Krishna Janmashtami

When it falls

Shravana Krishna Ashtami (the eighth, at midnight)

• 2026 · Friday, 4 September 2026
• 2027 · Wednesday, 25 August 2027

Significance

Janmashtami — janma (birth) + ashtami (the eighth) — is the birthday of Krishna, the eighth child of Devaki, born at midnight in a prison in Mathura while a tyrant uncle waited to kill him. The story is one of light slipped quietly past danger: the infant carried across a flooded river to safety in Gokul, where he grows up a cowherd, a flute-player, and eventually the teacher of the Bhagavad Gita.

It is kept as a night of waiting — devotees fast and stay awake until midnight, the hour of the birth, when a small image of the infant is bathed, dressed, and laid in a cradle.

How it’s observed

Many fast through the day and break it only at midnight, after the abhishek (ceremonial bathing) of the baby Krishna and the rocking of his cradle. Temples sing through the night; in Maharashtra the next morning brings Dahi Handi, where human pyramids reach for a high pot of curd — a nod to the butter-thieving child.

The timing, explained

Janmashtami falls on the eighth tithi of the dark fortnight (Krishna Ashtami) of the lunar month — Shravana in this almanac’s Amanta reckoning (the same night is called Bhadrapada Krishna Ashtami under the Purnimanta system used further north). Because the birth is held to be at midnight, the date can hinge on which night carries the eighth tithi at twelve o’clock.

Keep reading

• What is Paksha?
• What is Tithi?
• See it on the calendar
• All festivals