Festival Krishna, Gomatha, Govinda
Gopashtami
The eighth day of the bright fortnight of Kartika, held to be the day Krishna was first sent out with the cows rather than the calves, and so became Govinda.
Gopashtami 2026 falls on Tuesday, 17 November, computed for Chennai.
Latitude, longitude and time zone 13.08, 80.27
Asia/Kolkata · UTC+5:30
The date of a festival depends on the place.
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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
North India calendar, computed for Chennai
- Tuesday, 17 November 2026
- Saturday, 6 November 2027
- Wednesday, 25 October 2028
Where Gopashtami falls on the solar year, and how far the date moves between occurrences.
- 2026: 17 Nov
- 2027: 6 Nov, 11 days earlier
- 2028: 25 Oct, 11 days earlier
The dates, year by year
North India calendar, computed for Chennai
What the day is
The eighth day of the bright fortnight of Kartika, held to be the day Krishna was first sent out with the cows rather than the calves, and so became Govinda. Cows and their calves are washed, their horns painted, garlanded and circumambulated; in Braj the cowherd deities are decked as cowherds for the day.
- Deity
- Krishna, Gomatha, Govinda
- Kind
- Festival Days of celebration: the house is decorated, a feast is cooked and the temple is visited.
Significance
Until this day the child Krishna had been sent out only with the calves, and his mother would not let him go further; on Gopashtami Nanda gave him the herd, so that he became Gopala, the cowherd, in earnest. Another telling joins it to Govardhan: the storm is said to have lasted from the Pratipada to the Saptami, and on the eighth morning Indra came down with Surabhi, the cow of plenty, who bathed Krishna in her milk and named him Govinda. Braj also tells that Radha, kept back from the herding because she was a girl, dressed herself as a cowherd boy and went along, which is why in some temples she too is dressed as a gopa today. The household keeps it for the cow that feeds it: the gaushalas of the town are visited, fodder is given, and many touch the dust of the cow's hooves to the forehead.
How it is kept
The puja as a household does it, in order. Tick each step as it is done.
Gopashtami: how it is kept
Keep ready
- geru or colours for the horns
- roli, turmeric and rice
- marigold garlands
- a red cloth or bells
- fresh green fodder
- jaggery and rotis
- a lamp
The steps
0 of 5 done
What is cooked
The cow is fed first, with green fodder, jaggery and roti; the family eats a plain vegetarian meal, and Braj offers Krishna the makhan-mishri of the cowherd boy.
The hour
Clock times for Tuesday, 17 November 2026 at Chennai
Kartika Shukla Ashtami at sunrise; the cows are worshipped in the morning before they are let out.
The main rite. Kartik Shukla Ashtami at sunrise; the cows are worshipped in the morning before they go out, and many families greet the herd again at godhuli, the dusk hour when it comes home.
| Instant | Time | What it is |
|---|---|---|
| Sunrise | 06:08 | the udaya tithi, the tithi running as the sun comes up |
Sunrise 06:08, sunset 17:39, 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 | Shukla Ashtami from 04:20 until next day 06:06 | then Shukla Navami until 2 days later, 07:07 |
| Nakshatra | Dhanishta until next day 04:35 | then Shatabhisha until 2 days later, 06:11 |
| Rahu kaal | 14:46 to 16:13 (1 h 26 min) | the eighth of the daylight left alone for a beginning |
| Yamaganda | 09:01 to 10:27 (1 h 26 min) | the eighth ruled by Yama, also avoided |
| Gulika | 11:54 to 13:20 (1 h 26 min) | the eighth of Saturn’s son; what is done in it is said to repeat |
| Abhijit | 11:31 to 12:17 (0 h 46 min) | the midday muhurta, good for most things |
| Moonrise | 12:18 | moonset next day 00:13 |
For Tuesday, 17 November 2026 at Chennai. A time marked "previous day" or "next day" is on the clock of that day.
The fast
No fast is prescribed. The cow is fed first, with green fodder, jaggery and roti.
What is avoided
The cow is not worked, tied short or struck on the day, and those who keep it do not eat before the cow has been fed.
The name
The same day, in every language that has a word for it
Where the regions differ
Braj, Rajasthan and the Hindi belt keep it; the southern cattle days are Mattu Pongal and Kanuma in January instead.
In other regions
- North India (the dates above)
- Braj, Rajasthan, Haryana and the Hindi belt keep it, with the gaushalas holding their own fairs and the temples of Mathura and Vrindavan dressing Krishna as a cowherd with his staff.
The dates above are the North India 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.
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.
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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.
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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.