Festival Gomatha, Krishna
Vasubaras · Govatsa Dwadashi
The twelfth of the dark fortnight of Ashwin, the day the Diwali week opens in Maharashtra with the cow and her calf.
Vasubaras · Govatsa Dwadashi 2027 falls on Tuesday, 26 October, 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
Maharashtra calendar, computed for Chennai
- Tuesday, 26 October 2027
- Sunday, 15 October 2028
- Saturday, 3 November 2029
Where Vasubaras · Govatsa Dwadashi falls on the solar year, and how far the date moves between occurrences.
- 2027: 26 Oct
- 2028: 15 Oct, 10 days earlier
- 2029: 3 Nov, 18 days later
The days of Diwali in Maharashtra
Part of the same festival, in order, in the Maharashtra calendar
- Vasubaras · Govatsa Dwadashi(this page) …
- Dhanteras · Dhanvantari Jayanti …
- Narak Chaturdashi · Abhyang snan …
- Lakshmi Pujan …
- Balipratipada · Diwali Padwa …
- Bhau Beej …
The dates, year by year
Maharashtra calendar, computed for Chennai
What the day is
The twelfth of the dark fortnight of Ashwin, the day the Diwali week opens in Maharashtra with the cow and her calf. The two are washed, their feet touched, an arati is done and sprouted gram or wheat is fed to them, and the household eats nothing made of wheat or of cow's milk that day out of respect. Women keep it for the well-being of their children, the calf standing for the child.
- Deity
- Gomatha, Krishna
- Kind
- Festival Days of celebration: the house is decorated, a feast is cooked and the temple is visited.
Significance
The Diwali week in a Marathi house opens with the cow and her calf, because the cow is the first wealth of a farming family and the calf stands for the children of the house. Mothers keep the day for their children's well-being, and the rule of eating nothing that the cow gives or that the ox ploughed for on that day is a way of honouring her by going without. The story is told of Kamadhenu, the cow of plenty who came out of the churning of the ocean. In cities where no cow is kept, families go to a gaushala or worship a clay or silver cow and calf at home.
How it is kept
The puja as a household does it, in order. Tick each step as it is done.
Vasubaras · Govatsa Dwadashi: how it is kept
Keep ready
- haldi-kunku
- marigold garlands
- flowers
- a lamp and incense
- bhakri and sprouted mung or gram
- jaggery
- an arati plate
The steps
0 of 6 done
What is cooked
Women who keep the vow eat bajra bhakri with a moong or matki bhaji, and nothing made of wheat or of cow's milk. The Diwali faral, begun earlier in the week, is not yet eaten in many houses until the next days.
The hour
Clock times for Tuesday, 26 October 2027 at Chennai
Ashwin vadya Dwadashi running at pradosha, the two hours and twenty-four minutes after sunset, because the arati is done at dusk; else the Dwadashi at sunrise.
The main rite. Ashwin vadya Dwadashi as it runs at dusk, the pradosha hour, when the arati of the cow is done.
| Instant | Time | What it is |
|---|---|---|
| Sunrise | 06:01 | the udaya tithi, the tithi running as the sun comes up |
| Sunset | 17:45 | the moment the sun goes down |
| Pradosha kala | 17:45 to 20:09 | the 2 h 24 min after sunset, the evening worship hour |
Sunrise 06:01, sunset 17:45, 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 Dwadasi from 03:23 until next day 01:04 | then Krishna Trayodasi until next day 22:50 |
| Nakshatra | Purva Phalguni until 14:34 | then Uttara Phalguni until next day 13:01 |
| Rahu kaal | 14:49 to 16:17 (1 h 28 min) | the eighth of the daylight left alone for a beginning |
| Yamaganda | 08:57 to 10:25 (1 h 28 min) | the eighth ruled by Yama, also avoided |
| Gulika | 11:53 to 13:21 (1 h 28 min) | the eighth of Saturn’s son; what is done in it is said to repeat |
| Abhijit | 11:29 to 12:16 (0 h 47 min) | the midday muhurta, good for most things |
| Moonrise | 02:46 | moonset 15:13 |
For Tuesday, 26 October 2027 at Chennai. A time marked "previous day" or "next day" is on the clock of that day.
The fast
Many women keep a fast until the evening arati and then eat without wheat, gram or milk. Bajra bhakri and a moong bhaji are the usual meal.
What is avoided
No wheat, no cow's milk, curd or ghee, and in many houses nothing grown behind the plough, is eaten by those who keep the vow. The cow and the calf are not tied up or made to work on the day.
The name
The same day, in every language that has a word for it
Where the regions differ
Maharashtra, Gujarat and the Hindi belt keep Govatsa Dwadashi or Bach Baras; the south does not, keeping its cattle days at Mattu Pongal and Kanuma in January instead.
In other regions
- North India
- Gujarat and the Hindi belt keep the same day as Govatsa Dwadashi or Bach Baras, with the cow and calf worshipped by mothers.
- Maharashtra (the dates above)
- Maharashtra opens Diwali with Vasubaras, and the first Diwali lamp and the first rangoli of the week are made that evening.
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
वसुबारसच्या हार्दिक शुभेच्छाVasubarsachya 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.
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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.