Uttar Pradesh: Janmashtami celebrated with fanfare in Mathura

Thousands of devotees witnessed the abhishek ceremony of lord Krishna at the three major temples in this Uttar Pradesh district on the occasion of Janmashtami on Thursday officials saidThe abhishek bathing of the deity ceremony was performed at the Radha Raman Radha Damodar and Gokulanand temples as Janmashtami was celebrated at the birthplace of Krishna in Mathura Balram Goswami the priest of the Radha Damodar temple saidHe added that while the festival is celebrated everywhere at midnight it is celebrated during the day at these temples in accordance with the tradition set up by noted seer Jeev Goshwami nearly 500 years agoSince the Shahji temple in Vrindavan also celebrates all the festivals in accordance with the traditions followed at the Radha Raman temple here too Janmashtami was celebrated in the morning Prasant Shah the priest of the temple saidAt several other Krishna temples here the abhishek ceremony would be held at midnightThe charnamrit a mixture of milk curd ghee khandsari honey and herbs of the ceremony was distributed among the devotees the priest saidAt the Srikrishna Janmabhumi the day started with the blowing of shehnai and the sound of conch and drum beats followed by the abhishek ceremony of the deity and the distribution of the charnamrit among the devotees Kapil Sharma secretary Srikrishna Janmasthan Seva Sansthan saidThousands of pilgrims paid obeisance to the deities at the Bhagwat Bhavan temple and other temples at the Srikrishna JanmasthanHeaded by Shailjakant Mishra the vicepresident of the Uttar Pradesh Vraj Tirth Vikas Parishad state ministers Laxmi Narain Chaudhary and Jaiveer Singh District Magistrate Shailendra Singh and Senior Superintendent of Police Shailesh Kumar Pandey a procession was taken out from the Srikrishna Janmasthan It passed through the main streets of MathuraThe procession received a rousing reception along the route Mishra said The artistes participating in the procession later went to different crossings of the city to perform cultural programmes related to Janmashtami he addedJanmashtami was also celebrated in other temples of Mathura as well including the Dwarkadhish temple Vrindavan Govardhan and Nandgaon public relations officer of the Dwarkadhish temple Rakesh Tewari saidIt is invigorating to witness the Janmashtami celebrations in Mathura One cannot experience this anywhere else said Bimalendra Mishra a resident of Lakhimpur Kheri who travelled to Mathura to participate in the festivalA large number of foreigner devotees of lord Krishna also paid obeisance to the deities at the ISKCON and Radha Damodar temples in VrindavanGoswami said the foreigners attended a special aarti at the temple According to Panchagoda Prabhu the president of the Krishna Balaram temple ISKCON Vrindavan hundreds of devotees from different countries paid obeisance to the temple deityThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever