Their chance to play god for a day

In the garb of Lord and with a licence to be naughty, children make the most of Sreekrishna Jayanthi

THERE IS A GOD IN EVERYONE: Lakhs celebrated Sreekrishna Jayanthi onSaturday. Children, accompaniesd by parents, flooded city roads dressed as Sreekrishna and his gopikas. Photos: Thulasi Kakkat and K.C. Sowmish

On Saturday God was everywhere.

We saw him on the roads, moving around in cars and autos, parks and, of course, at temples. Some were making merry, some were cribbing and crying, and others went about being the Almighty with nonchalance – for a day. So when children hit the roads for the birthday bash of Lord Sreekrishna, dressed as the Lord himself, it was pure fun and laughter.

For once, the commuters were not irritated when their cars got caught in traffic jams. Smiles were contagious, as children rallied, dressed as Krishna and his ‘gopikas’, from the five corners of the city and moved towards the Ernakulathappan Ground on Saturday.

Kerala High Court judge K.T. Sankaran inaugurated the rally, called Shobha Yatra, from the Paramara Temple in the north of Ernakulam at 4 p.m. Chairman of Greater Cochin Development Authority N. Venugopal handed over the flag to the leader of the rally.

Tableaux on the legend of Krishna and art forms such as Kavadiyattom, Mayilattom and Sinkari Melam accompanied the children in the rally.

Streams of rallies, denoting the five leading rivers in India, merged at Jos Junction before moving towards the Ernakulathappan Ground, where they were received by the temple officials.

And at the end of the day, happy, but tired children were given offerings before they stepped out of the god's robes and returned to being their real selves.

Other rallies started from Ayyappankavu temple, Tirumala Devaswom Temple, Kumarapuram Subramania Swami Temple and Ravipuram Krishnaswami temple.