items would be offered to God Krishna.
More than 10,000 prasadam plates have been provided by the temple authorities on the auspicious occasion of Janmashtami. More than 3000 kg of Varai Halwa prasad would be distributed to devotees visiting the temple on September 2 and 3. Over 1000 litres of Abhishek Amrita would also be offered to the devotees during the period.
On September 2, ISKCON’s spiritual leader His Holiness Radhanath Swami Maharaj would deliver Krishna Katha discourse at 8.30 am, at 10.15 am. IGBC, India’s first Green Building rating agency, will be awarding a ‘Reverent’
IGBC Green Temple award to Sri Sri Radha Gopinath Mandir in presence of H H Radhanath Swami Maharaj and Gurmit Singh Arora. At 5 pm onwards Divya Snan Abhishek of the Radha Krishna deities will commence.
On September 3, the Janmashtami celebrations would begin with Mangal Aarti in the morning at 5 am, followed by Japa at 6 am, Sringar Darshan at 8 am and Gurupuja. His Holiness Radhanath Swami Maharaj would give a discourse on Janmashtami at 9 am. In the evening, Kalash Abhishek at 5 pm, Maha Abhishek at 10.30 pm and Maha Aarti at midnight would be highlight of the celebrations.
The temple would be open for Darshan from 4.30 pm till 1 am in the morning during Janmashtami.
September 4 is the appearance day of his Divine Grace A C Bhaktivedant Swami Prabhupad. The celebrations would include Lectures, Bhajans, Pushpanjali, Guru Puja and Nandotsav feast.