Iskcon Chennai celebrates
Radhashtami in 17th September
at Its Radha Krishna temple ECR ,Akkarai .
The deities will be adorned with special flower dress .
Program schedule is as follows
10.00 am :Bhajans
11.15 am : Abhishek
12.00 pm : lecture on the appearance of Srimati Radha Rani
12.30 pm : Arati
01.00 pm : Prasadam
Kindly attend this auspicious festival and Smt Radharani’s mercy .
Donation in kind and cash welcome .
Srimati Radharani’s Appearance
Srimati Radharani is the eternal consort of Lord Krishna. Five thousand years ago, when Lord Krishna came to this planet to perform His pastimes, Srimati Radharani also appeared. This year we celebrate her appearance on September 17th 2018 Monday . This special day is known as Radhashtami.
The following is adapted from a lecture by His Holiness Varshana Swami:
“On a half-moon night in the month of Bhadra, King Vrishabhanu came to the Jamuna to bathe and found himself engulfed in a golden aura, the golden aura of pure love. It was emanating from a lotus, which had a baby girl standing on its whorl. When the king returned to the palace with the baby, Queen Kirtida was delighted. She was also shocked that the girl was blind.
“Lord Krishna’s mother, Yashoda, heard that her best friend Kirtida had a baby, so she came to visit along with her husband and her son. Krishna crawled up to the cradle and pulled Himself up and looked in. At that moment, Srimati Radharani’s eyes fluttered and opened wide and blossomed like lotuses. It seems that she did not want to see anything of this world, only the form of Sri Krishna. Everyone was delighted.
“Srimati Radharani is the mother of the universe, the spiritual mother of all souls. And the concept of mother is the most sacred symbol—that of purity, selflessness, caring, sharing, nurturing, and love. That is why our sacred mantra is the holy names. It is the holy names in the vocative. Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare / Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare.
“‘Hare’ means ‘Radhe.’ It is a plaintive, desperate cry for the mother. ‘Radhe! Please wake us up from this nightmare of mortal life! Remind us of the father we have forgotten and take us home!’”
In the Krishna consciousness movement, devotees carefully worship Srimati Radharani as the bestower of devotional service to Krishna, by attentively chanting her name in the maha-mantra, by worshiping her deity form, and by following the instructions of the most merciful Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, who is the combined form of Radha and Krishna.
“(Therefore) Radha is parama-devata, the supreme goddess, and She is worshipable for everyone. She is the protectress of all, and She is the mother of the entire universe.” —Caitanya Caritamrita, Adi 4.89
Srimati Radharani’s Artistic Qualities
Singing
Playing on musical instruments
Dancing
Theatricals
Painting
Painting the face and body with colored unguents and cosmetics
Preparing offerings from rice and flowers
Making a covering of flowers for a bed
Applying preparations for cleansing the teeth, cloths, and painting the body
Making the groundwork of jewels
Covering the bed
Playing on music in water
Splashing with water
Practically applying an admixture of colors
Designing a preparation of wreaths
Practically setting the coronet on the head
Practically dressing in the tiring room
Decorating the tragus of the ear
Practical application of aromatics
Applying or setting ornaments
Jugglery
Kaucumara – a kind of art
Art of sleight of hand
Preparing varieties of salad, bread, cake and delicious food
Practically preparing palatable drinks and tinging draughts with red color
Needleworks and weaving
Playing with thread
Playing on lute and small x-shaped drum
Making and solving riddles
Caping or reciting verse for verse as a trial for memory or skill
Practicing language difficult to be answered by others
Reciting books
Enacting short plays and anecdotes
Solving enigmatic verses
Designing preparation of shield, cane and arrows
Spinning by spindle
Carpentry
Engineering
Testing silver and jewels
Metallurgy
Mineralogy
Practicing medicine or medical treatment, by herbs
Knowing the mode of fighting of lambs, cocks, and birds
Maintaining or knowing conversation between male and female cockatoos
Healing or cleaning a person with perfumes
Combing hair
Talking with letters and fingers
Fabricating barbarous or foreign sophistry
Knowing provincial dialects
Knowing prediction by heavenly voice or knowing preparation of toy carts by flowers
Mechanics
The use of amulets
Art of conversation
Composing verse mentally
Designing a literary work or a medical remedy
Practicing as a builder of shrines called after him
The use of lexicography and meters
The art of concealment of cloths
Knowing specific gambling
Playing with dice or magnet
Using children’s toys
Enforcing discipline
The art of gaining victory
The art of awakening with music at dawn
