Krishna's 'sakhis' dance all night to celebrate Janamashtami

Lucknow, Sept 4 (UNI) The Festival of Janamashtami holds special significance for a group of men who dress up like 'Radha', Lord Krishna's beloved, to celebrate the birthday of the blue hued god.

Several such sakhis (friends) of Lord Krishna dance to the tunes of 'Hare Rama-Hare Krishna' in temples across Uttar Pradesh, celebrating his birth.

These cross dressers reach the Krishna Janmabhoomi, Mathura to enjoy the ritualistic dance from various parts of the country.

These devotees believe that the best way to reach out to the god lies in becoming his friend -- and in this case his sakhi.

Devesh Kishore Panda, a former IPS officer of UP cadre, is one such person who always manages to hog more limelight than others.

Claiming to be 'Doosri Radha' (the other Radha), Panda had once reached the office of the DGP with Radha's attire, much to the shock of his colleagues.

While most of the sakhis of Lord Krishna are camera shy at Mathura, Panda invited media to his house in Allahabad to cover a special dance performance as Radha.

Panda danced for almost three hours last night to celebrate Krishna's birthday in front of cameras.

The Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court had recently ordered Panda to pay Rs 7,000 a month as maintenance allowance to his wife Veena.

The couple have been married for 33 years and have two sons, but Mr Panda, who last year took voluntary retirement as IG, now pays no attention to his family.

UNI