Janmashtami is also referred to as Gokulashtami, Srikrishna Jayanti and many other names. As the name suggests, this day is celebrated to observe the birth of Lord Krishna. Lord Vishnu had ten avatars (incarnation forms), and Lord Krishna is believed to be the eighth form of an avatar. According to mythology, Krishna was the son of Vasudev and Devaki, sister of the tyrant king Kansa. It was said that Krishna would kill Kansa, and to avoid it, he imprisoned his sister Devaki and Vasudev and planned on killing Krishna once he was born.
On the night that Krishna was born, Vasudev took him out secretly and crossed the Yamuna to give him to Yashoda and Nanda, who later came to be known as the foster parents of Krishna. That’s the reason Lord Krishna is often referred to as the Nanda Lal.
It is also said that Lord Krishna was quite naughty when he was young; he loved to play tricks on everyone and often stole butter, for which Yashoda scolded and punished him. That’s why breaking Dahi handis or matkas are a common event that people enjoy doing during Janmashtami. On this day, people who worship Lord Krishna wash his idol with oil and water and put new clothes on him and put him in a cradle. They often make sweet dishes and offer them to Bal Gopal/Krishna as bhog (offering).
Janmashtami is celebrated on the Krishna Paksha’s eighth tithi, Ashtami, according to the Hindu calendar, i.e. this festival falls generally between August and September.
Janmashtami is celebrated with great joy in cities like Mathura and Vrindavan, the place where Lord Krishna was born and later brought up, respectively. Janmashtami is also celebrated in Dwarka, which is a city in Gujarat that is thought to be the kingdom of Lord Krishna. Apart from these places, Janmashtami is celebrated with great pomp in Maharashtra, West Bengal, Odisha, Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and other parts of India too. On this day, people often dress little boys as Lord Krishna and make various sweet dishes which they offer to Bal Gopal/Lord Krishna. Janmashtami holds a very special place for Vaishnavs (followers of Lord Vishnu).