Krishnastami (Lord krishna's Birth70 • The Nepal Festivals ord Krishna considered as an incarnation of Lord LVishnu, the Hindu deity of preservation has a large ollowing in Nepal. His visage is depicted in blue, the traditional colour of Lord Vishnu. His being blue is said to remind his devotees that he is all pervading and ever fascinating like the brilliant blue sky. In the words of Adi Shankeracharya, Lord Krishna is that changeless Absolute of whose real and conscious existence the blue colour of the universe gives us a mysterious glimpse. There is perhaps no deity like Lord Krishna in the entire Hindu pantheon who has been so highly honoured by millions of his devotees including great Rishis (seers), brave kings and simple souls. Krishna is also generally regarded as a great god of love and romance. It is said that thousands and thousands of Gopinis had been enamoured by the beauty of his bright blue body. The word Gopini denotes girls whose occupation is, to raise cows and treat with great care and love. Since the most peaceful animal on the earth for all Hindus is the cow Gopinis have a great respect for cows and Krishna, the great keeper of cows. It must be remembered here that one of the more popular names of Krishna is Gopal which means the protector of cows. His love for his devotees is only meant to lead them all into himself, the changeless Absolute. In other words, he is the external love ever living above the limited love of ours. Lord Krishna is a magic flute player. It is said that whenever the Gopinis hear Lord Krishna playing on his flute they become restless and rush out of their homes regardless of what they are doing. It is said that merely by playing a tune on his magic flute he can put his devotees in a trance. This is the reason why he is always shown in art works with a flute in his hands. And another interesting thing about his image, he is usually day)

The Nepal Festivals ord Krishna considered as an incarnation of Lord LVishnu, the Hindu deity of preservation has a large ollowing in Nepal. His visage is depicted in blue, the traditional colour of Lord Vishnu. His being blue is said to remind his devotees that he is all pervading and ever fascinating like the brilliant blue sky. In the words of Adi Shankeracharya, Lord Krishna is that changeless Absolute of whose real and conscious existence the blue colour of the universe gives us a mysterious glimpse.

 There is perhaps no deity like Lord Krishna in the entire Hindu pantheon who has been so highly honoured by millions of his devotees including great Rishis (seers), brave kings and simple souls. Krishna is also generally regarded as a great god of love and romance. It is said that thousands and thousands of Gopinis had been enamoured by the beauty of his bright blue body. The word Gopini denotes girls whose occupation is, to raise cows and treat with great care and love. Since the most peaceful animal on the earth for all Hindus is the cow Gopinis have a great respect for cows and Krishna, the great keeper of cows. It must be remembered here that one of the more popular names of Krishna is Gopal which means the protector of cows.

 His love for his devotees is only meant to lead them all into himself, the changeless Absolute. In other words, he is the external love ever living above the limited love of ours.

 Lord Krishna is a magic flute player. It is said that whenever the Gopinis hear Lord Krishna playing on his flute they become restless and rush out of their homes regardless of what they are doing.

 It is said that merely by playing a tune on his magic flute he can put his devotees in a trance. This is the reason why he is always shown in art works with a flute in his hands. And another interesting thing about his image, he is usually

shown with his right leg slightly bent. This image is quite common in Nepal. His standing gesture is said to represent his being involved in nonstop actions to keep every thing of the world in order. So the saints and seers have rightly called him a great Karma Yogi, meaning the great man of actions. Geeta is a divine gift from Lord Krishna to all spiritual seekers and followers of his path. 

Lord Krishna is a divine dancer, too. The Gopinis dancing with the Lord in the middle is called Raasa Leela-meaning the dance of spiritual ecstacy. Lord Krishna in the middle surrounded by the Gopi girls is said to represent the supreme reality or Parabrahma and the devotees surrounding the lord are to represent their intensive desire (through action) for union with the supreme being. Not surprising the scene of devotees dancing on the occasion of the birthday of Lord Krishna, is one of the most enjoyable highlights of the celebration. Krishnasa-astarni falls on the 8th day of the dark fortnight of the month of Bhadra. Devotees of Krishna, particularly women, from the countryside on this day get up early in the morning and set out for their pilgrimage trip to the Krishna Temple situated at Durbar Square in Lalitpur. The central venue for all kinds of religious singing and dancing on this auspicious day is the surroundings of the same Krishna Temple known for the intricate art works on the stone. This famed temple was built by saint king, Siddhi Narasimha MaIla in 1636 A.D

. One of the most colourful features of Krishna's birthday celebration is the country-women's enthusiastic participation in the traditional dance performances that take around the temple mentioned above. This street show begins from early in the morning and goes on till late at night. The women devotee's dancing on this day around the temple is usually accompanied by male wadal drummers from the countryside. When their dancing reaches its climax wild whistling from the crowd at close intervals is sure to follow (the high sounding drum beats) for several minutes, an obvious indication that the performance has been appreciated. The women who participate in this traditional temple dance are almost all from the rural areas. These women although fasting, strangely enough, do not lack the energy to participate in singing and dancing almost all day long and night. Faith on god and a feeling for fun are the main sources of inspiration and energy with which they celebrate the occasion and enjoy themselves.