GOVINDA AALA RE AALA

Janmashtami is a very auspicious day for all the people in the world. Someone special was born to fight against inhumanity and to save the trust in God. The life and message of Sri Krishna is the most stirring saga of one of the greatest savior and profounder of dharma. A common belief that when crime increases on earth, God takes avatar of human being and kills the evil. The victory of good over evil is connected to birth of Lord Krishna.
In the City of Nawabs, Janmashtami is celebrated with great enthusiasm. Few years back, the main highlight of Janmashtami that is tableaux (jhakis) that depicts the different stages of Lord Krishna’s life were decorated in the Khun Khun Ji’s Kothi, situated in Chowk, for 4 to 5 days. The most interesting part was that all the tableauxs were in motion, which was a very rare thing to see at that time. People of every religion come to join that celebration. Even the foreigners, police officers, bureaucrats and politicians come to join that program.
People have got different ways of celebrating Janmashtami. When talked about this with people, they came out with different aspects:
Utkarsh Agarwal, a businessman, says, “My family celebrates Janmashtami with great joy. We keep fast on this day including children too. A different temple is set up in the house and decorated beautifully. The statues of Lord Krishna and Radha are decorated and sweets are prepared in the house. When the time approaches towards midnight, we start preparing for prayers. And at midnight we celebrate the birthday of Lord Krishna.”
Abhay Singh, a doctor, says, “Janmashtami is a very special festival for me and my family because it has inspired and helped us to learn many things from Lord Krishna. We keep the fast since morning and break it at midnight and decorate the temple and statue of Lord Krishna and Radha. After the prayers we distribute prasad to the family members. On Janmashtami we distribute clothes to the needy ones and help the poors as we can. We have a desire to visit Vrindavan and Mathura to celebrate Janmashtami.”
Chitra Pandey, a teacher, says, “Janmashtami comes after seven days of Raksha Bandhan. We keep fast on this day. In the day time we pray and read Holy scriptures and prepare for the midnight celebration. At 12 night we place the Lord Krishna’s statue in the cradle that signifies that Lord Krishna is born. After that prasad is distributed to all the family members and we celebrate it with great enthusiasm.”
Shail Singh, a housewife, says, “My whole family keeps the fast since morning. In the day time we prepare sweets, read Holy scriptures and do preparations for the prayers. We decorate our house, temple and the statue of Lord Krishna and Radha and make small tableaux to depict different stages of Lord Krishna like birth of him in the dungeons, stealing the buttermilk from pot, etc. At midnight we start the prayers and after that prasad is distributed to the family members and to the neighbors and the whole night passes in celebrating the birthday of Lord Krishna.”
Janmashtami, therefore signifies not merely the birth of a great and divine teacher of mankind in some distant past but the lightning of the spark of the divine power in everyone of us, which encourages us on to play our dynamic part in this world of practical and hard realities with a sense of high spiritual purpose.