24 September 2014

Shri Krishna Janmashtami Celebration 2014


From “Festival of Joy” to “Celebration of Love”

More than 450 guests came for the celebration of Janmasthami or the Birth of Lord Krishna, organized by Radha Madhav Santsang at the Singapore Khalsa Association in the evening of the 16th of August 2014.

The organizing committee at Radha Madhav Satsang (RMS), can rejoice because their efforts paid beyond expectations. For the celebration of Janmashatmi or the birthday of Krishna, they prepped up for  400 guests but reached an unexpected 450 and at the end, even had to turn down people. The premises of the local Khalsa Association were packed with elegant and cheerful guests.

It was a first attempt for RMS and by their own admission, organizers struggled with logistics as they had no visibility on the turnout.  Tickets continued selling shortly before the evening itself. Managing catering and other arrangements kept members of RMS busy. “Until the last minute, we counted the seats one by one to make sure we could accommodate everybody,” shared Navraj Singh one of the volunteers.

On Janmashtami, followers of Hinduism celebrate the birth of Baby Krishna, the 8th avatar or manifestation on Earth of Lord Vishnu, a major figure in the Indian faith. However, as Guest of Honor and MP for Ang Mo Kio GRC Inderjit Singh noted later on Facebook, it became a multiracial event. Something also remarked by another volunteer from RMS. “ Our initial objective was to gather all the Indian communities for this moment but we were happy to see locals, Chinese and Sri Lankan join us also,” he commented during a phone conversation.

Groups of talented children from Jubilant Arts, a local arts school, danced on Indian tunes. A group of children from RMS took charge of one portion of the entertainment. In between the shows, discourses from speakers and devotional practices, such as an Abhishek, took place.

Swami Govindananda, a guest lecturer who flew from Australia, explained the meaning of Janmashtami and why Lord Krishna is important. In a few minutes and with much clarity, he shared an invaluable amount of knowledge with the guests. The preacher enjoyed his participation in what was “the first large scale celebration outside of India” he witnessed. He stated RMS members perfectly captured the essence of the Janmashtami. “At the end, it was a perfect celebration of Love, which is what Krishna is for all of us,” concluded Swami Govindananda.

For photos of the event CLICK here.


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