Govardhan Puja 2024 Date, Vishwakarma Day is also celebrated on this day

Govardhan Puja, also commonly known as Annakut Puja or Annakoot Puja, is a festival of Hindus that is generally celebrated on the day after Diwali. Govardhan Hill is worshiped on Govardhan Puja and there is also a ritual of offering a variety of food to Lord Krishna on this day.

It is believed that once when Indra Dev got angry with the people of Braj for not worshiping him and started pouring heavy rain, Lord Krishna lifted the Govardhan Hill to provide the villagers shelter.

Do you Know?: Govardhan Puja is also celebrated as Vishwakarma Day which falls on November 2nd, 2024 .

Therefore, the festival of Govardhan Puja is celebrated to offer gratitude to Govardhan Hill and Lord Krishna for saving the devotees.

Govardhan Puja Overview

Govardhan Puja 2024 Date

Govardhan Puja is celebrated after the Lakshmi Puja and is the fourth day of 5-day long festival of Diwali. According to the Hindu calendar, Govardhan Puja is observed on the first day of Shukla Paksha of Kartik month. For the year 2023, the date of Govardhan Puja is Saturday 2, November.

Please note that some times, there is a gap of one day between Diwali and Govardhan Puja when seen in a Gregorian calendar (solar) as the day for both festivals are decided as per the Hindu lunar calendar.

Story behind Govardhan Puja

The festival of Govardhan Puja commemorates the incident when Lord Krishna protected his village people from the wrath of Indra and signifies that in the same way He will protect his devotees who come to seek shelter in him. The story behind the celebration of Govardhan Puja, as mentioned in Bhagavata Purana, goes on as follows.

According to the story, one day a young Krishna saw people making preparations for offering made to Indra every year. His father described that how Indra pour rain and everyone in village is thankful for that and therefore offers him gifts in return. Krishna disagreed as said to his father that Indra is a Dev and it is his duty to shower rain upon people whereas the Govardhan Hill provides many kind of resources like food and air without asking anything in return. So, isn’t it the Govardhan Hill that should be shown gratitude for offering the resources instead of Indra.

People of his village also agreed from Krishna and that made Indra very furious. He started pouring down heavy rain on the people of Braj and the panicked people started running here and there. Watching this, Krishna lifted the Govardhan Hill with his little finger and all villagers found refuge under it. When Indra got tired to pouring rain for continuous seven days, he accepted his defeat and established Lord Krishna as the Supremacy.

Rituals

Both Govardhan Hill and Lord Krishna are worshiped on the day of Govardhan Puja. People get up early in the morning, take a bath and get dressed in clean clothes. They decorate their homes with lamps, flowers and create beautiful rangoli designs on this day. Devotees create idol of Lord Krishna and Govardhan Hill from cow dung and then offer food and prayers as a symbol of their gratitude.

A variety of food dishes are prepared and a hill of food is made resembling the Govardhan Hill that is presented as offering to God. Normally, devotees prepare fifty-six different types of food items, called as chhappan bhog, to present offering to Lord Krishna. Apart from homes, the festival is also celebrated in temples and hymns and prayers are recited all day long. Plethora of food items are prepared and offered to Lord Krishna which is then distributed among the devotees in the form of prasad.

There is also a famous tradition related to Govardhan Puja in which devotees from all over the country as well as world visit and circumnavigate the Govardhan Hill in Vrindavan. Temples in Mathura and Nathadwara offer a milk bath to the idols of Lord Krishna and dress them in new clothes and beautiful ornaments and then offer Him prayers and seek His blessings. Some people also celebrate this day as Vishvakarma Puja and show gratitude to their tools and machinery.

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