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Varanasi: Varanasi celebrated Krishna Leela on Thursday. Hundreds of devotees took part in the festival to mark the diety's victory over a monstrous snake, a symbol of evil in the epic Mahabharata. The festival has a 400-year-old tradition involving enactment of "Nag Nathaiya", "dancing on the Cobra-hood" episode in the life of Lord Krishna. Devotees led by the priests performed prayer rituals and witnessed the enactment of "Nag Nathaiya". Young boys dressed as Lord Krishna enacted scenes from the Nag Nathaiya episode on the banks of the Ganga by which Varanasi town is located. Pollution control authorities say the Ganga river, considered holiest by the Hindus, has been reduced to a dirty drain with industrial waste and sewage of scores of big and small cities it passes through. A multi-donor funded Ganga Action Plan has attempted to stem the tide but has not been able to make much difference. Foreign tourists who came to visit the holy city, are also excited at the colourful festival and the legend behind it. According to the Mahabharata, young Krishna, one of the most revered mythological gods, accidentally threw the ball they were playing with into the Ganga while playing with friends. When Krishna dived to retrieve the ball he encountered Kalia, a king cobra, notorious for spreading terror all around. Young Krishna fought with monstrous Kalia and defeated him. The latter recognising Krishna's superiority offered to take him to the water's surface. Meanwhile, Krishna's friends who were panic-stricken after he did not surface for a long time were amused to see him dancing on Kalia's hood. The entire episode has since been dubbed as "Krishna Leela" or Krishna's magical charm.
-ANI |
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