Janmashtami Celebrations in Michigan

By the immense grace of our Guru Maharaj, Janmashtami festival was celebrated in Holland,MI along with Chicago Gopa kuteeram kids and Chicago GOD members. The theme was ‘Krishna Jananam’. The celebration started with Mahamantra kirtan followed by slokas and bhajans in praise of Guru and the Lord. The devotees were taken back to the middle of Dwapara Yuga where people suffered and prayed to lord for his holy grace. The Kids enacted this by offering prayers by singing slokas and Bhajans in praise of god. The lord was pleased with their prayers and hence incarnated as Krishna in the form of blue hued little baby boy. Vasudeva stealthily carried the baby away from Kamsa’s Kingdom and reached Gokulam. One of our gopa kuteeram kids played the role of Nandababa and carried baby Krishna in a basket on top his head.
Little ones aged between three and five celebrated the lord’s birth by dancing danced around Krishna. The kids then enacted the scene where little Krishna and his friends stole the butter from the neighbors. The audience thoroughly enjoyed this. The kids who were aged between six and eight, were dressed as Radhe and they beautifully danced for the song ‘Brindavanam Bhajae Brindavanam’. Their dance was very well received and the kids brought Krishna and Radhe in front of everyone. The kids then enacted the divine plays of Lord Krishna along with the Gopas and Gopis. Sri Zivanji from Chicago delivered a lecture where he lucidly elucidated the greatness of satsang and the importance of chanting the divine names of the lord. The kids then enacted a skit depicting the importance of satsang from the life-history of Sant Tulasi Das and they rendered bhajans in praise of Lord Rama and also recited slokas on Lord Rama as part of this skit. The celebration concluded with Mahamantra Nama Kirtan. During Game time the satsang members played Utti. All the kids and the parents enjoyed Utti. Around 50 adults and 20 kids participated in the event and everybody enjoyed the event. All the slokas and Bhajans sung was learnt by kids during regular Gopa Kuteeram classes.We pray to Lord Krishna and Guruji to celebrate more such events like this in future.