Janmashtami celebrations at Sri Krishna Janmasthan in Mathura draw devotees in devotional fervour. (PICS/ PTI)
The celebrations began late Friday night and continued past midnight, culminating in a ‘maha aarti’ that was performed until 12.10 am on Saturday
A movable idol of Sri Krishna, anointed with saffron and other fragrant substances and placed in a silver winnowing basket (rajat soop), was brought to the consecration site for the rituals
The ceremony began with an ‘abhishek’ using the udder of a silver Kamdhenu cow, which featured golden polish and depictions of 33 supreme deities. This was followed by the ‘Maha Abhishek’, performed with milk, curd, honey, ghee and powdered sugar
Prasad and gifts from the Sri Ram Janmabhoomi temple and Sri Kashi Vishwanath temple were also offered to the deity during the celebrations
The idol was dressed in a Panchratni ensemble embroidered with five mythological symbols associated with the Samudra Manthan — Kamdhenu, Panchjanya conch, Amrit Kalash, Airawat elephant and Kalpvriksha
The temple administration also invited pallet drum and mridangam artistes from Ujjain to perform during the celebrations
Janmashtami was also celebrated at several temples in Lucknow, while Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath participated in celebrations at the Gorakhnath Temple in Gorakhpur on Friday night
