On the glorious evening of 5 March 2016, the devotees of Radha Krishna temple celebrated Mahashivratri, offering prayers to the most compassionate Lord Shiv. Godhooli vela (the twilight hour) was when Shree Krishna, with His blue hue shimmering through the dust raised by the cows’ hooves, would return home along with his cowherd friends. Therefore, this time is considered as auspicious to chant the names of Lord Shiv and receive the abundant grace of the merciful Lord!

At this propitious hour, the soulful chants of “Har Har Mahadev Shambo, Kashi Vishwanath Gange,” transported us to the banks of the holy river Ganga that flows at the feet of the powerful Lord of Kashi.   Many of our scriptures, which are full of sweet leelas of Lord Vishnu and Lord Shiv engaging in devotion towards each other, repeatedly declare that true and selfless love is expressed only by engaging in what pleases the beloved! In a most sincere attempt to please Lord Shiv, we sang the divine glories of Lord Ram and imbibed the nectar of His holy names! 

Amidst the blissful chanting of “Om Namah Shivay,” we performed abhishekam to Shiv Ling with milk, as He is known to be Abhishek Priya. We watched an enlightening video lecture of Shree Kripaluji Maharaj, which explained how Shiv and Shree Krishna are the different forms of the Supreme Lord.

In an open mike session, the young and the old ranging from age seven to age seventy sang shlokas and bhajans enthusiastically, to glorify Lord Mahadev. We got a glimpse of the various Kashmiri traditions of celebrating Mahashivratri. The evening ended with a mesmerizing Bharatanatyam performance by one of the Radha Krishna Temple’s youth club members, Vaishnavi, in which she gracefully depicted the various moods of Lord Shiv!

The Mahashivratri celebration of Radha Krishna Temple was indeed a conglomeration of different traditions and cultures, and the temple is truly becoming the nucleus of the community! We are all set to continue our efforts to unite the community with our upcoming Holi celebrations!