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French town celebrates Janmashtami

A small town near the French capital hosted elaborate celebrations marking the birth of Lord Krishna.

In the heart of Noisy Le Grand, which lies on the way to EuroDisney from Paris, over 600 devotees, mostly Indians, gathered to celebrate Janmashtami at a temple run by the International Society for Krishna Consciousness.

The festivities, which began on Sunday morning, continued till the wee hours of Monday. The main event began towards the evening when the idols of Radha and Krishna were bathed with milk amidst chanting of holy scriptures. This was followed by prayers that continued right up to midnight, the hour marking the birth of Krishna, accompanied by blowing of conch, cymbals and singing of hymns.

The day also had a cultural side to it. Earlier in the year ISKCON, along with the Indian community in Paris, had organised a contest for children based on their knowledge of the Hindu epics Ramayan and Mahabharat. At the Janmashtami celebrations awards and mementoes were given to the winners of the competition.

This year's could well be the last Janmashtami celebrations in Noisy Le Grand. Nitai Gaurasundaram, the chief of the temple, told Indo-Asian News Service: "We may be moving by the end of the year, as the temple is too small. We need to have a bigger place in order to accommodate all the devotees."

Indo-Asian News Service

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