Puja Vidhi for Govardhan Puja

Govardhan Puja is a Hindu festival celebrated the day after Diwali in which Lord Krishna is worshipped. The festival is also called Annakoot and literally means ‘a mountain of food’. The story behind this is that the villagers of Braj were making preparations to worship Lord India. When Lord Krishna who was a child at that time asked them why the villagers said the arrangements were to please Lord Indra so that he would give rains for their crops to flourish. Lord Krishna asked them to leave these arrangements and only do their work. This angered Lord Indra who unleashed the fury of the rains upon the people. Lord Krishna proceeded to lift the Govardhan Parvat on his little finger, under which the people took shelter for seven days. When Lord Indra realised what was happening, he recalled the rains.

Puja Vidhi

On this day people prepare Chappan Bhog (56) types of food made with wheat, rice, and gram flour. Typically, a hillock is made from cow dung or mud which represents Govardhan hill, and is decorated with flowers and sometimes a peacock feather. The devotees take rounds of his hillock, praying to Lord Krishna to always protect them.

For the puja, you require two sugarcane sticks, fresh milk, yogurt, batasha, peda, and laddoos in addition to roli and rice. Earthen lamps or diyas are lit all around the hillock. The sugarcane sticks are the main offering made to the hillock. Usually, the women of the house observe a day-long fast on this day which is broken by eating meethe chawal (sweet rice). A silver coin is also worshipped during the puja. The devotees entreat Lord Krishna to always provide them with an abundance of food in their houses. Govardhan puja can be done both in the morning and the evening. People wash the idol of Lord Krishna with unboiled milk and decorate it with roli and rice. Some batasha is kept on the plate with coins which are then distributed to the needy.

The following mantra is chanted while performing the puja to please Lord Krishna

|| श्रीगिर्रिराजधरणप्रभुतेरीशरण ||

Lakshmi Katha is also read out and the puja is concluded by presenting the person performing the puja with a silver coin and sweets.

In Gujarat, Govardhan Puja also signifies a new year known as Padwa. According to Hindu mythology, this day was also when Lord Vishnu defeated the demon king Bali. In several parts of India, the day after Diwali is also celebrated as the Vishwakarma day when machines and tools which people work with are worshipped.

The day signifies a new beginning and the victory of good over evil.

Written by Aarti Natarajan Sharma