Janmashtami

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Janmashtami or Krishna Jayanti is an important festival in Hinduism on which the believers celebrate the birth of the god Krishna . According to the Hindu lunar calendar, it falls on the eighth day of the month of Shravan, according to the modern calendar, the festival is usually celebrated in July or August. Depending on the region and family tradition, the celebrations can last several days. The first day is called Krishnashtami ( Ashtami is called the eighth day after the full moon) or Gokulashtami, because according to legend, the divine child grew up in Gokul. The second holiday is called Kalastami or Janmashtami. Krishna, whose actual existence has not been historically proven, is believed by the Hindus around 1400 BC. Lived as a human on earth. He is one of the most popular forms of the divine and is considered the avatar of Vishnu .

mythology

Krishna secretly nibbles on the butter with his friends

The Bhagavata Purana reports the circumstances of his birth . Accordingly, shortly after his birth, Krishna is brought to safety from King Kamsa , who seeks the boy's life. Kamsa had been prophesied that the eighth son of his sister Devaki and her husband Vasudeva would kill him. He therefore keeps his parents prisoner in the palace dungeon and kills Devaki's first six children. The seventh is transferred into the body of another woman through miraculous powers and later grows up with him as the older brother of Krishna. The eighth son, Krishna, is born and in a passing vision the parents can see him in his cosmic form with four hands. His miraculous powers are manifested in the guards falling asleep, the dungeon chains broken and the doors popping open. The father Vasudeva escapes with the newborn and brings him to foster parents in the village of Vrindavan in what is now the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh . The king then has all the newborns killed in order to be sure to destroy this child. But Krishna survived and grew up among cow herders.
As an adult, he returned to the place of his birth in Mathura in what is now the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. He kills Kamsa and returns the throne to the rightful king. The Mahabharata reports that he was king of Dwarka , now in the Indian state of Gujarat .

The party

The preoccupation with events from Krishna's youth are a central part of the festival: all over the country stage plays with the various episodes, the divine plays, called lilas , are organized. Exhibitions deal with the topic and readings from the Bhagavadgita and the Bhagavata Purana, the important books related to Krishna, are intended to familiarize people with his teachings.

In preparation for the festival, many believers fast until midnight, the hour of Krishna's birth. Ideally at midnight, but in practice often on the evening before, the commemoration of the birth of the divine child is celebrated with splendor. The temples are decorated, songs with the name of God are sung, bells are rung, the snail horn ( shankh ) is blown and Sanskrit hymns are recited in honor of Krishna.

During the ritual worship service, the puja , the priest worships Krishna in a murti , as Hindus call consecrated statues, or in a doll in a small bed, which the women have previously decorated over and over with flowers. For pujas in the private sphere or in a jointly organized festival, a priest is usually called to perform the ceremony. At the end of the rite, each of the women is allowed to feed the child with maternal love by offering some milk porridge on her finger with a short prayer.

Janmashtami is of particular importance in northern India, especially in Vrindavan and Mathura in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh , which is the place of Krishna's birth for believers. There, residents and tens of thousands of pilgrims from all over the world celebrate the festival in the many temples of the city with festive church services and the Ras lila dance theater . Indian television will broadcast the celebrations for everyone across the country to attend. The meaning for Hindus is comparable to the Christmas days for Christians in Bethlehem.

Customs

Dahi-Handi , the breaking of the clay pot on Janmashtami

The customs for Janmashtami are very different in different parts of India. The Dahi-Handi ceremony, the breaking of a milk pot, is particularly well known. In his childhood Krishna, who, according to myth, grew up in a shepherd's community, with his friends occasionally nibbled butter or sweet cream from the high pot at the neighbors' house. This is what the Jacks repeat in a traditional game, especially in Maharashtra . You hang a large clay pot, the dahi-handi, filled with sweet yoghurt and butter, fruit, etc., high on top. With the constant cry of “Govinda! Govinda! ”(A name for Krishna) the boys form a human pyramid to reach the pot and smash it to the delight of the audience.

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Ajay Das: Faiths, Fairs & Festivals of India . Better Books, Panchkula 2007, ISBN 978-81-903177-7-1 , pp. 70 .
  2. ^ Ajay Das: Faiths, Fairs & Festivals of India . Better Books, Panchkula 2007, ISBN 978-81-903177-7-1 , pp. 70, 73 .
  3. ↑ GD Gururani: Indian Fairs & Festivals . Akansha Publishing House edition. New Delhi 2007, ISBN 978-81-8370-077-1 , pp. 118 .
  4. ^ Ajay Das: Faiths, Fairs & Festivals of India . Better Books, Panchkula 2007, ISBN 978-81-903177-7-1 , pp. 71-73 .
  5. ↑ GD Gururani: Indian Fairs & Festivals . Akansha Publishing House edition. New Delhi 2007, ISBN 978-81-8370-077-1 , pp. 119 .
  6. ↑ GD Gururani: Indian Fairs & Festivals . Akansha Publishing House edition. New Delhi 2007, ISBN 978-81-8370-077-1 , pp. 118 .
  7. ↑ Parismita Goswami: Krishna Janmashtami 2017 celebration: Live streaming information at Mathura, Dwarka, ISKCON and others . In: International Business Times, India Edition . ( ibtimes.co.in [accessed May 20, 2018]).
  8. ^ Ajay Das: Faiths, Fairs & Festivals of India . Better Books, Panchkula 2007, ISBN 978-81-903177-7-1 , pp. 71-73 .
  9. ↑ GD Gururani: Indian Fairs & Festivals . Akansha Publishing House edition. New Delhi 2007, ISBN 978-81-8370-077-1 , pp. 117-118 .