‘All should make efforts to free Ganga of pollution’
VARANASI: Amid chanting of ‘Har Har Mahadev’ and ‘Vrindavan Bihari Lal Ki Jai’, the famous Naag Natya Leela, a part of Krishna Leela showing Lord Krishna’s victory over Kalia Naag, was performed on the Ganga, here, on Wednesday.
The show was guided by Akhada Goswami Tulsidas manager and Sankatmochan Temple chief priest Vishwambhar Nath Mishra. Akhada Goswami Tulsidas organises the Naag Natya at Tulsi Ghat every year in the month of Kartika. Several people gathered at Tulsi Ghat to watch the Naag Natya. Like every year, this year too, Kunwar Anant Narayan Singh attended the event. On behalf of the people of Kashi, Mishra welcomed Singh by offering him flowers.
In their presence, the Naag Natya Leela was performed. A boy playing the role of Lord Krishna jumped into the Ganga to bring out the ball that had fallen in. There he battled (an effigy of) Kalia Naag and defeated him. After that Lord Krishna climbed on the head of Kalia Naag who lifted him to the surface of the Ganga, with Lord
Krishna in a flute-playing pose. As soon as Lord Krishna appeared, people chanted ‘Jai Sri Krishna’ and ‘Vrindavan Bihar Lal Ki Jai’. The Kunvar garlanded the ‘Lord’ and presented him with a guinea on the completion of the Leela. Mishra said that the more than 450-year-old tradition of Naag Natya was performed to maintain the tradition in the presence of a limited number of people. He said that the need of the hour is that the way Lord Krishna freed Yamuna from pollution by defeating Kalia Naag, similarly everyone should come forward and play an active role in freeing Ganga.