Janmashtami Orissa 2012 Celebration

Janmashtami Orissa 2012

Janmashtami is a Hindu festival celebrating the birth of lord Krishna, an avatar of the god Vishnu. Krishna Janmashtami is observed on the Ashtami tithi, the eighth day of the dark half or Krishna Paksha of the month of Bhadra in the Hindu calendar, when the Rohini Nakshatra is ascendant. This year, Janmashtami festival will be celebrated on 9th August all over Odisha.

In Orissa, people celebrate it with fasting and doing puja at midnight. Purana Pravachana from Bhagabata Purana are done from the 10th Skandha which deals with pastimes of Lord Krishna. The next day is called Nanda Utsav or the joyous celebration of Nanda Maharaj and Yashoda Maharaani. On that day people break their fast and offer various cooked sweets during the early hour.

Children, dressed up as Krishna and Radha, perform Krishnaleela, while their parents and grandparents pray in peace. Every year for the past few years, several thousand teams of youth perform street plays on occasion of Janmashtami worldwide.