Krishna's Birthday Bath

One of the highlights of Janmastami is Krishna's bathing ceremony (abhisheka). For the only time in the year, Madhava leaves His altar with Sri Radha, to be bathed with milk and honey. All the while, His devotees keep up melodious singing of devotional songs and chanting of His holy names; the more enthusiastically they sing, the more beautiful the Lord appears, as drops of rose-scented water sparkle over His golden form.

Here Sri Madhava is pictured before His bath, wearing garlands of dates, figs and dried apricots. These are distributed to the audience afterwards, and are highly coveted!