JANMASHTAMI MEMORIES AND DELICACIES FOR JANMASHTAMI PHALAHAR VRAT

Today when i got up at 5am to prepare ADVAYS MILK I SAW THROUGH THE KITCHEN WINDOW THAT IT WAS RAINING HEAVILY,..I WAS OVERFLOODED WITH MEMORIES OF JANMASHTAMI FESTIVAL...ABOUT 12 TO 13 years back when i was a school going kid ,i still remember how excited we used to be for this particular festival..during janmashtami festival markets are overflooded with toys depicting lord Krishnas adventure...so every year we used to get new toys and old toys were kept wrapped in newspaper for the next years festival...dadi used to help us to colour saw dust of wood in different colour to make rangoli...along with sand which was collected from neighbourhood,..the night before janmasthmi we three sisters along with our cousions used to do all preparation before sleeping and next morning while dadi ,mother and aunt used to prepare delicacies to be eaten during PHALAHAR VRAT we kids prepared rangoli and arranged krishna toys,..whole day was spent in decoration of jhanki which was further decorated with colourful lights,fresh flowers,..only break we took was ,to eat talmakhana kheer,potato chips,allo tikki,lemon juice,lassi and other vrat delicacies prepared at our home, evening was spent going to the neighbourhood to see the jhanki after which used to go to temples along with our family members TO SEE JANMASHTAMI TABLEAUS,,,night we used to sleep early cause of so much of excitement and at 12am when lord krishnas birth was celebrated with aarti and pooja we had to be awakened ,...along with my sisters even i used to fast for the festival,..but due to some reasons janmasthmi festival is not celebrated at my inlaws place so since two yrs i am not keeping fast ...but i have beautiful memories of this festival which gonna stay with me forever,..now no one is back home except my parents ,..my both sisters are at different place too,..buT one thing is common the beautiful memories of the festival...:-),..i started with rain cause i remember everyyear it used to rain during janmasthmi,,.and dadi used to tell us that it rained the day lord Krishna was born so it rains every year DURING JANMASHTAMI.

...coming back to the post Janmasthmi festival is another excuse to feast on delicacies some of the delicacies prepared at our home during ths festival are

POTATO FRY WITH TEA-

PROCEDURE-SLICE OF POTATOES IN DESIRED SIZE AND FRY IN OIL,..SEASON WITH SENDHA SALT(ROCK SALT ) AND BLACK PEPPER.SERVE HOT WITH TEA,SENDHA NAMAK OR SALT IS USED IN PREPARATION OF VRAT/FAST RECIPES.ITS AVAILABLE IN INDIAN GROCERY STORE.

RABDI

POTATO BHAJI WITH CURD

MATHURA KA KHURCHAN

ALLO TIKIYA WITH CURD-

PROCEDURE -MASH BOILE POTATO,ADD ROCK SALT ,PEPPER,CHOPPED GREEN CHILLI AND MAKE SMALL MARBLE SHAPE BALL,FLATTEN EACH BALL AND SHALLOW FRY TILL BROWN AND CRISP FROM BOTH SIDES,GARNISH WITH CORIANDER LEAVES AND CURD BEFORE SERVING.

STRAWBERRY SHRIKHAND

AND GULABI LASSI

CELEBRATION AT MATHURA-The Birth of Lord Krishna at midnight is followed by performance of pooja and other ceremonies. The idol of Lord Krishna is bathed with milk and curd and then rocked in the cradle. A popular belief of the inhabitants is that any wish made while rocking the cradle is fulfilled on this day. The entire Mathura echoes with the sound of the conch (shankh) and ringing of bells. Devotees pray and welcome the lord with slogans of 'Jai Shri Krishna'. After the prayers have been performed, Panchamrit, a mixture of honey, gangajal, curd, ghee is distributed. Lord is fed with the customary prasad of ‘Chhapan Bhog’ (Fifty six dishes). Devotees break their fast with 'Prasad' of the Lord. Lot of eatables made of milk and milk products are relished by the devotees. Kheer, Laddoo, Butter, Shrikhand and Singhare ki Poori are few of the main dishes prepared on the day.SOURCE FROM HERE

CELEBRATIONA AT MADHUVAN IN VRINDAVAN-According to legend in Vrindavan, Madhuban is the exact place where Lord Krishna is said to have performed rasleelas with his beloved Gopis more than 5000 years ago. A famous folklore associated with the place is that Lord Krishna till date ascends to perform rasleela with the gopis. Anyone venturing into the place during night either dies or becomes insane. Thus no localite ventures into Madhuban during night. The place becomes alive during Janmashtami with rasleelas being performed in the premises during the daytime.It is said that the city of Vrindavan starts celebrating Janmashtami 7-10 days before the actual date of the festival. This is done by staging various plays and rasleelas at different places in the city. Professional artistes enact various episode of Lord krishna's life. These plays are a huge drawers of devotees.SOURCE FROM HERE

CELEBRATION AT DWARKA -Lord Dwarkadhish is adorned with lot of Gold jewellery and other precious stones such as Diamonds and Topaz. This happens around 11:00 pm. Utsav Bhog is offered to Lord around 11:30 pm. Devotees are not allowed to see the process of Utsav Bhog though they wait eagerly for their beloved Lord in the temple premises and sing bhajans. The devotees welcome the Lord at 12 midnight with immense enthusiasm and joy. After nearly two hour celebrations, the temple closes at 2:00 am after the mahabhog offerings to Lord Krishna. Bal Gopal idolis kept in a cradle in the temple premises for the darshan of the general public. Thus the janmashtami celebrations finally come to an end in Dwarkadhish temple.SOURCE FROM HERE

