Patna celebrates Govardhan Puja, prepares for Bhai Dooj

Patna: The city on Wednesday celebrated Govardhan Puja, honouring the day Lord Krishna lifted the Govardhan hill to shield Vrindavan from heavy rain, as written in the Hindu scriptures.

In addition, Annakut festival was also celebrated at many places, including Iskcon Temple and Nagababa Thakurbari, during which 56 types of edible offerings were made to Lord Krishna, with new harvests in the fields.


For the Govardhan Puja, residents, especially the cattle-rearers adorned their cows with news bells and by painting their horns before offering prayers. Devotees also created silhouette of Lord Krishna using cow dung cakes and worshipped Him.

On the day, the devotees also took a pledge to protect cows. “Worshipping Govardhan brings wealth and prosperity,” said Adikarta Das, co-chairman of Iskcon Temple, who performed the rituals.

At the temple, around 5,000 devotees participated in the ‘parikrama’ of a sculpture — representing the Govardhan Hill — created with five tonnes of ‘halwa’ made of dry fruits. They performed ‘aarti’ while chanting ‘Hare Krishna’. After puja, the halwa was distributed among the devotees as ‘prasad’.

After Govardhan Puja and Annakut, the city has also geared up for Chitragupta Puja and Bhai Dooj on Oct 23. Devotees, especially from the Kayastha community, will flock to temples for the sacred Dawat Puja for worshipping pen and ink pot, alongside Lord Chitragupta and his 12 sons — symbols of writing and record-keeping.

At least 43 groups from the community will host prayers and cultural events. Shri Chitragupta Sabha, Patna, will also install a new idol of the mythological scribe of Lord Yama (the god of death) at Mithila Colony in Nasriganj, followed by prasad distribution and a programme of Maithili folk songs and bhajans in the evening.

Gardanibagh Thakurbari will also host a grand Chitragupta Puja starting at 9am with hawan and dawat-kalam worship till noon. CM Nitish Kumar, ministers, MPs and IAS-IPS officers among thousands of devotees are expected to visit the temple.

Ranbir Nandan, president of Gardanibagh Thakurbari and chairman of Bihar State Religious Trust Board, said that a community feast for 10,000 will follow, symbolising unity beyond caste or creed. The historic temple was visited by Dr Rajendra Prasad, Loknayak Jayaprakash Narayan and former CMs.