Krishna Janmashtami

Krishna Janmashtami also known as Krishnashtami, Saatam Aatham,Gokulashtami, Ashtami Rohini, Srikrishna Jayanti, Sree Jayanti or sometimes merely as Janmashtami, is a Hindu festival celebrating the birth of Krishna, an avatar of the god Vishnu. Rasa lila, dramatic enactments of the life of Krishna, are a special feature in regions of Mathura and Vrindavan, and regions following Vaishnavism in Manipur. While the Rasa lila re-creates the flirtatious aspects of Krishna's youthful days, the Dahi Handi celebrate God's playful and mischievous side, where teams of young men form human pyramids to reach a high-hanging pot of butter and break it. This tradition, also known as uriadi, is a major event in Tamil Nadu on Gokulashtami. Mathura was led by Kamsa a wicked king. He had a sister Devaki, who was married to Vasudeva. It was predicted that Sri Krishna would be born to Devaki and would kill the wicked king Kamsa. This enraged Kamsa and he had all the male child of Devaki killed, after imprisoning Devaki and Vasudeva. But since the eight avatar of Lord Vishnu was bound to kill Kansa, Sri Krishna was born in midnight. All the other children born to Devaki, except Balaram were killed. Vasudeva managed to save the child from the cruel clutches of Kansa and he exchanged child Sri Krishna with female child of Yashoda. Krishna lived in Gokul during his infancy till the age of eleven years to hide himself from the clutches of his maternal uncle, Kansa. Finally, Sri Krishna kills Kansa..Jai Shri Krishna.

- Wishing all of you a very happy Krishna Janmashtami