Peacock feathers at Delhi
Peacock feathers at Delhi

Janmashtmi is on the doors. A well known festival celebrated by the followers of Lord Krishna, one of the most important God who had all the qualities (16 ) not found and observed in other Gods.

It is observed in the evening as Krishna was born in the mid night. This day is also indicative of beginning of Kalyuga and end of Dwapar Yuga. It is said in holy book Bhagwad Gita by Lord Vishnu that whenever there is evil in the world he would reincarnate to end evil in the society.

I remember during our childhood we used to visit a large number of temples as well as a number of exhibitions at the gates of the houses made by childern (Jhanki) in our town Palwal with friends. By night we had visited all the important temples in the town and so much tired that after having special food at home, wait till we used to get special Prasad of Panjiri (from flour, sugar and fruits) and Charnamach (out of curd) from the nearby temple after the so called birth of Lord Krishna (beyond 2400 hrs). It used to be a memorable affair.

Peacock preening at Delhi

I still remember the special food items prepared at house by elderly people including mother such as sweets prepared out of Kooto Aata mixed with coconut powder and Mawa (khoba) prepared out of milk added with seeds of Melon and the sugar. Still I try to get it from my hometown by a special messenger before the festival is over.

Over a period of time on visiting Vrandavan and Mathura (in Uttar Pradesh) where this festival is celebrated we come to know that 56 items of food are offered to Lord Krishna and the same are offered to devotees as PRASAD. This may include items which were dear to Lord Krishna such as Kheer, Rasgulla, Rabri, Makhan Misri, Jalebi, Malpua and so on.

Everybody is aware that Lord Krishna has adorned on his head the feather of Peacock for some reasons. Enjoy the most unique feather of Peacock. Normally it has an eye on the feather. Very rare you come across when eye is split into two. I was lucky to see and observe and shot it last year..

Images of Peacock and feathers from the wilderness of Delhi taken in June 2017.

Enjoy and celebrate the festival with faith and unity.

Happy Krishna Janmashtmi to all .

About Vinod Goel

He joined Customs & Central Excise service in 1982. As a civil servant, his job takes him to various parts of India, which gave him an opportunity to capture our wild heritage, through his camera. His passion for wildlife photography started in 2004 when he was posted at Raipur (Chhattisgarh) and this passion continues till today.