Lord Krishna is one of the most powerful incarnations of Vishnu. He is the 8^th avataar, and the most popular of all the Vishnu avataars. Lord Krishna is dark and extremely handsome. The word Krishna literally means ‘black’, and black also signifies mysteriousness. He is the God of protection, compassion and love. A peacock feather is an integral part of his crown.

There are many portrayals of Lord Krishna. He is mostly depicted as an infant eating butter or a young boy playing the flute or a cowherd enjoying with his friends. He is shown with Radha who is his pure love. He is also shown blowing the conch and also a charioteer giving guidance to Arjun during the Mahabharata war.

The birthday of Krishna is called Janmashtami, a special occasion for Hindus that is celebrated around the world. Krishna’s birth has a famous story. Krishna’s parents- Devaki and Vasudeva were imprisoned by the evil Kansa. Kansa was Devaki’s brother who had imprisoned his own father for the throne. According to a prophecy, Kansa came to know that he will be killed by Devaki’s eight son and hence he imprisoned his own sister and brother-in-law. The evil Kansa killed each of Devaki’s six children. When Devaki was pregnant with the seventh child, the fetus was miraculously transferred to another lady called Rohini in Vrindavan. This child was Balaram and was the Supreme Lord’s miracle.

 Krishna, the eight child, was born at the stroke of midnight in the jail. As soon as he was born, all the guards fell into deep slumber and the locks opened automatically.  Vasudeva carried baby Krishna in a basket and crossed the flooded Yamuna River where the king serpent Adishesha protected baby Krishna from the torrential rains. This is how baby Krishna was miraculously transferred by his father Vasudeva to Gokul at Yashoda and Nand’s house.

When Vasudeva reached Nand’s house, he saw that Yashoda had given birth to a baby girl. He picked the girl and returned to his prison, hoping that Kansa would spare the life of a girl and the prophecy had mentioned that Devaki’s eight son would kill him. But Kansa snatched the baby and attempted to kill by throwing her against the wall. Miraculously, the baby girl transformed to Goddess Durga and informed Kansa that Devaki’s eight son was alive and would soon come to kill him.  

Lord Krishna has 108 names. Some of the popular names are Madhav, Gopal, Hari, Kanha, Keshav, Radhe and Achyuta. He rescued 16000 women from the clutches of the demon Narkasura who had kept them captive and later married them to protect their honour.