Shri Radha Rani · The queen of Braj
Radha
Goddess Radha is Lord Krishna’s beloved, the girl of Barsana whom Braj crowns as its queen and greets in every “Radhe Radhe”. Bow to her with the Shri Radha Pranam, walk the places of Braj that keep her stories, and see when Radhashtami falls in your city.
- Her day
- Wednesday
- Next: Wed 4 Nov
- Next Radha day
- Holi in Braj
- In 141 days · Mon 22 Mar
Her home, on its hill
Barsana
The village of her father Vrishabhanu, a chief of the cowherds, where she grew up and where most tellings say she was born. On the hill above it stands the Ladli Ji temple, the temple of the beloved daughter, where she is worshipped as Shriji; Radhashtami and Lathmar Holi bring its greatest crowds.
About Radha →Her birthplace, by one tradition
Rawal
A village on the Yamuna a few kilometres north of Gokul. By one tradition Goddess Radha was born here: Vrishabhanu found her on a shining lotus floating on the river, and the family moved to Barsana later. Tellings from Barsana place her birth there; her Janmasthali temple at Rawal keeps Radhashtami too.
The groves of the raas
Vrindavan
The forest town on the Yamuna where, as tradition tells, Lord Krishna’s flute called the gopis out on autumn nights to dance the raas, with Goddess Radha at its heart. Its people greet one another with her name, and the groves of Nidhivan and Seva Kunj are said to be where the two still meet each night.
Lord Krishna’s village, across from hers
Nandgaon
The hill village of Nanda, Lord Krishna’s foster father, a few kilometres north of Barsana. The two villages tell their love as a game between them: in the Lathmar Holi the men of Nandgaon come to Barsana and the women drive them off with sticks, as Krishna and his friends are said to have been driven off, and the next day the men of Barsana go to Nandgaon to the same welcome.
The hill Lord Krishna lifted
Govardhan
The hill Lord Krishna is told to have held up on one finger to shelter Braj from Indra’s storm. Pilgrims walk barefoot round it, the Govardhan parikrama of about 21 km, and the Gaudiya poets set many of the meetings of Goddess Radha and Krishna in its groves and by its ponds.
Her pond, by Govardhan
Radha Kund
Two ponds side by side near Govardhan. By tradition Lord Krishna killed Arishta, a demon in the form of a bull, and Goddess Radha told him to wash away the sin in every holy river; he called the rivers into Shyam Kund, and she and her friends dug Radha Kund beside it. At midnight on Ahoi Ashtami couples bathe here together, praying for a child.
The places stand on the Yamuna’s banks, in a picture rather than a map. Tap a place, or its name, to read what it keeps of her. Barsana is lit first, her home, where most tellings place her birth; others say she was born at Rawal, and the tellings differ. Their stories are traditions.
Her days, in your city
Dates and puja times for the city you pick
For New Delhi
Braj plays Holi for days. Some days before Holi itself comes the Lathmar Holi, when the women of Barsana meet the men of Nandgaon with sticks, and the next day it is played again at Nandgaon.
- Every Wednesday
- Wed 4 NovHer day of the week
- Krishna Janmashtami
- Wed 25 Aug12:01 am to 12:46 am, 26 Aug
- Radhashtami
- Wed 8 Sept11:04 am to 1:34 pm
- Sharad Purnima, the night of the raas
- Thu 14 Oct11:42 pm to 12:32 am, 15 Oct
Bow to her
Tapta kanchana gaurangi Radhe Vrindavaneshvari,
Vrishabhanu sute devi pranamami Hari priye.
Radha, fair as gold fresh from the fire, queen of Vrindavan; goddess, daughter of Vrishabhanu, dear to Hari: I bow to you.
The two lines Gaudiya Vaishnavas say as they bow to her, at the start of worship and before her image; Bhaktivedanta Swami gives them in the introduction to his Bhagavad Gita As It Is. Her aarti and the Shri Radha Chalisa are sung in the homes of Braj, and their words will come with pages of their own.
