Gopashtami 2022: Date, Time, Puja Vidhi and Significance

Gopashtami 2022: Gopa Ashtami has an immense religious significance among Hindus as this festival is associated to Lord Krishna. This festival is celebrated on the Ashtami Tithi (eighth day) of Shukla Paksha (rising moon phase) in the Hindu calendar month of Kartik. This year, the festival of Gopashtami is being celebrated tooday, on November 1, 2022. This festival is mainly celebrated in Vrindavan, Mathura, Dwarka, Nathdwara and other Braj regions.

Gopashtami 2022: Date and Time

Ashtami Tithi Begins - November 1, 2022 - 01:11 AM
Ashtami Tithi Ends - November 1, 2022 - 11:04 PM

Gopashtami 2022: Significance
According to the Hindu Scriptures, once Lord Indra (the god of rains) got furious with the people of Braj and to punish them showered heavy rains. To save the people of Braj, Lord Krishna who is the eighth incarnation of Lord Shri Hari Vishnu, lifted the Govardhan Mountain on his little finger. This went on for seven days and finally, Lord Indra realized his mistake and he stopped the rain.

He went to seek forgiveness from Lord Krishna on the eighth day then Surbhi Cow showered milk on Lord Indra and Lord Krishna and declared Lord Krishna as Govinda who is meant to be the Lord of cows. From then Gopashtami is celebrated and holds a great importance for the devotees of Lord Krishna.

It is believed that by worshipping Lord Krishna and Shri Hari Vishnu on this very special day of Gopashtami, brings peace, prosperity, well being and wealth to the devotees. Cows and calves are decorated on this holy day of Gopashtami.

Gopashtami 2022: Puja Vidhi

1. People wake up early in the morning and clean the cows along with their calves and then take bath.

2. After cleansing, they apply tilak with roli and sandalwood on cows and calves.

3. Prepare bhog prasad - kheer, poori, semolina (soojhi) halwa, aaloo ki sabzi.

4. Take a plate, light a diya with desi ghee, take five fruits, jaggery and sweets and bhog prasad.

5. Decorate cows and calves with garland and worship them.

6. After worshiping cows and calves, people offer bhog prasad and Dakshina (money) to cowherds.

7. At various places special pujas are performed by the qualified priests.

8. After completing all the puja rituals, devotees must feed the bhog prasad to the cows that were made for worship. Worshipping Gaumata (cow) in this way removes all the troubles from your life.

Devotees celebrate this day with great enthusiasm and grandeur in all Krishna Temples. Prepare different types of satvik dishes and offer to Lord Krishna and not only this but people visit Gaushala and worship Gaumata (cow) and feed them with chapati, jaggery and green grass or raw vegetables.