Rasleela

Rasleela is one of the divine activities, which Sri krishna played with his gopis on the banks of river Yamuna in Vrindavan. Among all the gopis, Radha was closest to Lord. Her love for Lord Krishna was complete and in its purest form. Sri Krishna was ten years old when he performed Rasleela. Rasleelas are particularly performed in the city of Vrindavan. .

Legend It is said in Bhagavata Puran, that Lord Krishna was loved immensely by gopis. The love that the gopis felt for Lord Krishna was divine and in its purest form. This special bond that Krishna shared with the gopis made them forget all about their worldly chores. The gopis were totally merged in the love of god through the practice of constant surrender. Rasleela During the rasleela Lord Krishna promised the gopis that he will dance with all of them. So Lord Krishna stood in the center surrounded by gopis who danced and sang in his glory. Sometimes Sri Krishna would put his arms around the neck of gopis and all of them would dance together. The Demigods would witness this divine dance and throw flowers from the sky giving their blessings. Lord Krishna Disappearance Performing rasleeela with Lord Krishna, the gopis started considering themselves extremely lucky and superior to other women. One night during Rasleela, Lord Krishna did the disappearing act to teach the gopis a lesson of humility. Not finding Lord Krishna amongst them they became extremely miserable and started praying for his come back. They even sang songs popularly known as Gopika Gitam. Lord returned after many pleadings. Rasleela Today In today's age rasleela is performed only by Brahmin boys between the ages of 10-13 years with the main theme focusing on the formative years of Lord Krishna. There are five main raslilas performed like janamleela- details regarding the birth of Lord Krishna, Shankarleela, Putanaleela- Killing of demoness Putana, And Nagleela- killing of the dreaded serpent Kaliya.