Traditional Janmashtami Pooja

 Amgil ghara Janmashtami Pooja

Sri Krishna on Lotus after Abhishekam

 

Krishna Janmashtami Pooja is performed to celebrate the birth of Lord Krishna.
Krishna took birth at midnight on the ashtami or the 8th day (Ashtami tithi) of the Krishnapaksha or dark fortnight in the Hindu month of Shravan (August-September) when the Rohini Nakshatra is ascendant. This auspicious day is called Janmashtami. Indian as well as Western scholars have now accepted the period between 3200 and 3100 BC as the period in which Lord Krishna lived on earth. Read about the story of his birth.
Note: Wikipedia seems to believe it is Bhadra month??

We always perform the pooja ourselves at home, this time I felt to document some parts of it. I have also prepared basic lists of items needed for astami, mom prepared pancha khajjai, besan laddo, sweet jaggery phoha, Kayi (coconut) holige, & I made charmuri peanut laddo.

I remember during my childhood days, how me & sis along brother used to wait for the pooja to get over...as we used to eagerly wait for the laddo and rest prasadam.

For my community "Daivajna Brahmins", the Janmashtami day is awaited eagerly mostly for the varieties of yummy food that is prepared. 
Traditionally 108 different delicacies are offered to the Lord at midnight, and then happily consumed by hungry devotees [you can view this link for this year 2011 celebration at Udupi mutt].
For those operating on a budget, 56 dishes are offered (chappan bhog). Ofcourse, in our recession-hit days even this seems a bit much. We settled for 5 Neivedyam he he he :)

Janmashtami Pooja generally takes the form of welcoming the Lord as one would a guest. As in most poojas, only males who wear the sacred thread (after "Moonji"/Upanayana) perform the pooja & you know probably the ladies were too busy with all the cooking)

My Dad used to follow procedures as mentioned in a well-thumbed kannada book (Sri Krishna Janmashtami by Prabhakar Press Ltd, Udupi), this time my brother has taken over for all the festive pooja's and I'm glad he performs them well :)

Before the pooja starts the person who perform the pooja chants 108 names of Lord Krishna, Shri Krishna Ashtottara Shatanaamavali offering for each name a tulsi dul (leaf pair). So my mom or me/sis keep ready 108 tulsi dull for offering.
Many of the lord's names are tongue twisters so it may run longer if you stumble on each name :)

Reading the ashtotara as its a good vocabulary :P
If there are several people and you are in hurry, it can be divided, in a Divide and Conquer Strategy eg. 25 each
For even shorter pooja, it is sufficient to say the following.
"Hare Krishna Hare Krishna,
Krishna Krishna Hare Hare,
Hare Rama Hare Rama,
Rama Rama Hare Hare"

Fasting

The persons involving themselves in the pooja are required to fast. Fasting in this case is defined as abstaining from consuming meat, onion, garlic and carbohydrates( in konkani called as karkate). Water, all Milk products, fruit, vegetables, food grains like lentils may be consumed.

Neivedyam:
For any Hindu pooja, everyone knows the most important part is the prasad. It is prepared before hand (and only after the person who is preparing it has bathed). It is not tasted before offering it to God.
As I mentioned above we prepared 5 items this year:
1. Pancha kajjai
2. Besan & wheatflour laddo
3. Jaggery phoha [gOD phov(konkani)]
4. Kayi (coconut) holige
5. & I made charmuri peanut laddo [Churmundo(though it was nt round he he)]

Besan & wheat flour laddo

Wheat flour (90%) and besan (10%) (gram flour)
with powdered sugar, ghee, cardamom and raisins
Besan & wheatflour laddo recipe:
Fry wheat flour, besan in ghee/ dalda (fry till u get good roasted smell) then add sugar powder, cardamom powder, raisen/ cashew. mix well under medium flame. Now let it asie to cool, now make laddo.

Charmuri & peanut laddo [Churmundo (konkani)]

I made this as it is very quick to make
Melt jagger to string consistency, with jaggery and one cup of water.
Remove from fire. Mix in Charmuri, peanut pieces & little ghee. Form into lime-sized balls.[Dip fingers in water as jaggery will be sticky & it also helps to make laddo even]

Jaggery phoha [gOD phov(konkani)]

 Melt jaggery , add grated coconut, cardamom powder, phoha & ghee. Mix well

Kayi (coconut) holige along ghee [Narla ubbatti(konkani)]  Its very easy!

Making dough:
1/2 cup all purpose flour or maida, 1/2 cup chiroti rava(wheat sooji), pinch salt, 1 tbl spn oil
Method:
Mix flour, rava, salt with water to make a soft dough(Do not make the dough very hard). Now add oil and mix well. Leave this dough for around 1-2hrs.
HooraNa for stuffing:
1 cup grated coconut (fresh or frozen), 1/2 cup poppy seeds(khus khus), 1 cup jaggery, 1/4 tea spn cardamom powder(optional), 1 tea spn ghee
Increase or decrease the jaggery according to taste.
Method:
Heat ghee and fry coconut for around 5mins on a medium heat till it becomes dry. Now add the jaggery and mix till the jaggery is melted and mixed well with coconut. Switch off the heat.
Now grind this mixture to a coarse powder.
Roast poppy seeds on a medium flame till a nice aroma comes out of it. Mix this with powdered jaggery-coconut and cardamom. Mix with hand.
Procedure to make obbattu:
Make a medium ball of stuffing and keep aside.
Make small thick puri of dough & place the stuffing in middle and fold the dough to round ball then press it using belan like as you do for chapati.
Heat a tava and shallow fry the obbattu on both sides. Apply some ghee to it while frying.

Pancha kajjai (easy to make)

Bengal gram (roasted and powdered), White Sesame seeds ( roasted), gratted coconut, Jaggery powder, Cardamom powder, Ghee (optional)
Mix gratted coconut, Jaggery powder, Cardamom powder together. Add Bengal gram powder and White Sesame seedst o this mixture.
Put optional 1-2 tbl spoons ghee on top for aroma..