Ram Mandir conclude eight-day Janmashtami celebrations

Community members gather every day around 7 p.m. at Shri Ram Mandir in Henderson to observe an eight-day special prayer session leading to Janmashtami, that celebrates the birth of Lord Krishna.

350-400 community members from different parts of Auckland come to the session, whichbegan from Monday, August 27, to listen toa discourse on Lord Krishna’s life and lessons through his activities for the humanity. This particular prayer and discourse session continued until midnight of Monday, September 3 when the main birth celebration was held.

Two priests, namely Acharya Vimal Krishna Maharaj and Sanjay Chaubey have travelled from the holy town of Vrindavan, India to conduct and lead the prayers for the community. Vrindavan is said to be the place where Lord Krishna spent his childhood and is home to many temples dedicated to him and his lover, the deity Radha.

MP for Te Atatu Phil Twyford and Honorary Consul of India in Auckland Bhav Dhillon visited Ram Temple, the first day of the event on Monday, August 27 and acknowledged the presence of the community members and their contribution towards a stronger Indian community in West Auckland.

The eight-day event every evening will have discourse on the life of Lord Krishna where the priests also teach lessons to learn for day-to-day living and understand the meaning of the higher purpose of humans in the world.

“The Acharya told us stories about Lord Krishna and how every individual should come forward making their contribution towards the betterment of the society and understand the meaning of life which is beyond just earning and spending on the materialistic world,” Pravin Kumar, chairman of Shri Ram Mandir Charitable Trust told The Indian Weekender.

On the occasion of Janmashtami, children dress like Lord Krishna wearing peacock feather crown holding a flute in hand and decorate a dahi handi (pot of curd), make rangoli, prepare and distribute sweets and make special prayers.

At midnight on Monday, the temple was full of devotees, and the priests hosted a special puja, placed a decorated cradle signifying Lord Krishna’s birth and celebrations. The temple also served free food for all the attendees every evening of the special puja session.