Raaslila in Mathura

Raaslila in Mathura is of special significance and forms an important part of the celebrations of Janmasthami. It is important to know about Raaslila, which is basically a musical drama, whose storyline revolves around the different important incidents from the childhood of Lord Krishna.

There are special mentions in the Bhagwat Purana of Raaslila. The different pranks that Lord Krishna used to play with the village girls, the gopis, form the base of the Raaslila. Bhagwat Purana also mentions how Lord Krishna used to perform raas with the gopis by the Yamuna River. There is a belief that the gopis, after being separated from Lord Krishna, used to recollect the divine incidents from the life of Lord Krishna and enact them. These performances later came to be known as Raaslila. This is how the concept of Raaslila gained in its importance.

Raaslila are performed in Mathura on Janmasthami, the birthday of Lord Krishna. People love watching the performers enact important and divine incidents from the life of Lord Krishna, their idol. One important thing should be mentioned here. Raaslila is strictly performed by Brahmin boys of 13 and 14 years of age.

However, today the Raaslila performances are attributed to Shri Narayan Bhatt and Swami Haridas. Thus, it can be concluded that Raaslila is one of the important Mathura Festivals.