Shri Krishna Janmashtami

The great festival of Bhagavan Shri Krishna's appearance at midnight in the prison of Mathura, celebrated across India with fasting, devotional singing and joy.

Janmashtami is the holy day on which Bhagavan Shri Krishna appeared in this world. According to the Shrimad Bhagavatam, the tyrant king Kansa had imprisoned his sister Devaki and her husband Vasudeva, because a heavenly voice had declared that Devaki's eighth child would bring about his end. At midnight, under the Rohini nakshatra, the Lord first revealed Himself in His four-armed form and then became a newborn child. By His will the prison doors opened and the guards fell asleep, and Vasudeva carried the baby across the swollen Yamuna to Gokul, leaving Him in the home of Nanda Baba and Yashoda Maiya.

The festival falls on Bhadrapada Krishna Ashtami (Shravan Krishna Ashtami in the amanta calendar used in Gujarat), which usually comes in August or September. In some years the Smarta and Vaishnava traditions observe it on two consecutive days.

Devotees keep a fast through the day. Temples and homes are decorated with jhankis, tableaux showing scenes from Krishna's life, and Laddu Gopal is placed in a little cradle and gently swung. Exactly at midnight the birth is celebrated with conch shells, bells and joyful cries, the deity is bathed with panchamrit, and only then is the fast broken. The Krishna Janmabhoomi temple in Mathura, the temples of Vrindavan, the Dwarkadhish temple in Dwarka and the Ranchhodrai temple in Dakor overflow with pilgrims.

In Maharashtra the next day is marked by Dahi Handi, also called Gopalkala, when teams form human pyramids to break a pot of curd hung high above the street, recalling the child Krishna's butter-stealing play. In Braj and Gujarat the following day is Nand Utsav, when the joy of a son born in Nanda's house is shared by distributing curd, turmeric and sweets and singing songs of congratulation.

Tithi

Bhadrapada Krishna Ashtami (Shravan Krishna Ashtami in the amanta calendar used in Gujarat)

Month

August–September

Places

Mathura, Vrindavan, Gokul, Dwarka, Dakor, Mumbai