Janmashtami celebrations were held in Lynnfield, MA on Saturday Aug 25. Hosts Ritu and Jagjit Gaind made the celebration authentic with a beautiful Jhanki, Pooja, Ras and Bhajan. Attendees got to eat a lovely feast The celebrations were a real treat

“I really felt that Lord Krishna wanted to worshipped and celebrated. Once the thought came into my mind I asked my daughter-in-law Maya Jain Gaind to make a flyer. That got the ball rolling and thanks to the excitement of  so many volunteers the event turned out to be a pleasurable one” says Ritu Gaind

The event featured a lovely “Jhanki” or a model scene depicting the birth of Lord Krishna Under the leadership of Vishvajeet Mishra, little children, Aadia Mishra ,Veer, Jahnvi Batra, and parents Vibha Mishra, Amala, Ashish Batra put up a fabulous model. Dr Manju Sheth honored the children for their efforts. 

Aneesha Karody on Taranom Creations decorated the stage and the hall beautifully. Several beautiful Krishna Murthys were in the prayer The event opened with a Pooja for Lord Krishna conducted by Ranjani Saigal.  This was followed by Dandia and Garbha. This was made possible by Jharna Madan and Parveen Minocha.

Several leading musicians presented beautiful bhajans Kumkum Dilwali, Madhu Mathur Anand, Ram Bhatt, Rageshwari Mehta, Eshani Shah,  Moolraj Mathur, Dr Nishikant Sonwalker, Kiran Nath and Priti Chakravarty presented several bhajans

The delicious meals for the evening was provided by Manju Sheth, Preetesh Shrivastava, Razia Mashkoor, Parul Kumar, Jagjit Gaind, Ritu Gaind and Swati Kelkar.

Anil Minocha and Anil Saigal managed the sound. Nikita Minocha and Sangeeta Saxena did the photography. The event was made possible due to the support of several volunteers including Sanjay and Sumita Handa and family, Neeraj Kumar, Prem Sinha, Suman Bhatt and Rajan Nayar

“Pooja was a lot of fun and I think the event went awesome. Great vibes ! So glad I was a part of it and thanks to you Jagjit & Ritu Gaind Ji for that! “ says Aneesha Karody.

Rageshree Inkoo Mehta captured the feelings of the attendees in her comments. “ Last Saturday on Janamashtmi celebration with tears of happiness I shared this excellent event where all those memories of my childhood years ago were done bringing back sweet memories. Everything from fun to food and from prayers to dances was perfect. Thanks to all those who fed us prashad including garam pakoras, garam cooked poorees and tons of other food. I went home feeling happy, hearty and holy with Krishna in my thoughts. Thank you Rituji......I would not miss this event for anything.....looking forward to next year hoping we will all be there together”  

Kudos to Ritu and Jagjit Gaind for pulling together a wonderful celebration. We look forward to Janmashtami again next year!