Celebrating the birth of Krishna (Janmashtami)

Janmashtami is an annual festival celebrating the birth of Krishna; it typically falls in August or September and is most widely observed across northern India. The night when the god was born is marked by the recitation of the Bhagavata Purana, especially those passages of Book 10 devoted to Krishna’s childhood. This scene relates to the prophecy that set Krisha’s story in motion: the usurper king of Mathura, Kamsa, was told he would be overthrown by his cousin Devaki’s child. When Devaki delivered Krishna, her husband, Vasudeva, spirited the newborn out of the palace. In this dramatic night scene, Vasudeva cradles the infant in his shawl as he hastens to safety across the Yamuna River. Rainstorms and lightning fill the sky, but a shaft of light breaks through to illuminate the riverbank for the heroic figures, as if by divine intervention.