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Krishna Story - Why does Krishna wear Peacock Feathers on his head

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    Shri Radha Krishna
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Krishna with peacocks

There's a real story behind Krishna wearing peacock feathers on his head.

Krishna with his cowherd friends

One afternoon, when Krishna woke up from a rest in the forest while his cowherd friends were still asleep, he decided to wake them up and call the cows who were grazing at a distance by playing his flute.

When Krishna started playing the flute, a melodious raga emerged from its end and its wonderful vibration enchanted the peacocks on and around the Govardhana Hill. Their hearts began to sing and they started dancing with joy. Krishna was pleased with their dance and encouraged them by his kind glances and sweet smiling.

Krishna playing flute with peacocks

The peacocks were so full of happiness and gratitude that one of the peacocks went up to Lord Krishna, touched his feet and requested him to dance with them. Krishna happily accepted his request and along with his friends, started dancing with them.

Animals attracted towards Krishna

The peacocks felt on cloud nine when Sri Krishna danced with them. All the animals of the forest were completely mesmerised by his dancing, unable to move their eyes away from Krishna's dance. It was so overwhelming, that some peacocks fainted. The peacocks danced till they grew tired but Lord Krishna went on dancing for days.

Animals attracted towards Krishna

When he stopped dancing, the king of the peacocks approached Krishna with great humility and asked him to accept his feathers (which were his most prized possession) as 'Gurudakshina' for the festival of bliss that Krishna had created. He dropped some of his divine feathers and Lord Krishna lovingly accepted his humble offering, picked up the feathers and placed a few of them on his turban. Since then, Lord Krishna always wears peacock feathers on his head.