CELEBRATION IN UTTAR PRADESH-Varanasi is a witness to the famous 'Nag-Nathaiya Leela' every year to commemorate the birth of Lord Krishna. It takes place at Tulsi Ghat in Varanasi and is a 20 day long event. The re-enactment of the famous killing of Nag is done. A young boy acting Lord Krishna jumps in the river and emerges on top of the head of Kaliya Nag, the dreaded serpent during the climax. This episode is watched by lakhs of devotees on the ghats of Holy River Ganga.SOURCE FROM HERE

CELEBRATION IN MAHARASHTRA- An extremely euphoric atmosphere prevails in different cities of Maharashtra during the festival. The city of Mumbai experiences lot of enthusiasm among young men and boys who carry out the Dahi Handi ritual every year at various places. An earthen pot hung 20-30 feet from the ground with the help of a rope is broken by a human pyramid. The young boys don't give up till the time the pot is broken, followed by prize distribution ceremony. It is a popular belief among devotees that the broken pieces of the pot, if kept in the house will help remove negative powers and rats.SOURCE FROM HERE.

CELEBRATION IN BENGAL-Janamashtami is famously known as 'Gupt Vrindavan' in Bengal. It means hidden Vrindavan, this is so because of the fact that Lord Krishna spent time in Vrindavan with his consort, Radha. It is great fun planning and executing the decoration. The display is left for few days for friends and relatives to enjoy. The grandparents narrate to the children the interesting stories of Krishna, his pranks of childhood, romance with Radha in his young days, and finally, his days of kingship offering us the eternal truth of the great Bhagavad Gita. There is nothing in the world that can be compared with the profound philosophy of Gita. SOURCE FORM HERE

CELEBRATION IN SOUTH INDIA -Various kinds of sweets are made to offer Gokulnandan on this day. Murukku and Seeddai are prepared in Tamil Nadu. Eatables made of milk and curd are prepared to make offerings to Lord Krishna. Joyful chanting of Lord’s name takes place in quite a few temples of the state. The number of temples dedicated to Sri Krishna are few. The reason being that people have taken to worship him through paintings and not idols.

The Rajagopalaswami Temple in Mannargudi in the Tiruvarur district, Bala Krishna temple at Udupi, Pandavadhoothar temple in Kanchivaram and Krishna temple at Guruvayurare dedicated to the memory of Vishnu's incarnation as Sri Krishna. Legend has it that it in Guruvayure that the idol of Sri Krishna was installed after the city of Dwarka submerged in the sea.SOURCE FRM HERE.

CELEBRATION IN SINGAPORE -Singapore means 'Singapura' (Lion City) in sanskrit. It is a wealthy country famous for its multiculturalism. It has people of various nationalities living together in harmony. Chinese, Indians, Malays, Indonesians are residing in large numbers. Singapore celebrates Janmashtami festival with lot of fervor. 'Little India' located on Seragoon Road comes alive with lot of decorations, selling of janmashtami pooja accessories. Shree Lakshmi Narayan temple situated on Chander Road celebrated the festival with day long programme. Other local temples also organized cultural programmes to mark Lord Krishna's birth. Krishna chanting competition was a unique feature of the celebration. Indians all over Singapore wait for the birth anniversary of their favourite Bhagwan Krishna.


JANMASHTAMI POOJA PROCESS-The festival of Janmashtami is considered a very pious day by Hindus. Lot of bhajan singing, hymn chanting and poojas are performed this day. Devotees queue all the major Krishna temples to seek his blessings. People perform elaborate poojas during the festival. They keep day long fast. Functions and prayer meetings are organised to share the glory of their favourite God.

The general pooja process begins early in the morning with devotees giving a bath or abhishek to Bal Gopal's idol with gangajal, ghee, water, honey and curd. The idol is then adorned with new clothes (preferably in yellow colour), stone or other precious jewellery.

Next, the idol of lord is offered bhog, the contents of bhog may vary. Fruits, kheer, pedha, milk, and milk products are made. There are devotees who offer chappan bhog(56 dishes) to Bal Gopal.

Thereafter, special Krishna pooja is performed. The cradle containing the divine infant's idol is rocked, conch is blown. Devotees sing Krishna arti, some people read out 108 names of lord. They get totally immersed in the name and praise of Gopal.

After the entire pooja is over, devotees break their fast by having panchamrit.

WISH U

ALL HAPPY JANMASHTAMI MY FRIENDS,

THIS POST GOES TO this post goes to PURVA AND PRITI WHO ARE HOSTING FESTIVE FOOD EVENT THEME FOR THIS MONTH BEING KRISHNA JANMASHTAMI AND GANESH CHATURTHI .

EASY CRAFT HAS SOME FESTIVAL DISHES TOO CHECK THEM OUT HERE.

FOODYGURU SRIMATHI HAS SHARED STORIES AND DELICIOUS RECIPES OF KRISHNA JANMASHTAMI CHECK THEM OUT HERE .

have a look here and be dazed ...i was for few minutes

link for live darshan from iskcon temple click here

for  delicious janmasthami prasadam/prasad/neiveidyam recipes click here

CEEYA SOON FRENS ,..HAPPY BLOGGIN ND WEEKEND..