Festival Calendar

Krishna Janmashtami 2026

Krishna's birth at midnight — Bhadrapada Krishna Ashtami prevailing at nishita.

Krishna Janmashtami 2025Krishna Janmashtami 2027
Krishna Janmashtami 2026 date
Friday, 4 September 2026
Tithi: Bhadrapada Krishna Ashtami
Tithi window: 02:29 AM, Friday, 4 September 2026 → 12:19 AM, Saturday, 5 September 2026
See the full panchang for Friday, 4 September 2026

Today's Panchang

Kashi reference · computed live
Tithi
Navami
till 17:50
Nakshatra
Purva Ashadha
till 04:31
Yoga
Saubhagya
Karana
Kaulava
Sunrise
05:45
Sunset
17:57
Moon sign
Sagittarius
Sun sign
Virgo

Muhurat & timings

Kashi/IST · astronomically computed
  • Sankalp (sunrise)05:39
  • Nishita puja (midnight)23:33 – 00:21
  • Fasting window (tithi)02:29 → 2026-09-05 · 00:19
  • Parana (tithi ends)00:192026-09-05

What's specific to Krishna Janmashtami 2026

Kashi / IST reference

In 2026, Krishna Janmashtami falls on a Friday.

It is fixed to a lunar tithi, not a calendar date, so it lands somewhere different each Gregorian year:

Timings computed for this occurrence

  • Sankalp (sunrise)05:39
  • Nishita puja (midnight)23:33 – 00:21
  • Tithi span02:29 → 2026-09-05 · 00:19

Panchang on the day in 2026

  • NakshatraRohini
  • YogaHarshana
  • KaranaBalava
  • Moon signTaurus
  • Sunrise / sunset05:39 – 18:15
  • Rahu Kaal (avoid)10:23 – 11:57

Around Krishna Janmashtami 2026

Observances falling within a week of it in 2026 — the sequence is specific to this year:

See the full panchang for the day itself

Festival days follow the classical attribution rules — udaya (sunrise), pradosha (evening), nishita (midnight), madhyahna or aparahna vyapini as each festival prescribes — computed for Kashi/Varanasi (IST). Regional observance can differ by a day in some years.

Why Krishna Janmashtami is celebrated

Krishna Janmashtami marks the birth of Krishna on the Ashtami of Krishna Paksha in Bhadrapada. Tradition holds that he was born at midnight, in a prison cell, under the Rohini nakshatra — and the observance follows that detail closely. The puja is performed in nishita kaal, the midnight window, not in the morning.

The circumstances matter as much as the birth. Krishna arrives in captivity, to parents awaiting execution, in the reign of a tyrant who has already killed six of their children. The festival is therefore not a celebration of comfort but of the arrival of the divine in exactly the place it seems least possible.

Where the eighth tithi and Rohini nakshatra do not overlap on the same night, the observance can fall on different days for different communities — Smarta and Vaishnava traditions may keep it a day apart. Both are correct within their own reckoning.

Krishna Janmashtami puja vidhi — in brief

  1. Bathe and take the sankalpa (resolve) of the fast in the morning.
  2. Clean the puja space and place an idol or image of the infant Krishna, ideally in a small cradle.
  3. Keep the puja for nishita kaal — the midnight window when the birth is held to have occurred.
  4. At midnight, bathe the idol with panchamrita: milk, curd, ghee, honey and sugar. Then bathe it with water and dress it.
  5. Offer tulsi leaves — no offering to Krishna is complete without them — along with butter, makhan-mishri, and fruit.
  6. Rock the cradle, sing the birth songs, and perform aarti. Blow the conch if one is kept.
  7. Distribute prasad. Break the fast after the puja, and complete the parana the following morning.

Essential puja samagri

  • An image or idol of bal Krishna
  • A small jhula (cradle)
  • Panchamrit (milk, curd, ghee, honey, sugar)
  • Makhan and mishri for bhog
  • Tulsi leaves
  • A flute and peacock feather
  • New clothes and ornaments for the deity
  • Flowers and a garland
  • Chandan, roli, akshat
  • A conch and bell
  • Incense and a diya
Read the Krishna Janmashtami puja vidhi, vrat rules and katha

Krishna Janmashtami — Frequently Asked Questions

Why is Janmashtami puja performed at midnight?

Krishna is held to have been born at midnight under Rohini nakshatra, so the puja is kept for nishita kaal rather than the morning. The fast is broken after it.

Why do Janmashtami dates sometimes differ by a day?

Smarta tradition follows the Ashtami tithi at midnight; Vaishnava tradition may additionally require Rohini nakshatra, and observes udaya-tithi rules differently. When the two do not coincide, the observances separate by a day.

What can be eaten during the Janmashtami fast?

Fruit, milk, curd, water and vrat flours such as kuttu and singhara. Grains, onion and garlic are avoided until the fast is completed the next morning.

Other major festivals in 2026