iskcon vrindavan sri krishna janmashtami 2018

Sri Krishna Janmashtami is the festival to celebrate appearance of Lord Sri Krishna. After taking darshan of the lords with a new outfit both at the time of Mangal arati and Darshan arati, when the lords are dressed in a beautiful outfit and decorated with various splendid ornaments and fragrant flowers, oozing nectar from every pore of their transcendental forms which submerges the devotees in an ocean of bliss, the devotees start engaging in speaking and hearing the glories of Giridhari, the lifter of the Govardhana hill. After the glorification, all the devotees engage all their time and energy in the service of the lord in various ways, till 10’o clock at night when they all assemble for the gorgeous Abhishek ceremony of the deities of Krishna Balaram and Radha Shyamsundar. The Abhishek which is accompanied by the heartfelt singing of the Holy Names by all the devotees, is followed by an elaborate bhoga offering comprising of an unending variety of delicacies. At midnight, the lords are offered an Arati, witnessing which fills the hearts of all the onlookers with immense pleasure and a feeling of relief from the miseries of material existence. This is followed by ekadashi prashad for all the devotees, who had been fasting the whole day and engaging only in service.

The festivities, however, continue the next day, when Nandotsav is celebrated and all the devotees perform various services for the pleasure of the lord and a huge feast is offered to the Deities, which is then honored by all the devotees with great relish to their hearts content.