Lasagna, apple crumb cake as ‘bhog’ for Lord Krishna in Noida

Lasagna and apple crumble cake as ‘bhog’, and a rock show by devotees will mark this year’s Janmashtami celebrations at Noida’s ISKCON temple on August 25.

According to the temple coordinator, Lord Krishna will be presented with a feast of 108 items as bhog, which will include continental dishes such as lasagna, apple crumble and choco chip muffins.

“This year marks 50 years of ISKCON temples. Hence, to celebrate it, along with the birth of Lord Krishna, special arrangements have been put in place. A cultural programme will be held for devotees which will be performed by a rock band called ‘The Govindas’ comprising our volunteers. There will be a modern twist to all the kirtans, bhajans and ragas as they will be presented in the form of a rock show,” said Ekant Dhaam Das, temple coordinator, ISKCON temple in sector 33, Noida.

While lighting decorations have been put in place at the temple, with a 50-metre stretch across the temple lit with bright lights, flower decorations will start on Wednesday.

“In order to attract as many devotees as possible, we also organised a Shobha Yatra on Sunday wherein seven chariots, consisting of different forms of Lord Krishna were moved along the streets of Noida in a procession. Seven chariots consisting of decked up children as Radha Krishna, Rukmini Dwarkadhish, Krishna Balaram, Krishna with Gopis and Krishna with his Gopa Friends were main attraction of the procession,” said Das.

Meanwhile, Ghaziabad’s ISKCON temple will welcome Lord Krishna with as many as 108 conch shells filled with Panchamrit. The streets of block 11, Raj Nagar have already been illuminated with colourful lights and devotional songs for Lord Krishna can be heard echoing around the temple.

“Panchamrit is a mixture of holy water, honey, milk, curd and sugarcane juice. This will be poured on the idol of Lord Krishna through the conch shells at the temple. This ritual is called Shankh Abhishek,” said Sureshwar Das, temple coordinator at ISKCON temple in, Raj Nagar, Ghaziabad.

The whole temple will be covered with flowers specially called in from Bangalore to decorate the temple, he added.

“Cooks, singers and artisans from Vrindavan have been roped in to make the event special at the temple. Artisans from Orissa have also been called to make the new dress for idol of Lord Krishna,” he said.