Lord Krishna And His Varied Forms

Lord Krishna is called the 'Purna Avatar' of Lord Vishnu. It was only His this avatar in which he was born with all His powers. He could bring Sudarshan Chakra whenever he wanted! He could be present in many forms at the same time etc. Naturally His this avatar is the most varied and colorful of all! 

He is rendered and worshipped in various forms around the world. 

In Maharashtra, people worship Lord Krishna as Lord Vithoba of Pandharpur. Poet-saints of Maharashtra such as Eknath, Tukaram, and Gyaneshwar helped spread Krishna consciousness amongst the masses. In Rajasthan and Gujarat, Lord Krishna is rendered as Lord Shrinathji of Nathdwara.

In Odisha, the Lord is worshipped as Lord Jagannath in the Puri temple. In Assam, it is through the many Namghars, which was established over 500 years ago by Shankardev. Here, there are no images of the Lord! He is worshipped through chanting, singing, dancing, and different performances! 

In Tamil Nadu, Lord Krishna is rarely distinguished from Vishnu. He inspired the collective of poets known as Alvars. In Kerala, about 400 years ago, the Sanskrit poetry known as Narayaniyum was composed. It tells the story of the Bhagavata Purana in a short and lucid form. 

In southeast Asian countries like Cambodia, Lord Krishna is depicted as a hero fighting demons, but there are no references to his pastoral roots. Thus, Lord Krishna who became popular in South East Asia over 1,000 years ago is Vasudev Krishna of the Mahabharata. 

Lord Krishna is thus depicted in different forms in different parts of the world!