Schools abuzz with Janmashtami fervour

Tribune News Service

Dehradun, August 24

Students of St Nursery School celebrated Janmashtami at a function held on the school campus here today. The school wore a festive look with tiny tots donning colourful attires of Radha and Krishna.

Scenes from Lord Krishna’s childhood were depicted in an enactment staged by students of class I and II where they showed the mischievous Krishna playing pranks with his mother and stealing butter to share it with his friends. The audience enjoyed every bit of the performance. There were dances to mark the occasion.

An image of Lord Krishna was placed on a swing and the tiny tots rocked it with love and respect. Students were explained the importance and significance of the festival. The principal, staff and students were all part of the celebration.

Skit, dance show Krishna’s mischievous side

Krishna Janamashtami was celebrated at Brooklyn School with much fanfare. The celebrations started with the lighting of the lamp by principal Manju Grover, followed by a speech by Shashank Gairola, who spoke about Lord Krishna’s life and teachings.

A special dance performance by Vashnavi Arya, a student of class KG, on the song “Radha kaise na jale” reminding everyone of young Lord Krishna’s ‘raas leela’. Namita Dhiman of class XI presented a speech in Hindi on the importance of the festival. The mischievous and playful side of Krishna was beautifully portrayed by the junior school students through a skit.

The programme came to an end with a dance performance by the girls of class VII, VIII and IX as ‘gopis’ and Lakshya Chauhan of class VII as Krishna with his ‘bansuri’ dancing playfully on the song “Jo hai Albela”. Later, the foot-tapping music led the dancers into a zestful performance. The final event was the ‘dahi handi’. Students of class IX dressed up as ‘gwalas’ and Lakshya Chauhan as Krishna enjoyed every second of the experience of forming a human pyramid with the sole intention of breaking the hanging pot. The excitement of the students created a divine atmosphere on the auspicious occasion.

Dances, songs evoke the Lord

Olympus High School celebrated Janmashtami with great fervour on the school premises. The event commenced with a singing performance on ‘Kanha Biraj me Padhare’ followed by a dance performance by the tiny tots who moved melodiously to the beat of ‘makhan chor’.

Later, students of class III to V praised Lord Krishna through their energetic dance on ‘Dashavtar’ and sang a devotional song ‘Yashomati Maiya se’. Senior school children sang “Radha na bole” to evoke the blessings of Lord Krishna and danced on “Albela Sajan”.

The event concluded with two stories form Lord Krishna’s life narrated by Hemant Dabral and Poonam Arora. The stories were ‘Vasaki Nag’ and ‘Govardhan’. Managing Director of the school Kunal Shamshere Malla expounded the relevance of these stories. He made the children relate to the messages in two stories. Principal Anuradha Malla, vice-principal Monika Arora, school coordinators and teachers were also present on the occasion.

Janmashtami was also celebrated at a function held at The Indian Academy.

Solo act marks the day

Various cultural and religious functions were organised in schools in Haridwar to celebrate Janmashtami.

At Sanskriti School, Gobindpuri, students presented solo enactment and dance performances based on Lord Krishna’s life. A special performance on the song “Vo Krishna Hai” from the movie “Kisna” by teachers of the school was the highlight of the event.

School manager Divya Panjwani shed light on the life of Lord Krishna. Kashish Mehta and Kashmira Kumar were the chief guests at the function. They stressed the need to celebrate all festivals to ensure that the younger generation remains in touch with “our vast cultural, historical, religious and mythological diversity”.

Tiny tots don Krishna, Radha attire

Vivek Vihar-based Sai Sanskar School also organised a special function. Children in the traditional attire of Lord Krishna and Radha were cynosures of all eyes at the fancy dress competition.

School principal Sapna Arora apprised the students about the importance of the festival and its various rituals.

Meanwhile, ISKCON devotees held a royal procession ‘palki yatra’ from Guru Mandal Ashram, Devpura, to the Shubharambh point. The Vaishnav sect will observe Janmashtami on Thursday, with saints and seers celebrating the festival in Rohini Nakshatra. Mahabhishek will also be organised at midnight after celebrating Janmasthami.

A Janmashtami function will be organised at the Roshanabad police lines on Thursday from 7 pm till midnight.