When Govardhan Puja falls

Dates are computed astronomically against Kashi sunrise.

The significance of Govardhan Puja

Govardhan Puja puja vidhi

1. 1Clean the courtyard or puja space in the morning and bathe.
2. 2Model a small Govardhan hill from cow dung, shaping trees, cattle and figures on it, and decorate it.
3. 3Place an image of Krishna beside or upon it; some worship Krishna as Giridhari directly.
4. 4Cook the Annakut — a spread of many vegetarian dishes — and heap it before the deity.
5. 5Offer flowers, a lamp, incense, akshat and the Annakut bhog; circumambulate the Govardhan model.
6. 6Read or recall the Govardhan katha, sing bhajans, and perform the aarti.
7. 7Feed and honour the cattle, then distribute the Annakut as prasad.

Mantra

Vrat rules

• There is no compulsory fast; the day is one of cooking, offering and gratitude rather than abstinence.
• A satvik Annakut of many vegetarian dishes is prepared and offered to Krishna before anyone eats.
• Cattle are bathed, garlanded, and fed well as part of the observance.
• The food offered is shared as prasad, ideally with the whole community.
• Grains and new produce of the season are included in the offering as thanks for the harvest.

Common mistakes to avoid

• Treating it as just 'the day after Diwali' — Govardhan Puja is its own festival of Krishna and the cow, not a continuation of Lakshmi Puja.
• Skipping the go-puja; honouring the cow and the ox is central to the day.
• Confusing the Annakut hill of food with ordinary prasad — the offering re-enacts the Govardhan feast and should not be wasted.
• Forgetting that in Gujarat this is Bestu Varas, the new year, and in the west Bali Pratipada — the customs differ.

The vrat katha of Govardhan Puja

Govardhan Puja timeline

1. Morning — building Govardhan

   A model of Govardhan hill is made from cow-dung, decorated with flowers, twigs and figures of Krishna, cows and cowherds.

2. Annakut offering

   A mountain of food — the chhappan bhog, fifty-six dishes — is arranged before Krishna and offered, recalling the feast of Govardhan.

3. Go-puja & parikrama

   Cows and oxen are bathed, garlanded and worshipped; devotees circumambulate the Govardhan model, or the hill itself at Braj.

4. Evening aarti

   The aarti of Giriraj is performed and the annakut prasad distributed to all.

Famous places & temples

Interesting facts

• ◆Annakut means 'mountain of food'; the offering can run to the chhappan bhog, fifty-six dishes said to match Krishna's eight daily meals for the seven days he held the hill.
• ◆The Govardhan parikrama around the hill in Braj is about 21 km, walked by lakhs of pilgrims.
• ◆The festival marks Krishna turning Braj from the ritual worship of Indra to the worship of nature — the hill, the cows, the land that feeds them.
• ◆The same Kartika Shukla Pratipada is Bali Pratipada in the west and Bestu Varas, the Gujarati New Year.

Common questions