Gokulashtami (Lord Krishna’s Birthday) was celebrated at Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham Ettimadai campus on Tuesday, 4th September, 2007 with great enthusiasm and fanfare. It has always been the tradition at Amrita University to celebrate all Indian festivals in a befitting manner and this year’s Gokulashtami celebrations were no exception with the entire campus wearing a festive garb.
The highlight of the colourful celebrations was a procession in which more than 4000 students, staff and residents of the Amrita campus participating. Brahmachari Abhayamrita Chaitanya, Chief Operating Officer of Amrita led the procession, which included ten beautiful floats depicting various incidents in Lord Krishna’s life like Gitopadesha, Bhakta Kuchela, Kaliya Mardhana, Govardhana Giridhari etc. Children dressed up like Krishna added more colour and gaiety to the procession. The accompaniment of Bhajans with drums and other musical instruments made the entire atmosphere and procession charged with devotional fervour for Lord Krishna with students singing and dancing. The floats were conceptualized and designed by student groups in various departments and schools of Amrita University. A prize was also given to the best float, which went to the Electrical and Electronics department.
To encourage healthy competition and bring out the hidden potential and talents of the students, various competitions in sports, literary and cultural events were also conducted. The sports competitions included Uriadi, Pole Climbing & Tug of war. Cultural competitions were held in Vocal Music (Solo and group), Dance (Solo and group), Instrumental Music (Percussion), Skits based on Sri Krishna’s teachings, Rangoli, Painting, Clay Modeling, Gita Chanting etc. The literary competitions were in Quiz on Sri Krishna, Debate etc. Prizes were distributed to the outstanding performers.
Earlier in the day, the celebrations started with Sahasranama Archana followed by Nagara Sankeerthana (Sri Krishna’s idol taken across the campus with stuents and staff singing the glory of the lord). For spiritual upliftment, a discourse (Satsangh) and Bhajans from evening to midnight were also conducted.