Sri Krsna Madhura Utsava

What is Sri Krsna Madhura Utsava?

Sri Krsna Madhura Utsava celebrates Lord Krishna's rasa dance with the gopis of Vrindavan on a full moon night. The word madhura means sweet. In 2027 the festival falls on Sunday, 21 February, the day Srila Narottama Dasa Thakura appeared.

Significance

The Srimad-Bhagavatam describes the rasa dance in Canto 10, chapters 29 to 33. This is how it begins in the moonlit forest of Vrindavan:

The festive rāsa dance commenced, with the gopīs arrayed in a circle. Lord Kṛṣṇa expanded Himself and entered between each pair of gopīs…

Srimad-Bhagavatam 10.33.3

These pastimes are spiritual, not material. In his purport to Srimad-Bhagavatam 10.33.39, Srila Prabhupada explains that hearing them works in the opposite way to worldly romance, for a devotee who hears with faith conquers lust. The rasa dance is remembered at several festivals through the Vaishnava year, and this is one of them.

How to observe it

Devotees worship Sri Sri Radha and Krishna with many flowers in a rasa mandapa among the gopis. Because it is a full moon night, pots of sweet rice (payasam) are traditionally left out so that the Lord may enjoy them during His rasa dance. It is also a good day to hear the Rasa-lila chapters with faith and to sing Srila Narottama Dasa Thakura's songs about Radha and Krishna.