Different Forms of Lord Krishna

Introduction

If one has seen India in all its splendour and beauty, he/she might have noticed that a single God is worshipped in many different forms. For instance, if we take the example of Lord Vishnu, he has a thousand different names and is venerated in many distinct ways in various states of India. Similar is the case with other Hindu Gods.

Source of the Image: Pinterest

However, none of the Gods' stories is as fascinating as that of Lord Krishna. In Indian mythology, there is a beautiful story that explains the reason for His omnipresence in every Hindu tradition.

The Legend

Many years had passed since the bloody battle of Mahabharat had taken place. Vajranabhi, son of Aniruddha and king of Mathura, wanted to know how did his great-grandfather Krishna looked like. Everybody praised his glory, but nobody remembered how did he exactly look like. So he travelled from Mathura to Hastinapur, hoping to meet someone who could describe his appearance. Krishna had been a steadfast companion of the Pandavas and had spent a lot of time with them, especially with Arjuna, who was a close friend of His.

Source of the Image: Quora

On reaching Hastinapur, Vajranabhi was met by Uttara, daughter of King Virata and the widow of Arjuna's son Abhimanyu. She, now weak and old, still remembered the divine beauty of Krishna and told Vajranabhi everything about him. Her eyes glistened with merriment as she talked about

The king wanted to capture His splendour on stone, and so he commissioned several artists to do this. However, none of them was able to replicate the image of Krishna perfectly. Vajranabhi worshipped all of them.

Source of the image: Lotus Sculpture

As centuries passed, these images were taken to different parts of India where they inspired different cultures and traditions. Each community has its own belief regarding the origin of its deities.

Different names by which Krishna is worshipped:-

In Kerala, He is worshipped by the name of Guruvayurappan. The legend over here is of a child who appeared as the 4-armed Vishnu before his parents.
In Pandharpur of Maharashtra, he is worshipped as Vitthala.
In Odisha, he is worshipped as Sakshi Gopal, the one who became a witness for a man.
In Vrindavan, he is worshipped as Banke Bihari, the one who plays flute and dances beautifully.

There are many more forms of Krishna which, if described, will make this list indefinite.

Maybe the next time we see them, we'll take a minute or so to honour their stories.

Sources of Information:-

1) Shyam: An Illustrated Retelling of the Bhagavata, written by Devdutt Pattanaik

2) Wikipedia

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