Festival · Krishna and the cows

Gopashtami

The day Lord Krishna and Balarama first took the cows out to graze. On this bright eighth of Kartika, a week after Govardhan Puja, they became cowherds, having minded only the calves, and cows and calves are bathed, dressed, fed and worshipped.

Gopashtami 2026
Tuesday 17 November 2026
New Delhi

For New Delhi, Tuesday 17 November 2026

Shukla Ashtami tithi

Begins
4:20 am
Ends
6:06 am, 18 Nov
Sunrise
6:45 am
Sunset
5:27 pm
Moonrise
12:53 pm
Moonset
12:06 am, 18 Nov

Worked out for your city. Panchangs can differ by a minute or so.

Full panchang for this day →

How it is kept

Customs vary by region and family

  • Bathe the cows and calves and dress them with cloth and garlands
  • Worship them with tilak, flowers and a lamp, and walk round them
  • Feed them green grass and jaggery, or give to a gaushala
Krishna, the cowherd of Braj →

What it remembers

Gopashtami is the eighth day of the bright half of Kartika, a week after Govardhan Puja. On this day, it is told, Lord Krishna and his elder brother Balarama were first sent out with the cows as cowherds, no longer minding only the calves. Families and gaushalas bathe, dress and feed their cows and calves and worship them, and Krishna with them. In Braj and in ISKCON temples it is one of the great days of the year.

From calves to cows

As small boys in Vrindavan, Lord Krishna and his friends looked after only the calves. When he left early childhood behind, at the age the Vaishnava texts call pauganda, Nanda, his foster father, gave him the cows themselves to care for. On the bright Ashtami of Kartika he and Balarama drove the herd out to the pastures for the first time, and the day became his coming of age.

Barefoot with the herd

Yashoda worried that the thorns of the forest would hurt his soft feet, but Lord Krishna went barefoot into the forest with the cows. For this love of the herd he is called Gopal and Govinda, the protector of cows.

Radha in Subala’s clothes

The gopis wanted to go out with the herd too. Goddess Radha looked so like Lord Krishna’s friend Subala that she put on his dhoti and went among the cowherd boys, and her friends followed. So on Gopashtami Radha is dressed as a cowherd in many Vaishnava temples, and her feet, covered through the year, are shown to devotees, as they are on Radhashtami.

The end of Indra’s storm

Some tell the day with the story of Govardhan. When Braj stopped its yearly offering to Indra, he sent rain for seven days, and Lord Krishna held up Govardhan hill to shelter the people and their cows. On the eighth day, Gopashtami, Indra gave in, and Krishna was hailed as Govinda, the lord of the cows. Others tell only the first herding; both are kept.

Keeping Gopashtami

The cows are worshipped in the morning, at home where a family keeps them and in the gaushalas and temples. Families keep it in many ways; follow your own tradition where it differs.

  1. Rise early, bathe, and clean the house and the puja place.
  2. Bathe the cows and their calves, and dress them with a cloth or shawl, garlands and ornaments.
  3. Put a tilak of roli on each forehead, and offer flowers, rice and incense.
  4. Feed them fresh green grass, jaggery and rice, and a sweet if you like.
  5. Walk round them (parikrama) and wave the lamp before them in aarti.
  6. Worship Lord Krishna as Gopal, the cowherd, and sing his bhajans.
  7. If you keep no cow, visit a gaushala: take feed, or give towards the care of its cows.

What you need

  • Water, and a cloth or shawl, garlands and ornaments for the cows
  • Roli, rice, flowers, incense and a lamp
  • Green grass, jaggery and rice for feeding
  • Something to give to a gaushala

Across India

Braj: Mathura, Vrindavan and Barsana

Temples and gaushalas hold their great cow festival. The cows are bathed, adorned and fed at dawn, the cow shelters are decked with flowers and rangoli, and the day goes on with bhajans and talks on serving the cow.

ISKCON temples

The cows and bulls of the temple goshalas are bathed, fed and worshipped, and Goddess Radha is dressed as Subala, the cowherd boy, for the day.

Gaushalas everywhere

Across India, families visit the cow shelters of their town to feed the cows and give towards their care, as a service (seva) to the cow, honoured as a mother.

When it falls

Shukla Ashtami of Kartika. Kept on the day this tithi holds at sunrise.

These are the usual rules. A few days can differ by a day in your tradition, so check with your temple.

Gopashtami in the coming years

New Delhi, India time

  1. 2026Tuesday 17 November 2026
  2. 2027Saturday 6 November 2027
  3. 2028Wednesday 25 October 2028

Questions

When is Gopashtami in 2026?

Tuesday 17 November 2026, in New Delhi. In a few places it can fall a day apart, so the date above is worked out for your city.

When does Gopashtami fall?

Shukla Ashtami of Kartika. Kept on the day this tithi holds at sunrise.

How is Gopashtami kept?

Families bathe the cows and calves and dress them with cloth and garlands, worship them with tilak, flowers and a lamp, and walk round them and feed them green grass and jaggery, or give to a gaushala. Customs vary by region and family.

Who is honoured on Gopashtami?

Krishna and the cows. The day Lord Krishna and Balarama first took the cows out to graze. On this bright eighth of Kartika, a week after Govardhan Puja, they became cowherds, having minded only the calves, and cows and calves are bathed, dressed, fed and worshipped.

Why is Gopashtami celebrated?

To remember the day Lord Krishna and Balarama first took the cows out to graze as cowherds, having looked after only the calves until then, and to honour the cow, who is cared for as a mother. Cows and calves are bathed, dressed, fed and worshipped.

How is Gopashtami different from Govardhan Puja?

Govardhan Puja, the day after Diwali, remembers Lord Krishna lifting Govardhan hill to shelter Braj from Indra’s rain. Gopashtami, a week later, is the day of the cows and of Krishna as a cowherd. In one telling the two belong together: Indra gave in on Gopashtami, after seven days of rain.

Can Gopashtami be kept without a cow at home?

Yes. Visit a gaushala, a cow shelter, and feed the cows there with green grass or jaggery, or give towards their care. At home, worship Lord Krishna as Gopal, the cowherd.

Why is Goddess Radha dressed as a cowherd boy on Gopashtami?

In the story kept by Vaishnava temples, Goddess Radha wanted to go out with the herd, so she put on the clothes of Lord Krishna’s friend Subala, whom she looked like, and went with the cowherd boys. Temples dress her so for the day.

What do cows eat on Gopashtami?

Fresh green grass, jaggery and rice above all, with sweets in some homes and special fodder in the gaushalas.

Related

All festivals and vrats →