Lord Krishna of the Banke Bihari temple in Vrindavan will be draped in clothes made by Uttar Pradesh jail inmates on this Janamashtami.

Mathura (UP):Lord Krishna in the iconic Banke Bihari temple of Vrindavan will be draped in clothes made by by inmates housed in jails of Uttar Pradesh on the occasion of Janmashtami. The inmates have prepared clothes, including a lehenga, pichawai (a cloth that hangs in the background), odhani and bichauna (a cloth on which Banke Bihari ji is placed), kamarband (waistband) and chotila (head gear) for Banke Bihari ji, UP prison and home guards Minister Dharamveer Prajapati said.

Prajapati revealed that these items of clothing were made by eight prisoners of Mathura district jail in a week. The minister revealed that the prisoners used different types of designer cloth with exclusive coloured embroidery to make these clothes for Banke Bihari.

“The prisoners were also paid for preparing these clothes for Lord Krishna,” he said.

Prajapati informed that the Mathura prisoners had been making these clothes for Shri Krishna Janmashtami every year but this year they expressed their desire to prepare clothes for Banke Bihari.

He said the jail authorities approached the head priest of Banke Bihari temple and shared the prisoners’ desire.

“The inmates were asked to prepare these clothes after getting consent from the head priest,” he said.

Jail minister Prajapati along with the Mathura jail superintendent will go to Banke Bihari temple on Wednesday and hand over the dress prepared by the prisoners to the head priest of the temple. The minister will offer prayers at the temple on Janmashtami.

Banke Bihari Temple

The Banke Bihari temple, located in the Vrindavan town of Mathura district of Uttar Pradesh, is dedicated to the “Banke Bihari ji” which is believed to be a combined form of Lord Krishna and his paramour/consort Radha.

Banke Bihari was originally worshipped at Nidhivan in Vrindavan.

(With IANS inputs)