Thousands celebrate Janmastami, Lord Krishna's Appearance Day and the Hare Krishna movement's 50th anniversary
Janmastami, the Appearance Day or birth anniversary of Lord Krishna, will be celebrated in the Chicago area on Aug. 25 from 6 p.m. to midnight at the Hare Krishna Temple in the Rogers Park neighborhood of Chicago.
Krishna is respected as the speaker of the famed Bhagavad-Gita by scholars, and revered as the Supreme Personality of Godhead by hundreds of millions of worshippers across the world. He has been the center of South Asian temples, art, and music for centuries. Often portrayed as the all-knowing, yet ever-youthful God who plays tricks on his friends, he also lovingly invites all forgetful souls to join his divine pastimes in the spiritual realm.
"The Sanskrit wisdom texts, the Vedas, explain that God is the all-attractive person and most intimate friend of everyone," says Amrita Hari, ISKCON spokesperson. "That's why Janmastami, the Appearance Day of Lord Krishna, is one of the most celebrated and joyful events in all of India."
Today, Janmastami is celebrated by people of diverse ethnic and religious backgrounds across the world. However, Krishna's global fame has only fully developed within the past few decades.
A big reason for his expanding popularity is the Hare Krishna movement, which celebrates its own 50th Anniversary this year. The International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) began in New York City's lower east side in 1966, when a 70 year-old swami from India set up a storefront temple there.
ISKCON's founder, A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, taught that the path to happiness was not found in material pursuits but in simple living, high thinking, and in awakening love of God - Lord Krishna.
The swami found an audience for his message among the 1960s youth and his society took root. Over the last 50 years ISKCON has grown into an international community with more than 600 temples, 100 vegetarian restaurants, and 516 million of its books in print in 87 languages. The society's international food relief programs feed 1.2 million children each day in India alone.
"Swami Prabhupada did not teach anything new," says Professor Graham M. Schweig, author of Dance of Divine Love, a translation of the millennium old Bhagavat Purana, which tells the story of Lord Krishna. "His expertise was in making the wisdom of the bhakti or devotional yoga tradition relevant to the modern world. His achievements are remarkable."
ISKCON is rooted in the Gaudiya Vaishnava sampradaya, a monotheistic tradition, within Hindu culture. Its tenets include that the soul is eternal and different from the body; that chanting God's names, or mantra meditation, can awaken knowledge of the self; and that healthy life comes through the practice of cleanliness, self-discipline, mercy, and truthfulness, and avoiding intoxication, illicit sex, meat-eating and gambling.
Janmastami will be celebrated at ISKCON temples around the world - and in Chicago at the ISKCON Temple in Chicago, IL - with a variety of drama performances, live music, sacred chants, adoration or darshan of sacred images in the temples, reading sacred texts, and a vegetarian feast. All are welcome. The event, including vegetarian feast, is free.
The festival of Krishna Janmastami - the birth anniversary of Lord Krishna - has been celebrated since ancient times. Vaishnavism, the worship of Lord Krishna, is one of the principle branches within the broad Hindu tradition. Vaishnavas are monotheists, and believe Lord Krishna to be the same God worshipped by Christians, Jews and Muslims.
The scriptures of India teach that Lord Krishna personally descends to Earth to reestablish religious principles and to save human society from forgetfulness of God. Janmastami celebrates the day that Krishna appeared on Earth, over 5,000 years ago. For devotees of Krishna, it is a joyous occasion, replete with the singing of devotional songs, dance, worship services, and partaking in a sanctified vegetarian feast.
The Hare Krishna movement, formally known as the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), was founded in 1966 by A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, who brought the ancient Vaishnava tradition to the West.
Since then, it has grown into a worldwide confederation of more than 600 temples, farms and eco-villages, and 100 vegetarian restaurants across six continents. Its practitioners come from a variety of backgrounds. While some members live in temples and ashrams (monasteries) as monks and nuns, most Hare Krishna devotees live and work in the general community, practicing Krishna consciousness in their homes and attending their temple on a regular basis.