Astha SangrahASTHA SANGRAHhttps://asthasangrah.comGovardhan Puja 2026 on 10 November, Not 9: Muhurat 6:40 to 8:50 AM
Govardhan Puja and Annakut are on Tuesday, 10 November 2026. The puja muhurat is 6:40 to 8:50 AM (New Delhi).
- Govardhan Puja, Annakut
- Tuesday, 10 November 2026
- Morning muhurat
- 6:40 to 8:50 AM
- Pratipada tithi
- 12:31 PM, 9 November to 2:00 PM, 10 November
Why there is a gap after Diwali
Govardhan Puja usually falls the day after Diwali, but this year Diwali is on 8 November and Govardhan Puja on 10 November. The reason is that Amavasya lasts until 12:31 PM on 9 November, so sunrise on the 9th falls in Amavasya. Govardhan Puja is on Kartik Shukla Pratipada, and Pratipada holds at sunrise on 10 November, so the puja is on the 10th.
No evening muhurat this year
In many years Govardhan Puja has two muhurats, morning and evening. This year Pratipada ends at 2:00 PM on 10 November, so there is only the morning muhurat, 6:40 to 8:50 AM. Do the home Govardhan puja in that window, or at least before 2:00 PM. In temples the Annakut offering and darshan go on through the day.
Govardhan and Annakut
In the courtyard a Govardhan hill is shaped from cow dung and decorated with flowers and little figures of cowherds and cows, with a lamp at its centre. The family worships it and walks around it, and cows are bathed, decorated and worshipped the same day.
The puja carries the story's message too: Krishna told the people of Braj that it was not Indra, king of the clouds, who sustained them, but the hill that gave their cows grass, their fields water and their village shelter. So Govardhan Puja is also kept as a festival of gratitude to nature, to cows and to food.
Annakut means a mountain of food. Krishna is offered many dishes: kadhi, rice, bajra, a mixed vegetable of many kinds, puris and sweets; in large temples it is the chhappan bhog of 56 dishes. It recalls the story in which Krishna held Govardhan hill up on his little finger for seven days to shelter Braj from Indra's storm.
Govardhana dharadhara gokula tranakaraka,Vishnubahu kritochchhraya gavam kotiprado bhava.
गोवर्धन धराधार गोकुल त्राणकारक। विष्णुबाहु कृतोच्छ्राय गवां कोटिप्रदो भव॥
What else falls on this day
In Gujarat this is New Year's Day, Bestu Varas. In Maharashtra and Karnataka it is Bali Pratipada, when King Bali is remembered, and couples celebrate Padwa. In many places there is also the custom of dyuta krida, a game of dice, recalling the story of Shiva and Parvati playing chausar.
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Your questions
Why isn't Govardhan Puja on 9 November?
Sunrise on 9 November falls in Amavasya, and Pratipada begins only at 12:31 PM. Govardhan Puja is kept on the day Pratipada holds at sunrise, which is 10 November.
Can the puja be done in the evening?
This year Pratipada ends at 2:00 PM on 10 November, so do the home Govardhan puja in the morning muhurat, or before 2:00 PM.
How is the Annakut prasad shared?
After the offering, the Annakut prasad is shared with family, neighbours and temple visitors, and cows are fed too. In many families the day's meal is the Annakut vegetables and kadhi-rice themselves, so that none of the offered food goes to waste.
How long is the Govardhan parikrama?
The parikrama of Govardhan hill near Mathura is about 21 km, seven kos. Lakhs of devotees come on Govardhan Puja; at home, the custom is to walk around the Govardhan you have made seven times.
Dates and times checked against Drik Panchang and our own panchang, for New Delhi.
