Tiny Tots Enthrall Audience at ‘Krishna Vesha’ Contest at Sri Krishna Temple
Udupi: The temple town swung into the spirit of Janmashtami, the birthday of Lord Krishna, as devotees prayed at Sri Krishna Temple to mark the festivities. Janmastami, one of the most significant annual festivals of the temple city, was celebrated on August 23.
The entire town is decked with buntings, and also with specially decorated poles erected around the main Ratha Beedhi (Car Street) – the venue of the ‘Sri Krishna Leelotsava,’ popularly known as’ Vitla Pindi ‘and’ Mosaru Kudike ‘ to be held on August 24 –which has added colour to the celebrations.
Men, women and children of all ages thronged the temple since morning, and long queue of devotees could be seen near the entrance of the temple. A number of rituals connected to the Janmashtami were performed at the temple. The “Lakshaarchane” and the “Mahapuje” were held in the morning. In the night, after the pooja around mid-night (12.12 am) Krishna will be offered “Arghya Pradhana”
Children dressed up as Lord Krishna wearing peacock feathers on their headbands and flutes in hand were a sight that cheered everyone. “Bhajans” (devotional songs) and chanting of “mantras” reverberated in the temple throughout the day, as devotees poured in to pray to Krishna and his consort Radha. A bevy of little Krishna’s were seen savouring butter and ice cream while parents were trying hard to make their children look better.
The “Muddu Krishna” competition, where children sport the costumes of Lord Krishna as a child or Lord Balakrishna, was held at Badagumalige and Rajangana here. The auditorium at the Rajangana was filled to capacity. On the stage, children in the age group of two to four years tried to imitate the childhood pranks of Lord Krishna along with devotional songs. When the music was played, parents were seen urging their children, who held a flute and a pot of curds, to act like Krishna. However, many children simply refused to obey their parents. Nearly 500 children had registered for the competition. The competitions were held in four categories – below one year, one to two years, and and three to five years and six to 10 years.