Only trained hands do Krishna shringar at Iskcon Allahabad
Decorating idols of Lord Krishna and goddess Radha with ornaments is no longer a common service offered by the priests at the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (Iskcon) temple here.
They have to be formally trained in it. Only Brahmin priests who have attended the initiation ceremony and passed many levels of priesthood are selected to undergo a formal six months training for ‘Shringar’ techniques of Lord Krishna and goddess Radha in Mayapur in West Bengal.
“Still, it takes years to perfect the ‘Shringar’ . These priests add majestic looks to the idols with their skill and craftsmanship,” shares Venuvijay Das, vice president, ISKCON (Allahabad).
In Allahabad, the job is well handled by a team of trained priests comprising Ramlal Das, Pankajnayan Das, Gokulmohan Das and Swapan Das. Venuvijay Das told HT that the dresses should match with the jewellery items and the looks of Lord Krishna and Radha should complement each other. “On August 17, the deities wore beautiful dresses worth Rs 1.35 lakh made by expert designers of deities’ costumes in Vrindavan. It was very well complemented with similar jewellery. Banking on the creative spur of our craftsmen in Vrindavan, Mayapur and Ujjain, we have been able to get an enthralling collection of real jewellery items for god. Besides, the dress and the ornaments are changed twice daily. The morning ‘Shringar’ will be different from the evening one. It takes 3-4 hours to change the ‘Shringar’ in the morning. The ritual generally begins at 4.30am,” he added. He said that it was because of the team of priests that devotees got ‘darshan’ of Lord Krishna in different images. “The priests hold a meeting a day in advance to decide as to which image of Lord Krishna they will create the next day,” Das said.