Janmashtami celebrated with great zeal & pomp

Geetha Patil
CHICAGO: The birth of Lord Krishna – the festival of Janmashtami – was celebrated at the Hindu Mandir of Lake County on September 3 with great zeal and pomp. It was attended by hundreds of devotees.
This year many young couples with their kids attended the program. Children from 3-15 years came dressed in as Krishna and Radha and in other colorful outfits with wonderful smiles on their faces and celebrated the occasion by singing and dancing with great joyand fervor.
The Temple’s shrine was decorated and devotees came from far and wide to participate in this special program and to offer their prayers and bhog to their beloved deity. Children Yatra was performed on the temple’s parking lot. Then broke ‘Dahi Handi’ as it is believed that Lord Krishna loved eating curd, butter and milk.
Bhajans related to Janmashtami were not only sung by the children but also 15 children recited three chapters of Bhagavad Gita without looking at the book, spellbinding the audience. Later, many devotees performed Garbha and Dandiya in the shrine while Rita Patel, Sangeetha Singh, Athul Soni sang melodious Bhajans. They did all this before the birth of Krishna just to show their happiness for his arrival.

Temple priest Pandit Anil Joshi delivered his Pravachan on the ‘Significance of Seva’ of Lord Krishna explaining with examples th

e Satva, Rajas, and Tamas gunas of Seva. He also said that Lord’s appearance, birth, and activities are all transcendental, and one who understands them factually becomes immediately eligible to be transferred to the spiritual world. Yogesh Pandey chanted Vedic Mantras while Pt. Anil Joshi performed special Abhishekam of Baby Lord Krishna with Keshar milk and his splendid Avataram with sound of conch, bells and drums.

Baby Krishna was placed in the beautifully decorated Palana/Julha. Archanas and Maha Mangalarati were performed with all the devotees. Pt. Anil Joshi greeted all the devotees by saying “Jai Shree Krishna” and blessed all the devotees and especially children for their bright future, good health, and peace.
Temple kitchen led by Smt Pramila Dutt and Kamal Ji served delicious Prasadam for the entire day and special Bhog and Prasadam for the special Janmashtami night event.  Shammi and Mrs Sangeeta Dhall were the main sponsors of the event. Shammi also proposed a vote of thanks. He also acknowledged with much appreciation the time and seva of all the volunteers.