Latitude, longitude and time zone 13.08, 80.27
Asia/Kolkata · UTC+5:30
The date of a festival depends on the place.
Read more Show less
A tithi that ends at dusk in Chennai can still be running at dusk a thousand kilometres west, which moves the day. Sunrise and sunset here are computed for the place above.
When it falls next
Maharashtra calendar, computed for Chennai
- Wednesday, 25 August 2027
- Monday, 14 August 2028
- Saturday, 1 September 2029
Where Dahi Handi · Gopalkala falls on the solar year, and how far the date moves between occurrences.
- 2027: 25 Aug
- 2028: 14 Aug, 10 days earlier
- 2029: 1 Sep, 17 days later
The dates, year by year
Maharashtra calendar, computed for Chennai
What the day is
The day after Gokulashtami, kept for the boy Krishna who stole butter from the pots his mother hung out of his reach. An earthen handi of curd, butter and coins is strung high across a street and teams of govindas build a human pyramid to reach and break it, while the crowd throws water at them. The gopalkala, a mixture of curd, beaten rice, cucumber and pomegranate, is made in the temples and shared out.
- Deity
- Krishna
- Kind
- Festival Days of celebration: the house is decorated, a feast is cooked and the temple is visited.
Significance
The boy Krishna and his friends stood on one another's shoulders to reach the butter the gopis had hung out of reach, and the handi is that story played in the street. It is kept the morning after the midnight birth, so the joy of the day is the joy of a village that has just been given a child. The govinda pathaks, the teams that build the pyramid, practise for weeks, and the lesson the elders draw is that no one reaches the pot alone. The gopalkala, many things mixed into one bowl, is Krishna's own dish from the pastures, shared out with everyone.
How it is kept
The puja as a household does it, in order. Tick each step as it is done.
Dahi Handi · Gopalkala: how it is kept
Keep ready
- an earthen handi
- curd, butter and beaten rice for the handi
- coins
- a strong rope
- helmets, harnesses and mats for the govindas
- a peacock feather and a flute for the children
- the ingredients of the gopalkala
The steps
0 of 7 done
What is cooked
Gopalkala, also called kala: soaked beaten rice mixed with curd, cucumber, pomegranate, puffed jowar, soaked chana dal, green chilli, ginger, coriander, salt and a little sugar. The fast of the night before is broken with it, and butter and sweets follow.
The hour
Clock times for Wednesday, 25 August 2027 at Chennai
The day after the nishita Ashtami on which Gokulashtami is kept; the handis are broken through the afternoon and into the evening.
The main rite. The day after the midnight Ashtami of Gokulashtami. The handis are broken through the afternoon and into the evening.
| Instant | Time | What it is |
|---|---|---|
| Nishita | 00:11 | true midnight, the midpoint of sunset and the next sunrise |
Sunrise 05:57, sunset 18:25, UTC+5.5. These are the instants the rule is read at, not the temple's own puja times, which every temple prints for itself.
The day itself
| What | When | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Tithi | Krishna Ashtami from previous day 20:25 until 19:20 | then Krishna Navami until next day 17:40 |
| Nakshatra | Krittika until 12:28 | then Rohini until next day 11:43 |
| Rahu kaal | 12:11 to 13:44 (1 h 33 min) | the eighth of the daylight left alone for a beginning |
| Yamaganda | 07:31 to 09:04 (1 h 33 min) | the eighth ruled by Yama, also avoided |
| Gulika | 10:38 to 12:11 (1 h 33 min) | the eighth of Saturn’s son; what is done in it is said to repeat |
| Abhijit | 11:46 to 12:36 (0 h 50 min) | the midday muhurta, not counted on a Wednesday |
| Moonrise | no moonrise this date | moonset 12:26 |
For Wednesday, 25 August 2027 at Chennai. A time marked "previous day" or "next day" is on the clock of that day.
The fast
No fast. The night fast of Gokulashtami is broken with the kala prasad and the gopalkala.
What is avoided
Very young children are not put at the top of a high pyramid, and a handi is not hung higher than the team can safely reach; the Maharashtra courts have ruled on both. The kala is not eaten before it is offered.
The name
The same day, in every language that has a word for it
Where the regions differ
Mumbai, Thane and Pune keep the largest handis; the Telugu country and Gujarat keep the day more quietly, and the north calls the day after the birth Nandotsav. Traditions vary on how high a pyramid may go, which the Maharashtra courts have had to rule on.
In other regions
- Tamil Nadu
- Tamil Nadu breaks the uriyadi pot on the same days, blindfolded with a stick, at temple and village festivals.
- Telugu
- The Telugu country keeps the utti kottadam, the breaking of a hanging pot, at Krishnashtami.
- North India
- The north keeps the day after the birth as Nandotsav, the celebration of Nanda's house, with songs and the giving of gifts.
- Maharashtra (the dates above)
- Mumbai, Thane and Pune keep the largest handis, with prizes running into lakhs and the govinda pathaks going from one handi to the next.
The dates above are the Maharashtra reckoning, because that is the calendar this key belongs to. Switch the tradition on the calendar page to see how another one dates the same day.
Greeting
What is said to family and friends on the day
गोपाळकाल्याच्या हार्दिक शुभेच्छाGopalkalyachya hardik shubhechha
Where this day is kept
Nearest first from Chennai, with what is recorded about each.
Temples of Krishna near you
Not recorded for this day in particular: the nearest temples of the day's own gods, for a reader whose own temple is not listed above.
- Chennai, Tamil Nadu · Venkatakrishnan (Parthasarathy) with the arrow scars on his face
- Chennai, Tamil Nadu · The eight forms of Lakshmi in shrines on four floors, facing the sea
- Chennai, Tamil Nadu · Adhivyadhihara Bhaktha Anjaneyar, thirty-two feet tall from a single block of granite
- Chennai, Tamil Nadu · Neervanna Perumal below and Ranganathar on the hill, in four postures
Your family's own temple comes first, and its calendar is the one that decides.
Read more Show less
A temple is listed here only where the gazetteer's own line names this day, or where this day's own entry names the town, or where the day belongs to the ancestors or the nagas and the temple is recorded for that rite. Where neither table says anything, nothing is listed as kept for the day; where fewer than three are, the nearest temples of the day's own gods are added under a heading of their own.
Mantras
The prayers said with the day. Each opens with its words and meaning.
Every date here is computed from the Sun and Moon for the place entered, by the rule printed beside it.
Read more Show less
A printed panchangam can differ by a day where an almanac reads a tithi at a different instant, and a family's own custom always comes first. Where the practice genuinely varies, the text says so rather than choosing for you.