Her prayers
- Shri Radha PranamTwo lines of greeting, said as one bows to herSoon
- Aarti Shri Vrishabhanusuta KiHer aarti, sung in the homes and temples of BrajSoon
- Shri Radha ChalisaForty verses in her praiseSoon
- Radha Kripa Kataksh StotramA prayer for her glance of grace, much loved in VrindavanRead
A simple puja to Radha and Krishna
Goddess Radha is worshipped with Lord Krishna, the two together, and on Radhashtami at midday. At home a short and quiet puja is enough. Follow your family’s way where it differs.
- Clean the place of worship and set the image of Goddess Radha and Lord Krishna there.
- Light a ghee lamp and incense before them.
- Offer flowers and a garland, and a little sandal paste or kumkum.
- Offer milk sweets, butter or fruit as bhog, for both of them.
- Chant Om Shri Radhayai Namah 108 times, or simply call her name, Radhe Radhe.
- Say the Shri Radha Pranam, bow, and share the prasad.
What you need
- An image or picture of Goddess Radha and Lord Krishna
- A ghee lamp and incense
- Flowers, roses above all, and a garland
- Sandal paste or kumkum
- Milk sweets, butter or fruit
Who is Radha
Goddess Radha, called Radha Rani and Shri Radhe in Braj, is the beloved of Lord Krishna, and the two are worshipped together as Radha Krishna. She is the daughter of Vrishabhanu, a chief of the cowherds, and his wife Kirti, and grew up in Barsana; by tradition she and Krishna met as children in the groves of Vrindavan. For many devotees her love for him is the highest love for God, a love that asks for nothing back.
Her place in the texts differs from one tradition to another. The Bhagavata Purana, which tells Lord Krishna’s life in Braj, does not name her: in its raas, Krishna leads one gopi away from the rest, and many traditions read her as Goddess Radha. Her name is found in poems of the first millennium, and she comes to the centre in the Gita Govinda, the Sanskrit songs Jayadeva wrote in the 12th century. The Brahmavaivarta Purana tells her as Krishna’s eternal consort in Goloka, from whom all the gopis came.
The traditions that hold her dearest each see her their own way. For the Gaudiya Vaishnavas, who follow Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, she is Lord Krishna’s own power of joy, the hladini shakti; the Nimbarka tradition worships the two as one pair; and the Radhavallabh tradition of Hit Harivansh holds her highest of all. On whether she and Krishna were married the tellings differ too, and most devotees simply worship them as one.
- Radha Rani her name as the queen of Braj
- Shri Radhe the call of her devotees
- Radhika a loving form of her name
- Shriji as Barsana calls her
- Ladli Ji the beloved daughter, at her temple in Barsana
- Kishori Ji the young one, above all in Vrindavan
- Vrishabhanu Dulari the darling of Vrishabhanu, her father
- Vrindavaneshvari the queen of Vrindavan
ॐ श्रीराधायै नमः
Om Shri Radhayai Namah
I bow to Shri Radha. Her thousand names begin with it, and many say it 108 times on a mala of tulsi beads.
श्री राधा को मेरा नमन। उनके सहस्र नामों की सूची इसी नाम से आरंभ होती है, और कई भक्त तुलसी की माला पर इसे 108 बार जपते हैं।
Radhe Radhe!
Jai Shri Radhe!
Radha, Radha! Glory to Shri Radha! In Braj her name is the everyday greeting, written on the walls of houses and on the trees; the second call is heard most in the temples.
What her symbols mean
The lotus
She holds a lotus in many of her images, and by one tradition she was found on a lotus in the Yamuna at Rawal.
Krishna’s flute
Its music calls the gopis to the raas; in the stories of Braj she sometimes hides it from him, to make him ask.
The peacock feather
Worn in Lord Krishna’s crown. At Mor Kutir, on the hill of Barsana, tradition says he danced like a peacock for her.
Gold beside blue
She is golden, as her pranam says, and he is dark: the two together, never one without the other.
Her name
In Braj her name is a greeting, “Radhe Radhe”, painted on walls and trees and on the clothes of priests and pilgrims.
