‘Nandostavam’ celebrated with gaiety

Padma Vibushan Mangalampalli Balamurali Krishna giving a Carnatic vocal recital at a special event 'Krishna Lahari' along with Whistle Wizard K.Siva Prasad at Sri Krishna Janmastami celebrations, organised by the Hare Krishna Movement and Akshya Patra, on the Beach Road in Viskahapatnam on Tuesday. Photo: C.V. Subrahmanyam

Around 2,000 food items cooked by devotees at their homes were offered during the ‘Nandostavam’ organised on the last day of the Sri Krishna Janmashtami celebrations by the Hare Krishna Movement and Akshaya Patra at the Viswapriya function hall here on Tuesday.

Several thousands of devotees attended Nandostavam, a festival organised by Nanda Maharaj a day after the birth of Lord Krishna. The day is celebrated as Vyasa Puja to mark the birth of Bhakti Vedanta Swami Prabhupada, founder of HKM.

All those who attended the festival were offered hot meals – Prasadam - which included a plate full of special rice (HareKrishna bath).

Abhishekam

Then the devotees offered the dishes prepared by them During the mid night, an Abhishekam was performed on a large scale, wherein the Lord was offered 108 kalashabhisheka, 21 varieties of fruit juices, 21 varieties of flowers, eight varieties of aushadies (herbal medicines) and varieties of cow products.

The abhishekam began at 11 p.m. and concluded at 1.30 a.m. with a grand ‘Mangala Harati.’

‘Jhulan seva’ was performed on Tuesday afternoon. In the evening Mangalampalli Balamurali Krishna presented a concert ‘Krishna Lahari.’

Earlier 30 disciples of Dwaram Thyagaraj rendered Tyagaraja kritis followed by a musical concert by Chaitanya Brothers and students of A.B. Bala Kondala Rao presented a Kuchipudi dance recital ‘Janmashtami Kalyana Krishna’.