Published on Sep 14, The festival is celebrated with most fervour in Mathura which is said to be his birthplace. On the auspicious occasion, people enact dance-dramas based on the life of Krishna according to Bhagavata Purana, sing devotional songs throughout midnight and fast through the day.
The most noteworthy celebrations take place in Mathura and Vrindavan, besides other parts of the country. A prominent ritual which requires forming a human pyramid, known as dahi handi, is also synonymous with the celebrations. The person on the top breaks an earthen pot which is placed at a significant height. Temples are decorated and devotees pray on this auspicious day. Temples are also beautifully decorated and lit.
The temples of Mathura and Vrindavan witness the most extravagant and colourful celebrations, as Lord Krishna is believed to have been born and spent his growing years there. Devotees also perform Raslila to recreate incidents from Krishna's life and to commemorate his love for Radha. As Lord Krishna was born at midnight, an idol of an infant Krishna is bathed and placed in a cradle at that time.
Maharashtra also sees a joyous celebration of this festival as people enact Krishna's childhood endeavours to steal butter and curd from earthen pots. This activity is called the Dahi Handi celebration, for which a matka or pot is suspended high above the ground, and people form a human pyramid to reach it and eventually break it.
Lord Krishna was born on the eighth Ashtami day of the dark fortnight in the Bhadrapada month August—September in Mathura.
He was Devaki and Vasudeva's son. When Krishna was born, Mathura was ruled by his uncle King Kansa, who wanted to kill his sister's children as a prophecy said that the couple's eighth son would cause Kansa's downfall.
After the prophecy, Kansa imprisoned Devaki and Vasudeva. He killed off their first six children. However, at the time of the birth of their seventh child, Balram, the foetus mystically transferred from Devaki's womb to Princess Rohini's. When their eighth child, Krishna, was born, the entire palace went into slumber, and Vasudeva rescued the baby to Nand Baba and Yashodha's house in Vrindavan.
After making the exchange, Vasudeva returned to the palace with a baby girl and handed her to Kansa. South and Coastal Karnataka also observes Janmashtami Udupi Temple on an entirely different date once in two years. Dahi Handi in Maharashtra is always observed a day after Janmashtami in Maharashtra. According to traditional Hindu astrology, Lord Krishna was born when the moon entered the house of Vrishabha Taurus at the Rohini Nakshatra star on the eighth day Ashtami of the second fortnight of the month of Shravana this corresponds to the month of Bhadrapada Krishna Paksha in North India.
All these conditions have to match to celebrate Sri Krishna Jayanti but most of the time these conditions never match in the calendars of various Hindu sects. So the different sections in Hinduism have adopted their own standards for celebrating the birthday of Lord Krishna. The two different dates is because importance is given to Tithi — Krishna Paksha Ashtami Tithi in certain regions. In North India , to a greater extent there is uniformity.
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