It was Janmashtami, So?

As I had mentioned earlier too, I would be a very good example of Festival downer. This Janmashtami, B's parents were visiting us, and hence, we all kept a fast, ate enormous quantities of fatty, fried food items, and that too mainly consisting of potatoes. Well, I would not really call it a fast, it was anything but.

The birth of Lord Krishna is a day which is celebrated all over India, and is given various names. A funny fact was that there is a difference in the day, as its celebrated in the south and north of India. The festivities on the day are also very different. The fast, as I know it in the south, is just fruits, for breakfast, lunch and dinner, which means that you do not have a heavy meal the whole day. This is also a fast which I have not done, in spite of knowing its detox effects. 

So, this was the first time in 28 years I have ever gone on this fast, and I did not particularly like it. I would certainly prefer to have the detox fast. Having only fried items through the entire day, certainly gave me a sick feeling, and certainly did not suit my tummy. In fact I was quite worried that T would also have a upset tummy due to the sudden influx of oil into her system. I tried to counter the effect with some ayurvedic tummy relieving stuff, but I wonder whether that was of any effect. A part of the food which I enjoyed was the ragi flour used for the fried potatoes, and also for the fried puris. I am particularly fond of ragi flour, the taste and obviously for its health reasons. In fact during pregnancy, I had particularly enjoyed ragi puttu all through. 

Now, we get back to janmashtami… at the stroke of 12, which is when Lord Krishna was born, there is a small pooja done and only after dinner is served. Dinner mainly consists of potato curry, ragi rotis, fruits and a salad. 

After the day, I was wondering, did we really do this with a religious bend of mind? I did not ! I took part in the pooja and had dinner after 12, but was that the only things to be done as part of the festivities? I am not aware of anything else, maybe visit the temple would the other obvious option. Do you find all the festivals particularly festive?