Krishna Janmashtami / Gokulasthami 2014

Krishna’s birthday this year falls on the day before my wedding anniversary! (August 17th) Seems pretty auspicious to me.

We won’t be able to do the event that we usually go to, though. Most years we go to the ISKCON temple for their huge celebration. But this year we’re going to be at a family reunion in Canada. I’ll have to bring a Krishna icon with me and see what I can do to honor Him while I’m there.

This is the first Krishna Janmashtami since I started an Etsy store last year. I have been crafting these adorable crocheted baby Krishnas and they are available for sale through my Etsy shop. If you don’t have a little Sri Krishna to rock on Janmashtami, you might want to consider taking home one of mine! They are super cute and they come with a little hammock to swing them on.

I wonder if maybe next year or in the future I could have a booth at the ISKCON Janmashtami celebration. I’ll have to ask them about that!

If you want one of these Krishnas, please order now because my shop will be going into Holiday mode around August 14th and I won’t be back until after Janmashtami.

For reminders on how to celebrate this holiday, here is a re-post from last year:

Ways To Celebrate:

-Place an image of the baby or child Krishna in a prominent place in your home, perhaps in a cradle or hammock. Swing the cradle for good luck and answers to prayers. (Last year Brad and I swung a Krishna cradle at a temple for luck in having a child).

-Decorate your home and altar with fresh flowers

-Watch movies or plays about young Krishna’s life (Krishna Leela)

-Set up an obstacle course to reach a pot of butter since Krishna’s favorite activity as a baby was stealing butter.

-At midnight (or wake up early the next day) have gifts, dancing, games, and food.

-Draw footprints showing Lord Krishna entering the home (I did this one year with chalk when I had a concrete balcony to my apartment)

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Some images for Krishna Janmashtami…

Krishna Janmashtami in Mumbai — Human pyramid created to reach a high hanging pot set up for the festival

Children dress up for Krishna's birthday — Children are dressed up as Krishna

Krishna Leela

Recipe for Burfi

(my favorite Indian dessert)

There are a number of different ways to create this recipe. Here is one from http://recipetreasure.com

Besan Barfi (Gram Flour Sweet)

Serves: 30
Skill Scale: moderate
Cook Time: 25-30 minutes

Ingredients:

unsalted butter – 2 sticks
gram flour – 2 cup
confectioner’s sugar (powdered sugar) – 1 ¼ cup
water – ¼ cup
cardamom powder – ¼ tsp
pistachio flakes – 1 tbsp

Directions:

Melt butter into a pan
Add gram flour into the pan
Stir the gram flour on low-medium heat for 20-25 minutes until the gram flour is light brown and you can smell it
Add sugar and water to the mixture and continue to stir for 5 more minutes and turn off the stove
Grease a baking sheet and evenly spread the mixture on it
Sprinkle the cardamom powder and pistachio flakes onto the mixture and let it cool
After the mixture cools and sets, cut into 30 even pieces and serve

– See more at: http://recipetreasure.com/2013/07/besan-barfi-gram-flour-sweet/