The Radha Govind Dham New York in Glen Oaks, Queens, celebrated annual Janmashtami block party with over 4,000 devotees attending the event Aug. 25. The organizers said this was the biggest such party in the last three years.
While the first half of the day was invested in adorning the beautiful deities of Radha Krishna, and the mandir, the latter half of the day boasted of activities that kept people engaged till the end of the day. The program started at 5P.M. and went on until midnight, which is also the time when Lord Krishna is believed to have appeared on earth.
Although the program started with dinner prasad at 5pm, the actual celebrations began an hour later. The enthusiasm of the participants was evident despite rain.
Krtans were followed by a speech by Swami Nikhilanand on the significance of Janmashtami. He shared the incidents around Krishna’s appearance.
There were a few classical and semi-classical performances by kids who happened to be students at RGDNY’s educational wing, SHIKSHA.
There was also a Radha Krishna dress up contest for kids, and all the participants received gifts from the sponsors. This was followed by breaking the dahi handi which signifies Krishna’s childhood pastime of breaking pots to steal butter.
One of the major highlights of the night was the dandiya raas which went on for hours while the abhishek and kirtan went on inside the mandir.
Swami Nikhilanand and a few other devotees led kirtans while the holy ablution of Lord Krishna was being done. Hordes of devotees waited for their turn to do abhishek and swing Krishna’s cradle. A glimpse of beautiful jhanki of Vasudev, carrying baby Krishna, proclaiming his arrival was also on view.
People attending the RGDNY’s block party came not only from New York, but from New Jersey, Philadelphia and even California.
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