Govardhan Puja

Festival celebrated on the first day of the
bright (waxing) half of the lunar month of
Kartik (October–November), the day after
the festival Diwali. The charter myth for
this festival comes from the mythology of
the god Krishna, and this festival is celebrated mainly in the Braj region south of
modern Delhi, where Krishna is said to
have lived. According to legend, this is the
day that Krishna lifted up Mount
Govardhan to protect the people of Braj
from the storms sent by the god Indra.
Indra was angry because Krishna had persuaded the village elders to make offerings
to Mount Govardhan, rather than to Indra.
Krishna held up the mountain as an
umbrella for an entire week, after which
Indra admitted defeat. On this day pilgrims
circle Mount Govardhan on foot. The
mountain is seen as a physical manifestation of Krishna himself, and because of
Krishna’s association with cattle, they also
adorn and worship cows and bulls. In
memory of the offerings given to Mount
Govardhan in that story, as well as the
mountain of offerings (particularly milkbased sweets) that are prepared for celebration in modern times, the festival is also
known as Annakut (“mountain of food”).