The city, two days after the conclusion of the Krishna pushkarams, was once again in the grip of religious fervour on Thursday as it celebrated Krishnashtami, the birthday of Lord Krishna.
The festival was celebrated in most of the temples, including Sri Krishna Prarthana Mandiram, Sri Vijayawada Gou Samrakshana Samithi, Uttardi Mutt in One Town and at Iskcon located at Undavalli in Guntur district.
Temples were specially decorated for the day and in some temple Krishna’s idol was put in a cradle after the abhishekam. Devotees queued up to swing the cradle singing hymns. Amidst blowing of conch shells and beating of drums, devotees offered prayers and attended special programmes including Iskcon. Devotees thronged the Saibaba temple near Maris Stella College and celebrations witnessed a new high at Madhura Nagar.
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Varieties of dishes, including those prepared with butter and milk, were offered to Lord Krishna at the temples. Some temple managements took out a procession with the idol placed in a chariot.
For the first time, the devotees missed Krishnamandir at Gousala as it was demolished as part of development works took up the district administration recently.
The idol of Krishna was placed on a chariot near Gousala for the convenience of devotees. The people offered prayers to the idols and to the cows.
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Tiny-tots dressed up as Lord Krishna, Radha, and gopikas were the highlights of the celebrations held across different places by voluntary organisations.
The people transformed their premises into a brindavanam . They painted footprints of tiny tots in their houses as a symbolic mark of the Krishna visiting their dwellings.
The celebrations of utti kottadam or breaking of the earthen pots filled with atukulu (flattened rice), ghee and jaggery during the festival caught the attention of the passes-by.