Author: Arun Mohanty, Indo-Asian
News Service
Publication: Yahoo News
Date: September 1, 2002
URL: http://in.news.yahoo.com/020901/43/1uo1n.html
In keeping with a tradition in vogue
for the past years, Indians and Russians celebrated the birthday of Hindu
god Krishna with cultural programmes and religious functions here.
The lone Hindu temple, run by the
International Society for Krishna Consciousness (Iskcon) in downtown Moscow,
was flooded with devotees throughout Friday, even though it was a working
day.
But the real rush of devotees, both
Indians and Russians, was seen on Saturday -- the Janmashtami day.
A surprising fact was that Russian
Hindus outnumbered their Indian counterparts at the function in a country
that barely had any of its citizens claiming to have converted to Hinduism
before the Soviet disintegration nearly a decade ago.
This year, Janmashtami was celebrated
on a grander scale as it coincided with Moscow's 855th birth anniversary
-- an event celebrated with enormous pomp and show through the weekend
in the Russian capital.
Mass Janmashtami celebrations began
Saturday afternoon with an art exhibition and a drawing competition for
children followed by the main ritual prayers for the deities of Krishna
and his companion Radha.
The 'havan', or sacred fire ritual,
for the prayers was performed with chanting of Hindu hymns.
The main attraction was a cultural
programme held Saturday evening.
Artistes from the Jawaharlal Nehru
Cultural Centre (JNCC) under the Indian embassy and child artistes from
the Indian School presented dances dedicated to Krishna on a huge stage
especially built for the occasion outside the temple. Dances that celebrated
the bond of love between Radha and Krishna, by the JNCC artistes, had the
audience spell-bound.
A local theatre group, Gaurang,
comprising only Russian artistes, staged a drama on the life and love of
Krishna and Radha.
The festivities, which continued
till midnight Saturday, ended with 'aarti' or a cleansing ritual.
'Prasadam', or the holy offering,
was continuously served to visitors and devotees throughout the evening.
Janmashtami for many Russians is
an occasion to get acquainted with Indian culture, art and food and to
purchase exotic Indian souvenirs, for which the organisers had made adequate
arrangements.
