Janmashtami

Janmashtami, Hindu festival celebrating the birth (janma) of the god Krishna on the eighth (ashtami) day of the dark fortnight (waning moon fortnight) of the Hindu calendar month Bhadrapada (August–September on the Gregorian calendar). The festival is a joyous time involving group dancing and singing songs (bhajans) as well as ritual practices of fasting and worship of Krishna.

Legend of the birth of Krishna

According to the story of Krishna’s birth as related in the 10th book of the Bhagavata Purana (c. 10th century), Krishna is born as an avatar of Vishnu in order to relieve the world of its burden of demonic asuras (anti-gods) living as kings on Earth. One such demon king named Kamsa, who belongs to the Yadu clan, rules the town of Mathura (in modern Uttar Pradesh), and it is into this clan that Vishnu is instructed to take birth. When Kamsa’s sister Devaki marries Vasudeva, a prophetic voice from the sky (Sanskrit: ākāśavānī) foretells that her eighth son will kill Kamsa. Kamsa decides to kill Devaki to prevent his death from coming to pass, but Vasudeva intervenes and promises to hand over to the king every child born to him and Devaki. Kamsa imprisons the couple and murders their first six children. The seventh child, Balarama, is miraculously transferred to the womb of Rohini, Vasudeva’s first wife; in the Bhagavata Purana Balarama is considered a partial avatar of Vishnu and identified as Shesha, the serpent king.

At Vishnu’s birth as Krishna there are divine signs, and Vasudeva and Devaki are afforded a vision of their child as the supreme Vishnu in his celestial form before he transforms himself into the appearance of a human baby. As Vishnu he tells his human parents that Yogamaya, his divine feminine power, or Shakti, has been born simultaneously to Yashoda across the Yamuna River in Gokula (ancient Vraja) and that they should orchestrate a switch of the two infants. The prison doors open by divine will and illusory power, and Vasudeva carries the child across the river to Gokula, where he will then be raised in safety by his foster mother, Yashoda. When Kamsa comes to see the foretold eighth child, Yogamaya transforms into a goddess, frightening and humbling him. Krishna, after many other divine exploits, eventually kills his demon uncle Kamsa.

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Observance

The occasion of Janmashtami is observed especially in Mathura and nearby Vrindavan, the places where Krishna spent his childhood and early youth, as narrated in the Bhagavata Purana. On the day preceding the festival, devotees keep a vigil and fast until midnight, the traditional hour of his birth. Then a murti (sacred image) of baby Krishna is bathed in water and milk, dressed in new clothes, and worshipped. Temples and household shrines are decorated with leaves and flowers; sweets are first offered to the god and then distributed as prasada (the god’s leftovers, which carry his favor) to all the members of the household.

Festivities

Devotees of Krishna commemorate the events of his birth by preparing elaborate three-dimensional representations (called jhankis in Hindi) of Krishna’s childhood. These creations depict scenes from his life in Mathura and Gokula, including the Yamuna River, animals and birds, and the prominent figures mentioned in stories from his childhood, such as Kamsa, Devaki, Vasudeva, Balarama, Yashoda, and his beloved Radha and other gopis (cowherd women).

Across India, and especially in Maharashtra and Goa, a popular practice called dahi handi (“curd pot”) is undertaken the day after Janmashtami. It involves hanging pots of curd from tall poles or wires above the streets. Participants, called govindas (Govinda is another name for Krishna), form human pyramids to reach and break the pots. This sport imitates Krishna’s mischievous childhood play with his fellow cowherd boys in which they steal the curds from pots that their mothers have hung high up to keep them out of reach.