Mathura: The famous Dwarkadheesh Temple in the land of Lord Krishna reverberated with sounds of conch, bells and vedic hymns as Janmashtami celebrations began there on Sunday.
"Milk, curd, honey, 'khandsari' and ghee was used to bath the deity in the morning. Lasting for half an hour, the abhishek (anointment) ceremony was completed with aarati," Adhikari of the temple Sridhar Chaturvedi said.
Since it is the only temple where Janmashtami is being celebrated today, the areas around it were crowded with pilgrims, with their numbers increasing by the evening.
"No untoward incident has been reported today. Since most of the temples, including temples of Sri Krishna Janmasthan area, are celebrating Janmashtami, security has been beefed up for Monday," Deputy SP Anil Yadav said.
"The city area has been divided into three Zones and 13 sectors with ADM and additional SP incharge of each zone. About 4,000 police personnel have been deployed to ensure peaceful celebration of the festival," he said.
In Gokul, preparations are on in full swing to welcome 'Kanha' (Lord Krishna) after this midnight.
"Since 'Kanha' was brought from Mathura by Vasudeo after midnight and the residents of Gokul got to know about him one day after Janmastami, the festival in the form of 'Dadhikana' is celebrated in Gokul the next day. It is virtually a Holi where people drench each other with a mixture of curd and turmeric," social activist Narayan Tewari said.
Since Janmashtami in Radha Raman, Radha Damodar and Tedhe Khambhawala temples of Vrindaban will be celebrated during the day on Monday, priests are ensuring sufficient availability of several quintals of milk, curd and other items for the anointment ceremony.
"Owing to flood of pilgrims now, arranging eleven quintals of milk and curd is a problem. However we are sure that there will be no dearth of milk and curd as we are getting offer from unexpected quarters," priest Dinesh Chandra Goswami said.
Also, the markets of Mathura and Vrindaban are flooded with dresses and other items related to the festival.
"The maximum demand this year is of peacock feather- attached dress of Thakur Ji," said Vikas, a trader from Vrindaban.
