Krishna Janmastami

As the name goes by, Shree Krishna Janmastami is the festival celebrated to mark the birthday of Lord Krishna. It is also known as Krishna Jayanti or simply Janmastami. Lord Krishna is known to be the 8th avatar of Lord Vishnu and his life seems to be full of excitement and dangers that he duly overcame. The stories of him killing several terrifying demons like Pootna, Shakata, Agha, Dhenuka, Bakaa, Keshi, Shishupala, Jarasandha, Kansa, etc. single handedly have made him a superior savior of humankind.



According to the legends, Ugrasen, the King of Mathura had a son Kansa and a daughter, Devki. After Devki’s wedding when Kansa was taking the newlyweds to the groom’s (Vasudev) palace, he heard a celestial voice warning him that the eighth son born from his sister’s womb would be his death. Kansa, on hearing this tries to kill Devki but spares her when Vasudev promises to bring their children to him. However, he locks both of them in the dungeon in his palace and kills all her six children. On the day Krishna is born, Vashudev takes him to Brindaban at his friend Nanda’s house. He exchanges his son with the newly born baby girl and returns back. When Kansa comes to kill the new born baby, she slips from his hand and a Devi appears and warns him that his death has already come to this earth and disappears. Furious Kansa orders all his demon army to kill all the new born in the village and also in the neighboring village. However, when the demons go to kill Krishna, they themselves are put to death. And at the end, he kills Kansa and frees his birth parents from the demon’s imprisonment.

Lord Krishna, in Bhagvad Gita said, “Whenever there is predominance of evil and decline of good doings (religion), I will reincarnate again and again to end the evil and to save the Dharma (good).” Thus, Krishna Janmastami is celebrated to mark the victory of good over evil and to remind that whenever the sin rises, god comes to rescue the sufferers.

On this day, devotees around the world flock around the temples of Lord Krishna and grand celebrations takes place. In Kathmandu, the Krishna Mandir in Patan is the major place where maximum numbers of devotees gather to worship the Lord. Also, the Krishna temple in Pashupatinath and other areas observes devotees lined up early in the morning to offer puja to Lord Krishna. They sing ancient hymns, chant the several names of Krishna like, ‘Narayan’, ‘Gopal’ and ‘Radhe Krishna“. Lord Krishna was born at night, so at midnight on the Janmastami, devotees make beautiful cribs holding a small idol of ‘Baal Gopal’ (baby Krishna) and swing it with a rope adorned with flowers. Also, the Krishna Lila is inacted as dramas in the temple premises during the festival. In some of the towns, Rath Yatra, pulling a chariot carrying a boy essembling Lord Krishna, is carried out. Also, fairs are held around the temple premises in many places.s

Thus, Krishna Janmastami is one of the major festivals of Nepal that marks the birth of Lord Krishna who rescued the world from the evils. It is celebrated with much joy and devotion.