Krishna Janmashtami, a festival that celebrates the birth of Lord Krishna, is celebrated across the country in many ways. From human pyramids participating in the breaking of dahi handi to religious hymns being chanted well into midnight, food also plays an important role in marking celebrations for any kind of festival. What is also striking about these celebrations, is that the scriptures point to three specific places where Krishna has been known to have indulged in his pastimes – namely Mathura, Vrindavan and Dwarka.
As per folklore, Lord Krishna’s pastimes can be broadly divided into the time he spent as a child in Vrindavan, the actual place of his birth in Mathura and his time as an adult in Dwarka where he married Rukmini. Since he was known to be a lover of milk and milk products, fondly earning the name maakhan chor, Mathura and Vrindavan are places where sweet, milk-based offerings have been known to be among popular delicacies. Based off of the anecdotes of his pastimes mentioned in scriptures, here is a lo-down on the various offerings made to Lord Krishna from one region to another.
Mathura
Image Credits: Wikimedia Commons
Known to be associated famously as the birthplace of Lord Krishna, Mathura has become synonymous with the sweet pedas that are also distributed during the celebrations. Since Krishna was also known to be a lover of dairy while he spent time in vraja bhumi, the traditional offering of white butter mixed with rock candy – maakhan misri – is also a popular offering that is distributed as prasad in temples and religious sites. Mathura is also known for its popular street breakfast of kachori-sabzi, a fried pastry dough typically eaten with gravied potatoes – which is also enjoyed by locals and visitors alike.
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Vrindavan
Image Credits: Purvanchal Tadka
Since many mythological stories of Lord Krishna, from the scriptures have descriptive details of how he became a simple cowherd boy who shared lunches with his friends by the banks of the river Yamuna, often times savoury dishes like pakodas and dahi-chawal, sweets like malpua, ras malai and rabri were part of the meals he enjoyed with his friends. The mood of Lord Krishna in Vrindavan was playful and he was considered to be the saviour of Gokul, making him eligible for a feast consisting of 56 dishes – or chhappan bhog – where food was prepared to balance the six different tastes and cooked with love. Traditional preparations were broadly classified into two categories – kacchi rasoi (cooked with water) and pakki rasoi (cooked with ghee).
As Lord Krishna’s pastimes evolved with time, when he was a teenager who had Radha as his consort, he would often visit her in Barsana – Radha’s place of birth – to enjoy various kinds of lassi, sweets and dahi-bhalla.
Dwarka
Image Credits: Wikimedia Commons
When Lord Krishna was ruling Dwarka, he was visited by his friend Sudama, who had nothing but a fistful of soaked flattened rice to offer. It is said that the Lord had gracefully accepted what his friend bought with love and enjoyed it like he would a royal feast. This apart, the food in Dwarka also includes traditional Gujarati delicacies like panjiri, peda and other yoghurt-based dishes like shrikhand continue to be offered and distributed on the eve of the festival.