Nandotsav rituals mark Lord Krishna's birth at temples in Mathura, Vrindavan

Mathura (UP): Temples in Mathura and Vrindavan on Sunday reverberated with festivities as they celebrated Nandotsav, a celebration marking the joy on Lord Krishna's birth held a day after Janmashtami. Gyanendra Kishor Goswami, a priest at the Banke Bihari temple in Vrindavan, said expressions of joy form an integral part of devotion in the Brijbhoomi.

“A mixture of curd and turmeric is used to symbolise infant Krishna’s mischief. In a ritual known as 'dadhikandha', this mixture is playfully thrown on the devotees,” Goswami said.

During the celebrations, toys, clothes, jewellery and money were flung from the sanctum sanctorum for the devotees to collect as ‘prasad’, a tradition commemorating Nand Baba’s delight at Lord Krishna’s birth, he added. Earlier in the day, a ‘Mangl Aarti’ was performed at the Banke Bihari temple after the ceremonial ‘Mahaabhishek’.

At the Shri Krishna Janmasthan in Mathura, the Bhagwat Bhavan was decorated as Nand Bhawan, which echoed with chants of ‘Nand ghar anand bhayo, jai Kanhaiya Lal ki’ along with devotional songs.

Kapil Sharma, secretary of the Shri Krishna Janmasthan Seva Sansthan, said toys, clothes, sweets and utensils were distributed among the devotees as prasad.

Similar rituals were held at Vrindavan’s Sapt Devalaya.

At the Radha Raman temple, priest Dinesh Chandra Goswami said curd and turmeric were showered on the devotees, followed by the distribution of toys and sweets.

At the Dwarkadhish temple, the deities were adorned as Nand Baba and Ma Yashoda.

“The festival reflects the joy of Krishna’s parents at his birth. Items are distributed to the devotees on this occasion to share the happiness,” Rakesh Tiwari, the temple’s media and legal advisor, said.