CHICAGO: The Hindu Mandir of Lake County celebrated Janmashtami with religious fervor and vivacity on Saturday, 16 August with over 600 devotees attending the hours long ceremony and darshan.
Many couples with young children came to witness Baby Krishna sitting in a beautifully decorated cradle along with attractively painted cutouts showing the life of Lord Krishna’s childhood to teen age.
The main function started around 6:00pm by breaking a candy filled ‘Govinda Mataki’ by young children and adults.
Kalash Sthapan, Lord Ganesh and Devi Pujan were performed by Pt. Anil Joshi with all the Vedic rituals with Nikhil and Shruti Sharma. A children’s cultural program was organized by Anu Gupta. Young children below 10 years performed Radha Krishna dances and sang lyrical devotional bhajans. Musical prayerful bhajans, including a mellow Kannada devotional song, were sung.
Pt. Joshi gave an enlightening discourse on why Krishna chose prison cell for his birth. He said that at that point of time, the moral and cultural values were corrupted, relationships between parents and children, brothers and sisters, and the interactions between kings and citizens were degraded. To preserve dharma and cultural values, and to protect righteous devotees such as Devaki and Vasudev, Lord Krishna used His supreme power and performed all His enchanting Aishwarya leelas.
Devotees had an enjoyable moment when three baby Krishnas entered the shrine with their respective Vasudev Babas and they chanted in chorus “Nanda ke anand bhayo Jai Krishna lal ki.’
This created an echoic effect in the shrine. One baby Krishna in the group had an Indian father and an American mother. Archana and Maha Mangalarati were performed before serving delicious prasadam to fasting and non-fasting devotees. President Harsh Kumar gave vote of thanks to all the devotees for their enthusiasm and volunteers for making this event a grand success.
On Sunday 17 August, devotees of the Mandir celebrated Indian Independence Day with colorfully dressed children’s procession parade who waved India’s Tiranga Jhanda (tri-color flag). Young children performed classical dances and sang national devotional songs. A group of ladies sang ‘Vande Mataram’ with utmost dedication which triggered the spirit of freedom in everyone’s heart.
This event was organized by Prabhakar and Savita Joshi. Pt Anil Joshi said, “It should be celebrated as a day of self-examination, to think about all those who gave their lives for independence. We have to make the world a better place to live preserving our rich heritage and identity wherever we go”. Panditji thanked all profusely for making this event memorable.
Geetha Patil
