Krishna Janmashtami 2027कृष्ण जन्माष्टमी

When is Krishna Janmashtami?

Observed on Krishna Ashtami, Bhadrapada month. Dates follow the Panchang for New Delhi and can differ by a day in other places — check the Panchang for your city.

What Krishna Janmashtami means

Krishna Janmashtami celebrates the birth of Shri Krishna, the eighth avatar of Vishnu, at midnight on the eighth day (Ashtami) of the dark half of Bhadrapada (Shravan in the North Indian purnimanta calendar), under the Rohini nakshatra. Devotees fast through the day, keep vigil with bhajans, and at midnight bathe and worship the infant Krishna, Bal Gopal, and rock him in a cradle.

Krishna is loved in every one of his forms: the butter-stealing child of Gokul, the flute-playing cowherd of Vrindavan, the friend of Radha and the gopis, the king of Dwarka, and the charioteer who taught Arjuna the Bhagavad Gita. On Janmashtami the whole of that life is remembered — in jhankis (tableaux), in the reading of the tenth book of the Bhagavata Purana, and in the Dahi Handi of the next day.

In the Gita, Krishna himself explains why he takes birth: 'Whenever dharma declines and adharma rises, I manifest myself.' Janmashtami is a reminder that the divine comes into the darkest of places — a prison, at midnight, in a tyrant's kingdom — to set things right.

The story of Krishna Janmashtami

The tyrant Kansa ruled Mathura after imprisoning his own father. At the wedding of his sister Devaki to Vasudeva, a voice from the sky declared that her eighth child would kill him. Kansa threw the couple into prison and killed each child as it was born. The seventh, Balarama, was secretly transferred to the womb of Rohini in Gokul.

The Bhagavata Purana describes the eighth birth at midnight, in darkness, 'as the full moon rises in the east'. Krishna first appeared to his parents in his four-armed form as Vishnu and then became an infant. The prison doors opened and the guards fell asleep. Vasudeva carried the baby in a basket across the Yamuna, swollen with the monsoon, while the serpent Shesha spread his hoods above them like an umbrella and the river gave way.

In Gokul, Vasudeva left Krishna beside Yashoda, wife of the cowherd chief Nanda, and took back her newborn daughter — Yogamaya, the Lord's own power. When Kansa tried to dash the girl against a stone, she rose into the sky as the goddess and told him his destroyer was already born and safe. The next day Nanda celebrated the birth of a son: the Nandotsav that follows Janmashtami.

Krishna Janmashtami puja vidhi, step by step

A Janmashtami puja for home, ending with the midnight janma. Smarta and Vaishnava families often keep the fast on different days — see the timing note.

What you need

• A murti or picture of Bal Gopal (Laddu Gopal) and a small cradle (jhula or palna)
• Panchamrit (milk, curd, ghee, honey, sugar), Ganga water or clean water for abhishek
• New clothes, a flute, peacock feather and ornaments for Bal Gopal
• Tulsi leaves (essential for Krishna), flowers, sandal paste
• A ghee diya, incense and camphor
• Naivedya: makhan-mishri, dhaniya panjiri, panchamrit, kheer, fruits and sweets — or chappan bhog where it is the custom

When to do the puja

In 2027 Ashtami runs from the evening of 24 August to the evening of 25 August (New Delhi). Smarta households, who follow Ashtami at midnight, keep Janmashtami on 24 August with the puja at midnight that night; Vaishnava traditions such as ISKCON keep it on Wednesday, 25 August. The Rohini nakshatra does not coincide with midnight Ashtami this year. Check the Panchang for the nishita muhurat in your city. See the Panchang for your city.

Steps

1. Fast. Take a sankalp in the morning. Keep a nirjala or phalahar fast — fruit, milk, makhana, sabudana — as health allows, without grains.
2. Decorate. Decorate the puja place and the cradle with flowers, and set up a jhanki of Krishna's birth if you like.
3. Evening and night. Read the birth story from the tenth book of the Bhagavata, or the Gita, and sing bhajans and the Mahamantra.
4. Midnight janma. At the nishita hour, bathe Bal Gopal with panchamrit and water (abhishek), dress and adorn him, offer tulsi and flowers, and place him in the cradle while the family sings and blows the conch.
5. Bhog and aarti. Offer makhan-mishri, panjiri and the other bhog, and do the aarti 'Aarti Kunj Bihari ki'. Then gently rock the cradle.
6. Breaking the fast. Many break the fast with prasad after the midnight puja; others wait until the next morning (parana) after Ashtami and Rohini have ended. The next day is Nandotsav, with Dahi Handi in Maharashtra.

Offerings & food: 56 bhog (chappan bhog) — makkhan-mishri, panchamrit, dhaniya panjiri, kheer, laddoos

Mantras for Krishna Janmashtami

Krishna Janmashtami across India

Grandest at Mathura, Vrindavan, Gokul (Krishna's birthplace/childhood). Dahi Handi matkis in Mumbai/Thane. ISKCON temples worldwide with 24-hour kirtan. Udupi Krishna temple in Karnataka. Guruvayur Krishna temple in Kerala.

Mathura and Vrindavan

At Krishna Janmabhoomi in Mathura and at Banke Bihari, ISKCON and hundreds of temples in Vrindavan, the midnight abhishek is the climax of days of celebration; Banke Bihari holds its rare mangala aarti only on this night.

Gokul and Nandgaon

The Nandotsav of the next day re-enacts Nanda's joy — curd and turmeric are thrown in celebration and gifts are given.

Maharashtra

Dahi Handi (Gopalkala): teams of 'govindas' form human pyramids to break a pot of curd hung high above the street, recalling the child Krishna stealing butter.

Gujarat

Dwarka's Dwarkadhish temple and Dakor's Ranchhodraiji temple draw vast crowds; homes hold night-long bhajans and the celebration of Nand Mahotsav.

South India

As Gokulashtami or Sri Jayanti, small footprints are drawn from the door to the puja room, as if the child Krishna had walked in; seedai, murukku and appam are offered. Guruvayur and Udupi hold grand celebrations.

Manipur and Odisha

Krishna Janma is celebrated with Ras Lila dance in Manipur's temples; in Odisha the Puri temple observes the birth with its own rites.

Prayers to recite

Do’s and don’ts

Temples to visit for Krishna Janmashtami

Banke Bihari TempleVrindavan, Uttar PradeshDwarkadhish Temple MathuraMathura, Uttar PradeshDwarkadhish TempleDwarka, GujaratISKCON VrindavanVrindavan, Uttar Pradesh

Frequently asked questions