Festive spirit marks Janmashtami celebrations

Prayagraj: Soaked in religious fervour and festive spirit, scores of devotees on Friday thronged to city based prominent Lord Krishna temples in Sangam City amid blowing of conch shells and chanting the Vedic hymns on the occasion of Krishna Janmashtami. The day is being celebrated the birth of Lord Krishna.
Notably, all the temples were decked up with lights and flowers with deities being offered special traditional and colourful dresses being brought from Mathura, Vrindavan, Kolkata and Rajasthan. In many schools, little children dressed as Radha and Krishna performed Krishna Leela. Devotees also decorated their temples at home and invited guests to celebrate the day.
Noted religious scholar, Dr Amitabh Gour said, “Krishna Janmashtami, considered to be the prominent festival of Hindus,was celebrated with full religious fervour across the globe. As LordKrishna was born on this sacred day, devotees perform special puja, observe fast and also gather during the day and worshiptheidol, enacting plays and singing bhajan and keertan to celebrate the festival.
Many devotees decorated tableaux of Lord Krishna’ leela at their respective homes and prepared delicious food dishes including prasad on the occasion.
Moreover, temples on Friday wore crowded look with devotees arriving to offer special puja to deity.
Various tableaus depicting scenes from the life of Krishna were also showcased including the scenes of contemporary events. Special arrangements were made at ISKON and other Lord Krishna temples. Moreover, elaborate security arrangements were being made by the police department in and around temples of the city to check crowd and traffic rush. Duties of policemen in plain clothes were also assigned. Meanwhile, city markets on Friday also wore crowded look with shoppers busy with last minute shopping. Dresses for lord radha Krishna and other puja items sold like hot cake on the occasion.