Journalism of Courage
The gates opened at 4.30 am on Friday morning at Sri Sri RadhaKunjbihari Temple,Camp,as Puneites gathered for darshan and abhishek at the temple. The aftermath of the bomb blasts did not stop the citizens from carrying on their Janamashtmi celebrations in full swing
The temple authorities maintained high security to prevent any chances for mishaps during this joyful event. We have CCTV cameras and there was a checkpoint at the entrance where people were thoroughly checked for anything that could be dangerous or explosive. The bomb squad on stand by, says Krishna Bhajan Das,spokesperson for ISKCON Pune branch. The crowd increased around 4 pm and there was a heavy rush during the evening and night time. Devotees visited the temple till 4 am on Saturday morning, he adds.
The total footfall at the temple,which is over a lakh devotees,is a reasonable increase from the footfalls last year. We have devotees who come to visit the temple from the suburbs of Pune. We welcome them for the darshan and and abhishek free of charge. There is a dinner prasadam for them as well, he adds.
The Janmashtami,at the Sadhu Vaswani Mission was celebrated with Kirtans and bhajans of Krishna and Radha,from morn till midnight. There were more people who had come to attend DadaJP Vaswani’s talk and have the special Janamashtami langar in our campus. We were alert about the security and made sure that our visitors were safe so that they can concentrate on their worship, says Naresh Singhania,Spokesperson at Sadhu Vaswani Mission,Pune.
