Govardhan Puja 2026

Who Celebrates This Festival?

• Families: Families keep this festival at home, worshipping Govardhan (Giriraj), the hill Lord Krishna lifted, and honouring their cows. It is a feast day, with no fast to be kept.
• Devotees of Krishna: Devotees visit Krishna temples to see the Annakut, and in Braj they walk round Giriraj in circumambulation (Parikrama).

When Should This Be Performed?

• Morning Preparation: The oil bath, the worship of the cows and the shaping of Govardhan are done in the morning. Check the morning muhurat for your city on this page.
• Puja Muhurat: The Govardhan Puja is done in the morning muhurat or in the muhurat from afternoon to evening, and many families keep the main puja for the evening. A third muhurat falls at Godhuli Vela (dusk, when the cows return home). Check the puja muhurat for your city on this page.
• Annakut and Parikrama: The Annakut is offered and the seven rounds are made after the puja, on the same day.

The Vrat Katha (Story of Krishna and Govardhan)

Once upon a time in Braj, Indra, the king of the gods, had grown proud, and Lord Krishna resolved to humble him. One day Krishna saw all the people of Braj (the Brajvasis) busy cooking fine dishes for a puja, and he asked his mother Yashoda whom they were preparing to worship. She told him that they were readying an Annakut for Indra, who sends the rain that grows the grain and the fodder for their cows.

Krishna said that they should worship Govardhan, where their cows graze, and not a proud god who never shows himself and grows angry if he is not worshipped. The people of Braj listened and worshipped Govardhan instead. Insulted, Indra sent a downpour like the great deluge, and the people, frightened, began to blame Krishna.

Krishna tucked his flute into his waist and lifted the whole of Govardhan on his little finger. He called out: "Come, all of you, with your cows and calves, and take shelter beneath the hill." He told the Sudarshan Chakra to stay above the hill and check the rain, and Sheshnag to build a ridge to keep the water out.

After seven days Indra went to Brahma, who told him that Krishna was Narayana himself. Ashamed, Indra asked Krishna's forgiveness and worshipped him with an offering of food. Krishna set the hill down on the seventh day and told the people to keep this festival every year. Since that day, Govardhan Puja and the Annakut have been celebrated on the day after Diwali.

Samagri List (Items Needed)

Gather these items before starting the morning puja:

• Govardhan Figure: Fresh cow dung, an image of Krishna for the middle, a crown and a cloth for Govardhan, flowers, leaves and twigs, Apamarg (Chirchita), and Khil (puffed rice)
• Navel Offerings: A clay Diya and a Katori for the navel, milk, Dahi (curd), Gangajal, honey, Batashe (sugar drops), and a Jharni (perforated ladle)
• Tilak & Lamps: Roli, Kumkum, Haldi, rice, a Diya with Ghee, and Dhoop (incense)
• For the Cows: Colours, peacock feathers, Geru or oil for the horns, Ghee, a new rope for the neck, and Gur (jaggery) mixed with rice to feed them
• Food Offerings (Naivedya): Sugarcane, Kheer, and the Annakut dishes as you can afford, such as Puri, Halwa, Laddoo, Kadhi, rice, seasonal vegetables, and fruit like pomegranate and banana
• For the Parikrama: A Lota of water and Jau (barley grains)

Puja Vidhi (Step-by-Step Guide)

Follow these step-by-step instructions carefully to perform the ritual correctly:

Step 1: Morning Bath and Worship of the Cows

1. Rub oil on your body, bathe, and wear clean clothes.
2. Sit with the puja items and meditate on your family deities (Kul Devta and Kul Devi).
3. Bathe the cows and calves, colour them, decorate them with peacock feathers, put oil or Geru on their horns, and tie a new rope round the neck. Worship them as a form of Goddess Lakshmi.
4. Put Ghee on the horns and feed them Gur mixed with rice.

Step 2: Shaping Govardhan (in the Morning Muhurat)

1. In the muhurat, shape Govardhan from fresh cow dung as a reclining man, drawing the eyes and nose with a stick (or, if you have no cow dung, set an image of Govardhan on a Chowki and bathe it with Panchamrit).
2. Make small cows, calves and trees of cow dung around him, and decorate him with flowers, leaves, twigs, Khil, Haldi and Kumkum.
3. Place the image of Krishna in the middle, and apply a white or yellow Tilak on Govardhan's forehead.
4. Make a Katori-sized hollow at the navel, set a clay Diya or Katori in it, and pour in milk, Dahi, Gangajal, honey and Batashe.

Step 3: Offering the Puja (Evening)

1. Lighting the Lamp: Light a Ghee Diya and Dhoop before Govardhan.
2. Offering Kumkum and Water: Offer Kumkum and water to Govardhan.
3. Offering Flowers, Fruit and Sugarcane: Offer flowers, fruit, sugarcane and Naivedya.
4. Offering Dahi: Pour a Katori of Dahi at the navel and sprinkle it over the figure through a Jharni.

Step 4: Reciting the Mantras

1. Take a thali with rice, Roli, Batashe, Kheer, water and milk.
2. Light a lamp, recite this verse and offer flowers: "गोवर्धन धराधार गोकुलत्राणकारक। विष्णुबाहुकृतोच्छ्राय गवां कोटिप्रदो भव॥" (O Govardhan, bearer of the earth, protector of Gokul, raised by the arm of Vishnu, be the giver of cows without number).
3. Then, for the cow, recite: "लक्ष्मीर्या लोकपालानां धेनुरूपेण संस्थिता। घृतं वहति यज्ञार्थे मम पापं व्यपोहतु॥"
4. Conclude with "ॐ गोवर्धनाय नमः".

Step 5: Annakut, Parikrama and Aarti

1. Offer the Annakut as you can afford: Dal, rice, Kadhi and vegetables, Kheer, Puri, Halwa, sweets such as Pede, Barfi, Laddoo and Jalebi, fruit, and chutney and Murabba.
2. Go round Govardhan seven times (Parikrama) singing Govardhan songs: one person pours a stream of water from a Lota, and another sows Jau as you go.
3. Perform the Shri Govardhan Maharaj Aarti, "Shri Govardhan Maharaj, o Maharaj, tere mathe mukut viraj raheo", with the lit Ghee lamp.

Step 6: Annakut in Braj and Pushtimarg Temples

1. If you are in Braj, join the milk Abhishek of Giriraj at Daan Ghati, Mukut Mukharvind (Mansi Ganga) and Jatipura Mukharvind, which goes on from dawn to night.
2. Walk the Parikrama of Giriraj, a circuit of twenty-one kilometres by Anyor, Poonchhri, Jatipura and Mansi Ganga (some devotees make it by prostrating at every step, Dandauti).
3. In the Pushtimarg temples, see the Govardhan made of cow dung, the milk Abhishek and then the Annakut.
4. Many temples offer the Chhappan Bhog (fifty-six dishes) in the evening.

Step 7: Sharing the Prasad

1. Share the prasad with your family, including the milk, Dahi and other offerings from the navel of Govardhan.
2. Give some of the prasad to the poor.
3. On this day Lord Krishna and Lord Vishwakarma are also worshipped, and artisans honour their tools.