Her stories
Across India
Braj, Uttar Pradesh
Radhashtami at Barsana and Rawal, the Lathmar Holi of Barsana and Nandgaon, and the midnight bath at Radha Kund on Ahoi Ashtami. In Vrindavan the Radhavallabh temple and Seva Kunj keep her birthday for nine days.
West Bengal and Odisha
The kirtans of the Gaudiya Vaishnavas, who see Chaitanya Mahaprabhu as Goddess Radha and Lord Krishna in one, and the songs of the Gita Govinda, sung to Lord Jagannath at Puri.
Manipur
The Ras Lila, danced on full-moon nights of the autumn and spring, with Goddess Radha and the gopis round Lord Krishna.
Gujarat and Rajasthan
In the Pushtimarg and Swaminarayan traditions she is worshipped beside Lord Krishna, and her birthday is kept in their temples.
Abroad
ISKCON’s temples in many countries worship Goddess Radha and Lord Krishna together and keep Radhashtami; Radha Madhav Dham near Austin in Texas is one of the largest Hindu temples in the United States.
Her temples
- Shri Radha Rani Temple (Ladli Ji)Barsana, Mathura, Uttar Pradesh
- Shri Radha Rani Janam Sthal TempleRawal, Mathura, Uttar Pradesh
- Banke Bihari TempleVrindavan, Uttar Pradesh
- Radha Raman TempleVrindavan, Uttar Pradesh
- Radha Vallabh TempleVrindavan, Uttar Pradesh
- ISKCON Vrindavan, Krishna Balaram MandirRaman Reti, Vrindavan, Uttar Pradesh
- Prem MandirVrindavan, Uttar Pradesh
- Radha Kund and Shyam KundRadha Kund, Mathura, Uttar Pradesh
- Sri Mayapur Chandrodaya MandirMayapur, Nadia, West Bengal
- Bhaktivedanta ManorWatford, Hertfordshire, United Kingdom
- Radha Madhav DhamAustin, Texas, United States
- Sri Sri Radha Krishna TempleSpanish Fork, Utah, United States
Questions
Which day is Goddess Radha’s?
Her great day is Radhashtami, her birthday, on the eighth day of the bright fortnight of Bhadrapada, in August or September. We found no day of the week given for her alone: she is worshipped every day with Lord Krishna, and this page shows Wednesday, a day many keep for him.
Is Goddess Radha in the Bhagavata Purana?
Not by name. The Bhagavata tells of one gopi whom Lord Krishna leads away from the others in the raas, and many traditions read her as Goddess Radha. She is named in the Gita Govinda, the Brahmavaivarta Purana and other texts, and the tellings differ on her story.
Where was Goddess Radha born?
The tellings differ. Most say Barsana, the home of her father Vrishabhanu; others say Rawal, near Gokul on the Yamuna, where tradition says she was found on a lotus, and that the family moved to Barsana later. Both places keep Radhashtami.
Were Goddess Radha and Lord Krishna married?
The traditions differ. The Brahmavaivarta Purana tells of their wedding by Lord Brahma in the forest of Bhandirvan; the Gaudiya poets sing of a love beyond marriage, which gives up everything for him. Most devotees simply worship the two together as one.
Why do people in Braj say “Radhe Radhe”?
It is the greeting of Braj, said in place of hello, and her name is felt to bring Lord Krishna with it. In temples it is often heard as Jai Shri Radhe, glory to Shri Radha.
When is the bath at Radha Kund?
At midnight on Ahoi Ashtami, the eighth day of the dark fortnight of Kartika by the North Indian reckoning, in October or November. By tradition couples who wish for a child bathe together, and many come back to give thanks.
What is Lathmar Holi?
The Holi of Barsana and Nandgaon, some days before Holi itself: the men of Nandgaon come to Barsana and the women meet them with lathis, long sticks, while the men shield themselves, and the next day it is played at Nandgaon. It recalls Lord Krishna and his friends teasing Goddess Radha and hers.