Gokulashtami, also Krishna Jayanthi or Sri Jayanthi, is the eighth night of the waning Moon in the month of Aavani, the night Krishna was born. In Tamil homes a trail of tiny footprints is drawn in wet rice flour from the entrance to the puja shelf, and the offerings are whatever a child would steal: butter, aval, and a dozen kinds of fried savouries called seedai and murukku.
The story
Born in Mathura and carried across the Yamuna to Gokulam the same night, Krishna grew up as a cowherd's son, and it is that childhood the Tamil Azhvars sang. Periyazhvar wrote as Yashoda, calling the child to his bath, to be fed, to have flowers put in his hair; his daughter Andal wrote as a girl of the cowherd village.
Vaishnava families who follow the star rather than the tithi keep Sri Jayanthi a day later in some years, when Rohini is in the sky.
ஆயர் குலத்தினில் தோன்றும் அணி விளக்கை
The shining lamp that appeared among the cowherd clan
Andal, Tiruppavai, verse 5
How it is kept
- FootprintsThe fist is dipped in rice paste and pressed on the floor, and toes are added with a fingertip.
- BakshanamUppu seedai, vella seedai, murukku, thattai, appam and aval with jaggery, with fresh butter.
- Evening pujaThe worship is done after dark, and many fast until then.
- UriyadiA pot is hung high and swung out of reach while blindfolded young men try to break it.
- Dressing upSmall children are dressed as Krishna and Radha.
Why this date
Gokulashtami is the Ashtami of the waning fortnight of the lunar month of Shravana, on the day Ashtami covers midnight. It falls in the solar month of Aavani.
Gokulashtami in other years
| Year | Date | Day |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 | Friday | |
| 2027 | Tuesday | |
| 2028 | Sunday | |
| 2029 | Friday | |
| 2030 | Tuesday | |
| 2031 | Saturday |
More Tamil festivals
13 AugustVaralakshmi Vratamவரலட்சுமி விரதம்
4 SeptemberVinayagar Chaturthiவிநாயகர் சதுர்த்தி
18 JulyGuru Purnimaகுரு பூர்ணிமா
7 OctoberDurga Ashtamiதுர்காஷ்டமி
14 JulySayana Ekadasiசயன ஏகாதசி
9 OctoberSaraswati Puja and Ayudha Pujaசரஸ்வதி பூஜை · ஆயுத பூஜை
Where to see Gokulashtami
In Tamil Nadu
- Parthasarathy Temple, TriplicaneTamil NaduAn eighth-century temple in Chennai to Krishna as Arjuna's charioteer.
- Rajagopalaswamy Temple, MannargudiTamil NaduCalled the Guruvayur of the south, with Krishna as a cowherd holding a whip.
- SrivilliputhurTamil NaduHome of Periyazhvar and Andal, whose songs are the day's liturgy.
Across India
- GuruvayurKeralaThe temple of the child Krishna; Ashtami Rohini is its busiest day.
- UdupiKarnatakaThe Krishna Matha, with tiger dancers the next day.
- MathuraUttar PradeshThe birthplace, with the midnight bathing of the infant image.