Today 23 Saptember Celebration Radha Ashtami.Today Other festival is Dhari Aatham and Daughter’s Day too.
About Radha Ashtami
Birthday of Radha is celebrated as Radhaashtami throughout the country and especially in the north,
with full devotion and joy. Radha Ashtami is observed after 15 days of Janmashtami, which is celebrated as the birthday of Lord Krishna. Radharani’s birthday is the sacred eighth day of the month of Bhadrapada (August-September). Sri Radha was born in Barsana, suburb of Mathura and appeared as the daughter of Vrishabhanu and Kirti.
Raas Raaseshwari Shri Radhey appeared in Brij Mandal as the lovely daughter of Shri Vrishbhanuji in Barsana on Bhadrapad Shukla Ashtami i.e. eighth day of bright fortnight of the Bhadrapad month. Her village Barsana is located between Goverdhan and Nandgaon. The entire area is agricultural in nature and land beyond fields is densely forested. These forests are inhabited by large colonies of monkeys and peacocks apart from other wild animals. Peacocks entering inside the populated area and dancing on the rooftops is a common site here. Similarly monkeys entering into houses and running away with food items or anything that they may fancy about are a frequent occurrence. Brijvasi, as the residents of these areas are known, are a kind hearted lot. They do not get angered and hurt the monkeys rather they just scare them away. The area is dotted with a large numbers of natural springs and ponds which are called as Kunds. So this beautiful land has the distinction of being the playground of Radha and Krishna
Today Radha Ashtami Pooja
Devotees performed ‘abhishek’ of the Radha idol with milk, curd, honey and sugar for getting the blessings of the goddess. While in the evening special programme was organized in various temples to celebrate the day. The day is special for devotees as they could see the feet of Goddess Radha, which remain hidden for the rest of the days. A homemaker and resident of Civil Lines, Manisha Jain said, “The temples were decorated beautifully. I felt at peace with myself and I was in a state of bliss at the temple.” She said that though there was huge rush in the temple but after seeing the idols of Krishna and Radha all the pain was forgotten. Kapil Kalra, a businessman and resident of Vrindavan Road, said that earlier only Krishna Janmashtami was celebrated in the city, but with an increase in the number of Lord Krishna temples Radha Ashtami is also becoming popular among residents. Apart from this, Ganesh Mahotsav is being celebrated with full devotion at various places and houses of residents. The Ganeshotsav celebrations that began on September 19 and would conclude on September 29 with the immersion of the Ganesha idols.
Radha Ashtami Celebration Today
On the day of Radhaashtami, devotees are allowed special sanctions which are not allowed generally. Like, Radharani’s name is usually not chanted due to the possibility of committing faults towards her. Neither people are allowed to enter into Radha Kunda, or Radharani’s Pond, which is considered holy. On the day of Radhastami, people wait until midnight in order to bathe there. People chant her names on the ”appearance day” or birthday of Sri Radha. Radharani is believed to ”appear”, being an eternal companion of Krishna, she does not take birth or die. During the festival of Radha Astami, devotees worship Radha along with Lord Sri Krishna.
