Happy Gokulashtami

Today is Janmasthami day. Wish you all a very happy Gokulashtami day.

Janmasthami is a celebration of the birth of Lord Krishna and every ritual in the celebration of this auspicious occasion is associated with various phases of his life, which have been immortalised in both the religious and the folk literature.

Janmasthami tops the list of my favorite festivals. As a Iyer brahmin family we celebrate this festival with lots of zeal and enthusiasm. Typically the celebration starts with my mom preparing mouth watering eateries like cheedai, then-kuzhal (a form of chakli), thattai, coconut appam etc (pic attached).

pics: cheedai, thattai,thenkuzhal(from L to R) coconut neiappam(below)

Special care is taken so that I am not allowed inside the kitchen ;-) The snacks are not tasted before the Krishna pooja where Lord Krishna will himself have the first bite. Its a anxious wait for the next day for the pooja as we can enjoy the snacks only after Neivediyam (offering it to the Lord). There is also panagam (dry ginger-jagerry water), buttermilk, honey and fresh fruits as part of the Neivedyam.

The house is cleaned and spruced up for the D-day. A big kolam (rangoli) with beautiful diyas welcomes the visitors to our house. The major attraction being the baby foot-marks drawn using rice-flour paste all the way from the entrance to the pooja room where Lord Krishna is celebrating his Bday with lotz of fervor. This symbolizes the entry of the infant Krishna into his foster-home. My mother dressed in traditional Silk saree would perform the Krishna pooja. After the pooja is done, Ladies would sing the EntharoMahanu Bhavu keerthana of Sri Raaga to welcome Lord Krishna to our humble house.

After the pooja and the Neivedyam is done with its snack time... I am dearly missing all the fun and fervor of Gokulashtami sitting in this moron cubicle of mine. Entha ro Mahanu bhavuuuuu...........