Govardhan Puja is the worship of Govardhan hill and of Krishna as Giridhari, done by shaping a small Govardhan in the courtyard, walking around it, offering the Annakut and honouring the cows. In outline: bathe and clean the courtyard, make the Govardhan figure from cow dung or clay, worship it with roli, rice, flowers and a diya, offer the Annakut, walk the parikrama with the family, then feed and garland the cows and share the prasad.
The day and how it is fixed, usually the morning after Diwali, are on the Govardhan Puja date page; this page does not repeat them, because the tithi shifts every year.
Samagri: what to keep ready
- Fresh cow dung, or clean clay, to shape the Govardhan; a broom and water to clean the courtyard first
- Small twigs, grass, cotton or flowers to decorate the hill, and a few small figures of cows, calves and cowherds shaped from the same dung
- Roli, haldi, akshat (unbroken rice), mauli thread, flowers and a garland
- A diya with ghee, incense, and a small earthen lamp for the navel of the figure
- Milk, curd, honey, batasha (sugar drops) and a little Ganga water or clean water in a lota
- Annakut: the dishes cooked for the bhog (see below), with tulsi leaves on top
- Kheel and batasha left from Diwali, which many families offer again
- Jaggery, fodder or rotis for the cows, and a garland or a tilak for them
- A picture or small murti of Krishna as Giridhari, if you like to keep one beside the hill
Nothing here needs to be special. If you have no courtyard or no access to cow dung, a plate with a small mound of clay or food and a picture of Krishna does the work.
Step by step
- Morning cleaning and bath. Sweep and wash the courtyard or the place where the Govardhan will be made. Bathe, put on clean clothes, and keep the kitchen ready for the Annakut.
- Shape the Govardhan. On the cleaned ground, shape the hill from cow dung. In many homes of the north it is a reclining human figure, Govardhan Maharaj, lying on his back, with arms, legs, a face and a hollow at the navel. Others shape a simple hill with a peak. Around it make small cows, calves, cowherds, a well, a churn, sometimes a little house. Stick grass, cotton and twigs into it like trees.
- Decorate. Put flowers on the figure, mark it with roli and haldi, and place a small diya or a cup in the navel. Many families pour milk, curd and honey into the navel during the puja.
- The puja. Light the diya and incense. Remember Ganesh first. Then offer water, roli, akshat, mauli, flowers, kheel and batasha to Govardhan, and pray in your own words for the household, the cattle and the harvest. If you keep a murti of Giridhari, worship it alongside.
- The Annakut bhog. Bring the cooked dishes and place them before the hill, with tulsi leaves on each. In temples the food is heaped into a high mound; at home a few dishes in a circle are enough. Many families recite or listen to the Govardhan katha at this point.
- Parikrama. The whole family walks around the Govardhan, usually seven times, many pouring a thin line of milk or water from a lota as they go, and scattering a few grains of barley or rice. Children carry the diya.
- Honour the cows. Bathe, garland and mark the cows and bullocks with a tilak, feed them rotis, jaggery and green fodder, and touch their feet. Where there is no cow at home, many families feed a cow in the lane or at a gaushala.
- Aarti and prasad. Do the aarti of Govardhan and Krishna, then share the Annakut with the family, neighbours, workers and anyone who comes.
Annakut: what is usually cooked
The word means a mountain of grain. In Braj the signature dish is the Annakut sabzi, a mixed vegetable cooked from whatever the season gives: radish, brinjal, pumpkin, beans, potatoes, spinach, cauliflower. With it come kadhi, rice, bajra or bajra khichdi, puris, and as many sweets as the house can make. Most families cook without onion or garlic. Temples aim for 56 dishes, the chhappan bhog; homes cook what they can, and nobody counts.
Checking the time
The puja is done on the Pratipada after Diwali, and the classical texts give two windows for it: pratah kaal, the early part of the morning, and sayahna, the last part of the day before sunset. Both are worked out for each year on the Govardhan Puja date page, and what matters is that Pratipada is running at the time. The panchang for your city shows when Pratipada begins and ends. Families who like to start in a good period look at the day choghadiya. Some families do the puja in the morning window and others towards evening; follow your family's custom.
Customs families keep
These are customs, not conditions; your family's own way comes first.
- Many households keep the Govardhan in the courtyard until the next day, and on Bhai Dooj or later the dried cow dung is used as fuel or mixed into the fields.
- Cows and bullocks are not put to work on this day in farming families.
- In some homes the women of the house sing Govardhan songs in Braj Bhasha during the parikrama.
- Many families eat only after the bhog is offered, and the Annakut is the main meal.
- Some households do a small Vishwakarma or tool puja the same day, honouring the plough and the cart.
Regional ways
- Braj (Mathura, Vrindavan, Govardhan town): devotees walk the full Govardhan parikrama around the hill itself, a long walk that many do barefoot; the temples display enormous Annakut mounds.
- Haryana, Rajasthan and western Uttar Pradesh: the reclining cow dung figure is common, and cattle are central to the day.
- Gujarat: the same day is Bestu Varas, the Gujarati new year. Families visit temples and elders, greet each other with "Saal Mubarak", and many businesses open new account books. Annakut is offered in Swaminarayan and Pushtimarg temples.
- Maharashtra: the day is Bali Pratipada or Diwali Padwa. Wives perform an aarti of their husbands, couples exchange gifts, and in farming families an image of King Bali is drawn or shaped and worshipped.
After the puja
Share the Annakut generously; giving it away is the point of the day. The next morning is Bhai Dooj, and the evening before was Diwali.