Also known as: Janmashtami, Gokulashtami, Krishnashtami, Sri Krishna Jayanti, Sri Jayanti · Observed: Across India, especially Mathura, Vrindavan, Dwarka and Maharashtra
Significance of Janmashtami
Janmashtami celebrates the birth of Lord Krishna, revered as the eighth avatara of Vishnu and, in many Vaishnava traditions, as the Supreme Lord himself. Krishna's life spans the playful cowherd child of Vrindavan, the beloved of Radha and the gopis, the statesman of Dwaraka and the teacher of the Bhagavad Gita on the battlefield of Kurukshetra. His birthday is celebrated as a night of devotion, music and joy, and the stories of his childhood are retold in homes and temples across the land.
The Gita's promise that the Lord appears in every age to protect the good and restore dharma gives the festival its deeper meaning: Krishna's birth in a prison, in the darkest hour, is a sign that divine help comes when it is most needed.
The Story of Krishna's Birth
The Bhagavata Purana tells that King Kamsa of Mathura was warned by a heavenly voice that the eighth child of his sister Devaki would kill him. He imprisoned Devaki and her husband Vasudeva and killed their children one by one. At midnight on the eighth day of the dark fortnight, under Rohini nakshatra, Krishna was born in the prison. The guards fell asleep, the chains fell away and the doors opened. Vasudeva carried the infant in a basket across the flooded Yamuna, which parted for him while the serpent Shesha sheltered the child from the rain. In Gokul he exchanged Krishna for the newborn daughter of Nanda and Yashoda, and returned to the prison. When Kamsa tried to kill the girl, she rose into the sky as the goddess Yogamaya and declared that his destroyer was already safe.
How Janmashtami Is Celebrated
Devotees fast through the day, often without grain, and keep vigil until midnight singing bhajans and reading the Bhagavata. At the hour of birth, the image of the infant Krishna, Laddu Gopal, is bathed in milk, curd, ghee, honey and Ganga water (panchamrita), dressed in new clothes and placed in a decorated cradle, which devotees take turns to rock. Conches and bells announce the birth, and the fast is broken with prasad. Mathura and Vrindavan host enormous celebrations, and temples stage jhankis, tableaux of scenes from Krishna's life.
In Maharashtra and Goa the following day is Gopalkala, celebrated with Dahi Handi, in which teams of young men called govindas form human pyramids to break a pot of curd hung high above the street, recalling the child Krishna stealing butter. In Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, small footprints are drawn with rice flour from the doorway to the puja room to welcome the child Krishna, and seedai, murukku and appam are offered. In Gujarat, Dwarka's temple draws huge crowds, and in Manipur the festival is marked with Ras Lila dance.
How the Date Is Determined
Krishna was born on the Ashtami tithi of the dark fortnight. In the amanta calendar used in the South and West, this is Shravana Krishna Ashtami; in the purnimanta calendar of North India, where the dark fortnight is counted at the start of the next month, the same day is Bhadrapada Krishna Ashtami. The festival is fixed by the tithi prevailing at nishita, the midnight period. Smarta almanacs usually choose the day whose midnight falls in Ashtami, while many Vaishnava communities, including ISKCON and the temples of Mathura, prefer the day on which Ashtami prevails at sunrise or combines with Rohini nakshatra. For this reason, Janmashtami is sometimes listed on two consecutive days, and devotees follow the date of their own tradition.
Rituals and customs
- Fasting through the day until midnight
- Midnight abhisheka of the infant Krishna with panchamrita
- Rocking the decorated cradle
- Bhajans and readings from the Bhagavata Purana
- Dahi Handi on the following day in Maharashtra
- Drawing Krishna's footprints in South Indian homes