Janamashtmi, is a propitious day in the Hindu calendar that annually pays obeisance to the birth or appearance of Lord Krishna.  Hindus all over the globe paid great reverence to the Lord Wednesday night. And the worshipping in India, Guyana and New York is very much the same. Unlike in Guyana or in New York, the day is a national holiday in India where Lord Krishna’s birth takes on a festive atmosphere similar to the celebration of Jesus’s birth at Christmas in the West. People give each other greeting cards and gifts in India. NY Guyanese performed pooja or jhandi in their home and offered dinner to guests.
In India, there are magnificent decorations and colorful lights adoring temples and peoples homes. People hold feasts joined by relatives and friends to celebrate the Lord’s birth.  In NY, the Guyanese temples are usually well decorated with flickering lights for the occasion. The temples in India and NY were jam packed with worshippers who performed elaborate poojas and made special offerings.  As in India and Guyana, Guyanese New Yorkers stayed up till midnight Wednesday evening to welcome the Lord into their hearts and minds.
Lord Krishna was not really born but made his appearance on earth as a baby who grew into adulthood to show people how to live. Krishna appeared on earth, 5237 years ago with a lotus flower and a conch and in beautiful clothes with four arms carrying a mace and discus. Since Lord Krishna wished to serve as a model for others to emulate, he could not reveal himself as an adult or as being too powerful.  So he made an appearance as a normal human to live a normal life as a baby, child, teenager and adult. Lord Krishna is just one of the reincarnations of the Supreme Being known in Hinduism as Brahm which means God with form and God without form.  So God can take the form of a human.  Hence Lord’s Krishna’s human appearance in the world. In Hinduism, Gods and Goddesses make their appearance in the world whenever there is decay in religion.  God and Goddess take human forms to protect the good and destroy the evil.  In fact, Krishna said that whenever there is a decline of dharma, “I shall manifest myself in order to restore balance”.  Krishna made an appearance in the world as a human to show humans how to live their lives. He established a code of conduct for our behavior.  One code of conduct is to fight injustice and to live a righteous life.  Krishna also emphasized doing one’s duty and to oppose injustice.
Hindus worship Lord Krishna because he is known as the savior and protector of those who seek and surrender unto to him.  And by the hundreds at each of the temples in NY, Guyanese surrendered to the Lord seeking His divine grace. Singing groups led the congregations with devotional songs. Worshippers chanted mantras in praise to Lord Krishna and they rocked symbolic hammocks for the lord as a baby. The pandit explained that by worshipping Lord Krishna, internal enemies are destroyed and are replaced by love, cheerfulness, compassion, and devotion to others.