Govardhan Puja 2026: Date & Puja Muhurat

Significance of Govardhan Puja

Govardhan Puja falls on the first day of the bright fortnight of Kartik, the fourth day of Diwali. It honours Krishna as the lifter of Govardhan, the hill in Braj that sheltered his village from Indra's storm. Its other name, Annakut, means a mountain of food, after the great offering made that day.

The festival turns worship from the sky to the ground underfoot. Krishna asked the cowherds of Braj to honour the hill, the cows and the land that fed them, rather than make their yearly sacrifice to Indra. That is why the day joins worship of the hill with worship of cows and a feast for everyone.

Govardhan Puja carries special weight in the Pushtimarg, Gaudiya and Swaminarayan traditions. In Braj, at Nathdwara and in ISKCON and Swaminarayan temples, Annakut is among the biggest festivals of the year.

The story of Govardhan Puja

The Bhagavata Purana tells how the cowherds of Braj prepared each year for a sacrifice to Indra, the god of rain. The young Krishna questioned it. The hill gave grass to their cows and water to their village, he said, so their worship should go to Govardhan.

The villagers agreed, and Indra in his anger sent a storm of torrential rain. For seven days Krishna held the hill aloft on one small finger, an umbrella of rock over every family and every cow in the village. At last Indra saw his mistake, and the rain stopped.

When the rain cleared, the villagers made a great offering of food to the hill. Krishna is said to have accepted it in the form of the mountain itself. That first offering is the model for the Annakut made today.

How to do Govardhan Puja at home

1. Morning oil bath Begin with an oil bath and clean clothes, as on the other mornings of Diwali.
2. Honour the cows If you keep a cow, bathe and decorate her, colour her horns and offer her the first portion of the day's cooking. Otherwise, feed a cow nearby with some of the food you have made.
3. Make the Govardhan In the courtyard or on a clean board, shape a small Govardhan from cow dung, often as a reclining figure. Families who cannot use cow dung shape it from cooked grain or sweets. Decorate it with flowers, small clay cows, twigs for trees and a sprig of apamarga.
4. Set the navel bowl Place a small earthen lamp or bowl at the navel of the figure. It will hold the liquid offerings later.
5. Prepare the Annakut Cook what your family can manage, such as rice, wheat dishes, kadhi made with gram flour, a leafy vegetable and sweets. Arrange the food before the Govardhan and an image of Krishna.
6. Worship the hill and Krishna During the muhurat shown above, offer water, sandalwood, flowers, incense and a lamp, then present the food as naivedya. Fill the navel bowl with milk, honey, curd, batashas and Gangajal.
7. Walk the parikrama In many North Indian homes the family walks around the Govardhan seven times while singing Krishna's names. One person pours a thin stream of water along the path while another scatters kheel (puffed rice) or barley.
8. Aarti and prasad Perform the Govardhan aarti. Share the contents of the navel bowl and the Annakut as prasad with family, neighbours and visitors.
9. Evening observances Some households also worship King Bali in the evening. Craftsmen in some regions honour Vishwakarma with their tools and machines on this day.

Govardhan Puja samagri

• Cow dung, or cooked grain or sweets, for the Govardhan
• Small clay cows and twigs or grass for decoration
• A sprig of apamarga
• Small earthen lamp or bowl for the navel
• Picture or murti of Krishna
• Flowers and garlands
• Sandalwood paste, kumkum and akshat (unbroken rice)
• Incense sticks, ghee lamp and camphor
• Milk, curd, honey, Gangajal and batashas
• Kheel or barley for the parikrama
• A water vessel with a spout
• Annakut dishes: rice, wheat dishes, kadhi, a leafy vegetable and sweets
• Tulsi leaves for the naivedya
• Colour and oil for decorating a cow, if you keep one
• Betel leaves, supari and dakshina

Regional traditions

Braj (Mathura and Vrindavan)

Cooked grains are piled into the shape of the hill, and crowds walk around Govardhan itself on Annakut day.

Nathdwara and Pushtimarg temples

The deity may be bathed in milk and dressed in ornate clothing before the Annakut is offered.

Swaminarayan mandirs

Annakut is often the largest festival of the year. Sadhus arrange the food in tiers, devotees sing thaal hymns describing each dish, and the offering is shared as prasad after the arti.

ISKCON temples

Temple kitchens shape a sweet Govardhan out of halva, often topped with a sacred stone from the hill. Devotees honour the temple cows, circle the sweet hill singing, and then share it as a feast.

Gujarat

The day is the Gujarati new year. People visit temples and exchange new-year greetings with neighbours.

Maharashtra and Karnataka

The day is kept as Bali Pratipada, remembering Vamana's victory over King Bali. In many Karnataka villages cattle are decorated and worshipped.

Annakut

Annakut is the offering at the centre of the day. Dishes are set out in tiers before the deity, with milk sweets nearest and savoury food further out. A central mound of cooked grain stands for the hill. After the worship the food is prasad and is shared as widely as possible.

Many temples and families prepare chhappan bhog, fifty-six items. Traditions explain the number differently. A popular account says Krishna ate eight times a day and went without food for the seven days he held the hill. Others count the eight watches (prahars) of the day. Lists vary from temple to temple, so treat the items below as a guide. Our chhappan bhog article lists the dishes in more detail.

At home there is no fixed count. A few dishes cooked with care and offered with devotion make a full Annakut.

• Milk sweets and dairy: kheer, rabri, malai, butter and curd.
• Sweets: laddoos, jalebi, ghewar and rasgulla.
• Grains and breads: rice, dal, khichdi, puri, roti and kachori.
• Savouries: pakode, bhujia and papad.
• Fruits and dry fruits: banana, mango, grapes, almonds, cashews and raisins.
• Closing items: chutney, paan, supari and cardamom.

Govardhan parikrama

Govardhan is a long, low ridge in Mathura district, near Vrindavan. Devotees treat the hill as a form of Krishna, and walking around it is one of the most loved practices of Braj. On Annakut day the circuit draws very large crowds.

The full parikrama is roughly 18 to 21 km, depending on the route. It passes Daan Ghati, Mansi Ganga, Radha Kund, Shyam Kund and Kusum Sarovar, and the villages of Anyor, Jatipura and Poonchhari. At Jatipura, the Mukharavind shrine worships a rock of the hill with milk. On foot it takes most of a day, roughly five to eight hours depending on pace and crowds, and some split the route over two or three days.

Pilgrims keep the hill on their right, walk barefoot where they can and do not climb the hill. Some offer a continuous stream of milk as they walk, and the most devoted complete the circuit by full prostrations, which takes more than a week. Start early, cover your head against the sun, carry water and use an e-rickshaw if the walk is too much.

Govardhan Puja dates