The Big Fat Birthday Bash

The sun was blazing down scorching everything standing in its way. The usual rain bringing clouds were all missing today. The skies bore no blemish, clear and un-imprinted. It was Shri Krishna Janmashtami and it being my first one here in Udupi, this year too I was extremely excited about the idea of going to Udupi and offering prayers to the powerful little god whose aura emanated much beyond the four walls of the chamber. It was a morning of great confusion when a couple of my friends and I discussed animatedly about how to go about our trip, what we’ll get to see etc. I was sticking along the localites trying to find out if Udupi had something exciting for me. Descriptions flowed in about the pomp and splendour of Udupi during Krishna Janmashtami, the festivities, the celebrations of the birth of the little charmer. I was caught in awe. And so it was decided. When the sun transcended to the centre of the sky and gushes of hot air dried up our throats, we got onto the bus, headed for the birthday boy’s bash. Preparations were on for two days to make this event as grand as possible. One look at Udupi and you will know how much of effort was going in to make that day as grand as possible for revelling little Krishna’s birth. And boy was I in for one hell of a day.

Walls lined with colourful banners, flags hung everywhere, festoons adorning shops and lamp posts and streets filled with 1000s of people from near and far, Car Street was quite the sight! For me, the entire trip was all the more exciting because for the first time I had a professional camera in my hand. (Not mine of Course: P WHO HAS THAT KIND OF MONEY :P ) I was happily flitting around, searching for models. One after the other, little kids dressed up Krishnas dozing away in their mothers’ arms were making their way towards me. It was the cutest sight, especially considering the fact that all the Krishnas were considerably pissed off with the lack of pampering and sulking all through. The town was full of people who had dressed up in different costumes, animals, rakshasas (demons), and different other characters from stories revolving around Krishna and his legacy. The town was a riot of colours! Several small traders and vendors found their comfortable spots to seize the opportunity and make a few bucks, sprawling their wares on roadsides for women and children to flock to and men to get shocked by! Bangles, earrings, little dresses, flutes, peacock feathers, lamps, idols, clips, name it you had it there on sale, the hottest selling item being baby Krishna photos for mothers and grandmothers to adorn on their walls back home. It was so heart-warming when I saw grandmothers gently taking their grandchildren in their arms and explaining the phenomenon called Sri Krishna to them, reminded me of my own granny and her quiver full of stories.

Festivities were to begin from 10am. Having already missed about a good hour and a half where little children dress up as Krishna, I was quite annoyed. I didn’t want to see bigger children fancy-dressing and was quite irked by the delay in getting to the venue. Having given up on what kind of a day it will be, I drudged along with my friends, control over the camera being the only solace for me. That’s when I spotted the cutest elephant ever, giving blessings to people for some money. It was a childhood fascination for me to go get those blessings whenever possible. Now that my mom or aunt wasn’t around to tell me 1000 ways by which I could get under the tusker’s foot, I happily skipped over with a coin in my hand, waiting for this gentle giant’s touch. And there it was, a little thud on my head. It felt amazing!!! It was heavy and light at the same time, soft yet rough at the same time, scary yet extremely exciting at the same time, oh and wait the best bit is this, I even got a picture! ^_^

To be honest, I think the best part of the day was when the party began. Cameramen began positioning their tools into place, crowds seemed to occupy the sides of the roads, even the cows and dogs occupied pavilion seats to watch the show. People dressed as tigers went around enacting Puli vesham (I hope I am right about the name), a local dance tradition. Drummers occupied points all through Car Street and began hitting their percussions, beckoning Krishna to come out of his den and give his subjects his darshan. Rangolis were being drawn and the Golden Chariot was being ready to carry Krishna, the king. His subjects were all waiting to laud praises and pray for happiness and wellbeing. Dahi handis were prepared and people were waiting for the proceedings to start. The drum beats escalated in pace and sound and the people who had come for breaking the handi got into position, waiting for the pot to be mounted. With the breaking of the first pot, the festivities began, with children, old people, dogs, cows alike watching, completely enamoured by the sheer grandness of this event. The Krishna idol, baby Krishna, black in colour and in a baby pose, with butter in one hand, came out, to be carried over to the golden chariot and go for a ride through the temple premises, giving his devotees a glimpse of his cute chubby face. Women could be seen taking drishti and praying, children commenting on how cute the idol was and foreigners just watching the whole thing like it was something surreal. After all the pots around different places being broken, it was the turn of the huge pot outside the temple gopuram. With it broken, the festivities began. Prasad- coconuts, bananas, laddus and snacks were thrown down to devotees, ardently holding their hand out to give their best shot at catching the offerings. The whole setting made me emotional, raised my pulse count. For a moment, I felt like I was sucked into an entirely new dimension.

Honestly, I am no foreigner; I am acquainted with Krishna from the diaper days. But this experience was magical. A Janmashtami spent in one of the most important, famous and fabulous Sri Krishna temples in the entire country is worth talking about for eons to come. To think that so much festivity, so much of love, so much devotion, such a religious  carnival was destined for me to experience, all for this one King, one god, one child; woaah; it totally blew my mind. 

Being Hindu in this country can be quite awkward, because of the regulations it once imposed, because of the fact that it has to take credit for everything, because of the embarrassing fundamentalists who in the name of standing up for the religion, damage it even more, and all the conflicts and riots and wrongdoings.  But then a spectacle like this, the love for Sri Krishna, and the unity that it sewed among everyone present there, Hindu, Christian, some even Muslim, Indian, non-Indian, was just amazing. If someone can do this, it’s only Sri Krishna.

Happy Janmashtami all.