Devotees across Nepal celebrate Krishna Janmashtami

Across Nepal, devotees of the Vedic Sanatana faith are marking Krishna Janmashtami with prayers, fasting and a night of devotional observance. Temples are hosting religious discourses and bhajan-kirtan, the singing and chanting traditionally associated with the festival.

The festival commemorates the believed birth of Lord Krishna at midnight on the eighth day of the dark fortnight of Bhadra during the Dwapara Yuga. Its night observance is known as Moharatri. Krishna is revered as the eighth incarnation of Lord Vishnu and as a proponent of Jnana Yoga, Karma Yoga and Bhakti Yoga.

A large fair is being held at the Krishna Mandir in Mangalbazar, Patan, while large numbers of devotees are gathering at Navatan Dham in Kageshwari-Manohara Municipality in northeastern Kathmandu. Worshippers are also visiting Krishna temples elsewhere in the country.

Religious organisations in Kathmandu traditionally organise cultural processions and chariot parades featuring tableaux linked to Krishna’s life. The festival also recalls the teachings of the Bhagavad Gita, believed to contain Krishna’s guidance to Arjuna during the battle at Kurukshetra. The government has declared a public holiday for the occasion.