Lord Krishna appeared almost a week back, but the celebration is still going on. In Vrindavan after the appearance of Krishna every day, in fact every moment, there was festivity. Following the footsteps of brajvasis devotees of Jalvayu Towers, New Town, Kolkata decided to celebrate Krishnautsav on 1st September. D N Roychoudhary Prabhuji and Madhurima Mataji took the initiative to organize the entire program. And since Radhastami, the appearance day of Srimati Radharani, is going to be celebrated on 6th Sept. so the celebration was not just only for Krishna but was also for Srimati Radharani, the eternal consort of Krishna.
Most of the monks of the temple had gone to Mumbai for a week-long brahmachari camp and they came back to Kolkata on 1st Sept only. It is almost 36 hours train journey from Mumbai to Kolkata and we know how tiring generally the train journeys are. But still HG Anant Bhagavan Prabhu and HG Vrindavan Chari Prabhu made themselves available for the program which began at 5:30 pm. Devotees also travelled from Iskcon Habibpur which is around 100 kms from Kolkata just to do ecstatic kirtan for the pleasure of the Lord.
Abhishek of Lord Krishna & Srimati Radharani
The program began with abhishek i.e. the bathing ceremony of the Lord which was led by HG Vrindavan Chari Prabhu. HG Vrindavan Chari Prabhu is one of the senior priests at Iskcon Kolkata temple. He brought the beautiful deities of Lord Krishna and Srimati Radharani from the temple.
Prabhuji is humble at heart and extremely soft spoken and has great love for the deities. He came and made all the arrangements for the abhishek. Scented oil, til paste and sandalwood oil were applied on the deities and then different sacred items like milk, curd, ghee, honey, sugar candy water, coconut water and lots of Ganges water was poured over the Lord.
While the abhishek was going on devotees reverentially sang the Hare Krishna Mahamantra and were joined by all the assembled guests. After the abhishek the deities were taken to a separate room for dressing.
Meanwhile HG Anant Bhagavan Prabhu spoke why Lord Krishna appears on the earth and he also described the attributes which are exclusively present in Lord Krishna only. We the living entities may have these traits present in small quantities. For e.g Lord Krishna is the proprietor of the entire universe and we may also be the proprietor of our small house for a short period of time.
Lord is extremely beautiful and his beauty never diminishes. We may also have some beauty but it is not forever. With the age the beauty goes away. Class was interactive and all enjoyed it.
By the end of the class the dressing of the Lord was also complete. Lord Krishna and Srimati Radharani had donned attractive garments. Wearing ornaments and colourful flower garlands they looked extremely beautiful. After the deities were brought in the hall and they took the centre stage the much-awaited kids program began.
It started with fancy dress show. Kids who were even less than one year old too participated in it. Dressed as Krishna and Radha and cowherd friends of Krishna they put up their best performance. In fact, one of the kids showed his talent in the pram itself and all had to come near to him to see his charming face. All confidently performed amidst the large gathering.
Fancy dress was followed by dance drama. The theme of the drama was ‘Advent of Lord Krishna.’ Children had been practicing for last few weeks meticulously under the guidance of my wife Kanchan Madhavi. And their hard work paid dividends.
They had dressed themselves as Lord Krishna, Gopis, brajvasis, Kamsa, Kamsa’s soldier, Arjuna. And on the stage through their performance they lived those characters. The drama accompanied with dance performance won everyone’s heart. Kids program brought lots of colour to the program.
Lord Krishna & Srimati Radharani majestically sitting on the altar were enjoying each and every moment.
D N Roychoudhary Prabhuji and Madhurima Mataji who had been working hard tirelessly for last few days to make the event successful were presented a gift by HG Anant Bhagavan Prabhu. All the kids who participated too got gifts.
It was now the time for arati of the Lord which was followed by another celebration which everyone enjoys a lot – Pushpa Abhishek.
The multi coloured flower petals were showered on the Lord in abundance. All those who happily and patiently enjoyed the program had the opportunity to bathe Lord Krishna & Srimati Radharani not with water but with flowers.
As the puspa abhishek was going on devotees were doing kirtan. No one could resist themselves and all danced for the pleasure of the Lord. And along with it the offered flowers were sprinkled on the devotees and everyone enjoyed playing holy with flowers.
After flower abhishek it was time for all to relish delicious Krishna prasadam.
Festivals can only be successfully celebrated if each and every one comes together and cooperates with each other. It makes the celebration more colourful. We are very fortunate that all the devotees of Jalvayu Towers, Greenfield and Alka Abasan who are part of our weekly Bhagavad Gita program came together to organize the program and enthusiastically participated in it.
In Vrindavan every moment there is celebration because all the devotees putting aside their personal motives and self-interest just work hard and come together to serve Krishna. Seeing the selflessness of his devotees and unity among them pleases Krishna the most. And when Krishna is pleased the life of each devotee becomes successful.
So, following the footsteps of brajvasis we should too try to serve Krishna and Radharani selflessly. It will make Krishna happy and Krishna will then inundate our heart with unlimited happiness.
Gr8 celebration. Jai Shree Krishna.
Hare Krishna.