Krishna Jayanthi/Gokulashtami and Ganesh Chaturthi

It is birthday time for the Hindu Gods that also marks the beginning of the festival season. Thanks to the diversity in India, each of these festivals is celebrated per different customs in the various parts of the nation. Krishna Jayanthi also known as Gokulashtami commemorates the birth of Lord Krishna and is celebrated on Ashtami (eighth day) of the month of Shravana. Since he was born at midnight, the festivities also commence only by late afternoon. We observed it as it is done in the South with little feet of Lord Krishna drawn on the floor in white flour that signifies HE is entering the home..these feet finally culminate in the place of worship.

There is a lively spirit in Pune that one has to appreciate. Festivals here are not restricted to your own homes which is typically the case in South. Here people celebrate as a community and for the first time, we saw Dahi-Handi and enjoyed the game. Every neighbourhood has this competition and it is a tradition observed in Maharashtra. A pot of curd and butter (that Lord Krishna was quite fond of) is suspended from a rope high above the ground. The one in our neighbourhood was broken by a bunch of professional teenagers from Mumbai and they bagged the prize of Rs.11k. It was pouring so heavily that day, despite that people had turned out in large numbers to cheer them.Ganesh Chaturthi is observed in the honor of Lord Ganesha – the elephant god. Don't think it's his birthday. This is fun again in Pune as it is observed here for 10 days and you get to see so many different pandals of Ganesh unlike how it is done in South. The first day was on Sunday when we got a small idol of Ganesha…"Modak" or "Kozhakattai" was missing this year..thanks to lil general. Will post some pictures on flickr soon…Let the festivities begin.