Celebrating Krishna's Birthday!

Krishna Jayanthi is always one of the liveliest events at the M.A. Center in San Ramon. The program began with the narration of stories on Lord Krishna’s life. Following this everybody, children and adults alike, got on their feet for an indoor version of ‘uriyadi', a popular game played in Kerala on Krishna's Birthday. The game is based on the story of the young Lord Krishna who was known through out Vrindavan as the great butter thief. In the game of Uriyadi an earthen pot is suspended 30 or 40 feet in the air . Traditionally the pot would contain a mixture of milk, dry fruits and ghee. Nowadays the pots are filled with candies or simply water. Groups of young men use a stick to try to break the pot while colored water is thrown on them to make the task more difficult.

At the San Ramon M.A. Center, we play this game indoors, with specially decorated piñatas stuffed with candy. The children take turns defeating the evil King Kamsa in the form of a giant piñata, while the adults use their skill to break open prettily decorated paper mache "pots".

The evening was filled with devotional singing and dancing! The entire M.A. Center family came together to dance the Raas Dandia, a circle dance using decorated sticks, just as the Gopis did during their days with Lord Krishna. The program culminated at midnight with the reading about the birth of Lord Sri Krishna from the Srimad Bhagavatam, followed by the singing of the bhajan “Aagatanayi Aagatanayi Vishnu Devan” to welcome the Lord into the temple and into our hearts.

View a slideshow of photos that were taken at Krishna Jayanthi!