On Wednesday, September 6th we will be celebrating Sri Krishna Janmastami, the appearance day of Lord Krishna. This occasion marks the biggest and grandest celebration at Toronto’s Hare Krishna Temple. Lord Krishna appeared over five thousand years ago in Mathura. His name means the all-attractive one. He is transcendental, all-knowing, and possesses all the qualities of all the avatars yet He remains as an ever-youthful cowherd boy. His beauty and sweetness know no bounds. Lord Krishna is the spiritual master and friend to all.
We are expecting large crowds as usual and will be making special arrangements for a pleasant experience for all. Beginning at 4 pm there will be special darshans of the Deities; this will continue until 11pm with the last admittance to the building at 10:45pm. The process will be for short visits where visitors will have the opportunity to have darshan (audience) of the Deities amidst melodious kirtans. This includes being able to swing the Birthday Boy himself in a specially decorated swing as well as receive a package of light take-out prasadam. Please see the map below explaining the traffic flow route. We are requesting visitors to leave the Temple after this experience so we can accommodate the crowds in a safe and pleasant atmosphere.
While the main public program will begin at 4pm The Temple will be open all day and buzzing with activity on Janmastami day starting at 4:30am with Mangala arati. Morning festivities also feature Darshan arati at 7am where Thier Lordships are unveiled in thier new outfit as well as a discourse on Srimad Bhagvatam. Additionally, evening celebrations culminate with abisheka at 11:30pm and the final midnight arati where their lordships wear their annual fresh flower outfit!
As always we cannot pull off such grand festivities without your support. There are various sponsorship opportunities to serve the deities and guests from sweets, flowers to water etc. Please click HERE to learn more about these sponsorship opportunities!
Parking:
- Roxborough and Macpherson streets have free parking along the street between 6pm and 12am. From 10am to 6pm, there is one-hour parking on these streets.
- There is also metered parking on Avenue Rd, please follow the posted signage.
- There are paid parking lots located at 251 Macpherson Ave, Toronto, ON M4V 1A2 and 87 Avenue Rd, Toronto, ON M5R 3R9 (Whole Foods).
