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 September 5.
The entire town was decked with buntings. Specially decorated poles erected around the main Rathabeedhi (Car Street) – the venue for the ‘Sri Krishna Leelotsava,’ popularly known as Vitla Pindi and Mosarukudike to be held on September 6 – has added colour to the celebrations.
Men, women and children of all ages thronged the temple since morning. There was a long queue of devotees near the entrance of the temple throughout the day. A number of rituals connected to the Janmastami were performed at the temple. Vishwavallabha Tirtha Swamiji of Paryaya Sode Math participated in the rituals. The “Lakshaarchane” and the “Mahapuje” were held in the morning. In the night, after the pooja around mid night (12.14 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.
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 could be 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 400 children had registered for the competition. The competitions were held in four categories – below one year, one to two years, three to five years and six to 10 years. “Huli Vesha” dancers performed their highly energetic dance on almost all the main streets of the city.