Visakhapatnam: Virtual celebrations mark Krishnashtami, darshan goes online
A child dressed like Lord Krishna on the occasion of Sri Krishna Janmashtami celebrations in Visakhapatnam on Tuesday. Photo: A Pydiraju
Visakhapatnam: The coronavirus pandemic has certainly impacted the way people celebrate festivals. Unlike earlier years, many temples that used to celebrate Sri Krishna Janmashtami in a grand manner, including a host of cultural activities, embraced digital format.
A three-day Janmashtami celebrations for Hare Krishna Movement commenced on Tuesday at CMR function hall, Venkojipalem. To prevent crowding, the festival rituals are being conducted by limited priests under the guidance of the temple authorities. From 'Pratah Abhishekam' to 'Srungara Arathi' and 'Sandhya Abhishekam', a number of programmes were streamed live on Tuesday.
The online rituals will conclude on August 13 with Vyasa puja and 'Abhishekam'. One can view the rituals through YouTube by keying in: harekrishnavizag. The celebrations witnessed limited participants.
Similarly, International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) is facilitating a virtual darshan this Janmashtami for the devout. One can watch Abhishekam, 'Jhulan Seva', Arathi and also gain access to a virtual darshan by logging on to iskconvizag.exhibitionscloud.com.
On Tuesday, the deities at ISKCON, Sagar Nagar, were decked up in light and dark blue attires. The live streaming of ISKCON will conclude on Wednesday.