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Sri Krishna Janmashtami

Sri Krishna Paramatma · About 35 minutes · 19 steps

When is it?

  • Our app's date
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Muhurtham

This year's nishita kalam puja muhurtham: September 4, 11:57 PM to September 5, 12:43 AM

The full timing note

Sri Krishna was born on Ashtami tithi, at midnight — so the Janmashtami puja may be done in the nishita kalam at midnight. Doing the puja at the hour of his birth, and celebrating Sri Krishna Janmotsavam then, is held to be special. If the midnight puja is not possible, you may do the puja with devotion at whatever time suits your family's tradition. Devotion and feeling matter more than the hour. Welcome Balakrishna's arrival with love, and do the puja with devotion whenever you can. 🦚🙏 🦚 When to put the puja peeta away After the puja is done, leave the puja peeta as it is for that night. The next morning (September 5), light a deepam for Balakrishna, offer your namaskaram and the naivedyam — after that the puja peeta may be put away. Those who kept the fast may put the puja peeta away after doing parana. Parana time: September 5, after 6:01 in the morning 🙏 Om Sri Krishnaya Namaha

The vidhanam at a glance

  1. Get ready for the puja
  2. Make sure the items are ready
  3. Light the lamp
  4. Achamanam
  5. Sankalpam
  6. Ganapati prayer
  7. Invite Sri Krishna
  8. Abhishekam for Balakrishna
  9. Vastram and alankaram
  10. Offering tulasi
  11. Sri Krishna Ashtottaram
  12. Bhagavad Gita / Krishna nama
  13. Dhupam and deepam
  14. Naivedyam
  15. The story of Krishna's birth
  16. The midnight celebration
  17. Harathi
  18. The prayer
  19. Prasadam
In the years ahead

Dates are computed by our own panchangam engine, which matches the TTD Srivari calendar to the minute. This vidhanam has been checked by our గురువుగారి.

Sri Krishna was born on Ashtami tithi, at midnight — so the Janmashtami puja may be done in the nishita kalam at midnight. Doing the puja at the hour of his birth, and celebrating Sri Krishna Janmotsavam then, is held to be special. If midnight is not possible for you, you may do the puja with devotion at whatever time suits your family's tradition. Devotion and feeling matter more than the hour. Welcome Balakrishna's arrival with love, and do the puja with devotion whenever you can. 🦚🙏

🌙 This year's nishita kalam muhurtham: September 4, 11:57 PM to September 5, 12:43 AM

Sri Krishna Janmashtami

The full vidhanam

  1. Get ready for the puja

    • Bathe and wear clean clothes. Clean the puja space and spread a cloth on a small peeta.
    • Place Sri Krishna's idol or picture. If you have a Balakrishna idol, you may place it in a small cradle.

  2. Make sure the items are ready

    • Before you step into the puja, take one look — the everyday puja items and the checklist items, all of them or as many as you could manage, are they in place?
    • If you'd like to look through them, tap the checklist button below; if you don't need to, we'll move ahead.

  3. Light the lamp

    • Light the lamp in the puja space.
    Shloka

    śubhaṃ karoti kal̤yāṇaṃ ārogyaṃ dhanasaṃpadaḥ | śatrubuddhi vināśāya dīpajyoti namostute ||

  4. Achamanam

    • Take a little water in your palm and do achamanam.
    • The priest says three names — take a sip at each one.

  5. Sankalpam

    • Take a few akshatalu and some water in your hand, and say this in your mind:
    • “On this Sri Krishna Janmashtami, I am doing this puja with devotion, for the grace of Sri Krishna Paramatma.”
    • Let the akshatalu fall into the puja plate.

  6. Ganapati prayer

    • First remember Ganapati, and pray that the puja completes without obstacles.
    • Offer a few akshatalu or a flower. Offer a little jaggery or a fruit as naivedyam.
    Shloka

    śuklāṃbaradharaṃ viṣṇuṃ śaśivarṇaṃ caturbhujam | prasannavadanaṃ dhyāyet sarvavighnopaśāṃtaye || vakratuṃḍa mahākāya sūryakoṭi samaprabha | nirvighnaṃ kurume deva sarvakāryeṣu sarvadā ||

  7. Invite Sri Krishna

    • Hold a flower before Krishna and say:
    • “I invite Sri Krishna Paramatma with devotion.”
    • Then offer the flower.
    Shloka

    oṃ śrī kṛṣṇāya namaḥ

  8. Abhishekam for Balakrishna

    • Only if you have a small metal idol.
    • You may bathe it gently with water, milk or panchamrutam.
    • Then rinse with clean water and wipe with a soft cloth.
    • If you have a picture, or an idol not suited to abhishekam, skip this step.
    Shloka

    oṃ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya

  9. Vastram and alankaram

    • If you have a small cloth for Balakrishna, dress him in it. If not, that is perfectly fine.
    • Offer sandalwood and kumkuma gently.
    • Decorate with tulasi and flowers.
    Shloka

    oṃ śrī kṛṣṇāya namaḥ — gaṃdhaṃ samarpayāmi oṃ śrī kṛṣṇāya namaḥ — puṣpāṇi samarpayāmi

  10. Offering tulasi

    • Tulasi has a special place in Krishna's puja.
    • Offer one leaf at a time, chanting as you go.
    • If tulasi is not available, you may offer flowers with the same devotion.
    Shloka

    oṃ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya tulasī dal̤aṃ samarpayāmi

  11. Sri Krishna Ashtottaram

    • Read or listen to the Sri Krishna Ashtottara Shatanamavali.
    • With each name you may offer a flower, a tulasi leaf, or akshatalu.

    Read — Sri Krishna Ashtottara Shatanamavali ↓

  12. Bhagavad Gita / Krishna nama

    • Read at least one verse from the Gita. Or listen to one.
    Shloka

    patraṃ puṣpaṃ phalaṃ toyaṃ yo me bhaktyā prayacchati | tadahaṃ bhaktyupahṛtaṃ aśnāmi prayatātmanaḥ ||

  13. Dhupam and deepam

    • Show the dhupam, then the deepam, offering each in turn.
    Shloka

    oṃ śrī kṛṣṇāya namaḥ — dhūpaṃ āghrāpayāmi oṃ śrī kṛṣṇāya namaḥ — dīpaṃ darśayāmi

    Read — Krishna janma katha ↓

  14. Naivedyam

    • Offer naivedyam to Krishna the way your family does.
    • It is good to place a tulasi leaf on the naivedyam.
    • Offer a little water as well.
    Shloka

    oṃ śrī kṛṣṇāya namaḥ — naivedyaṃ samarpayāmi

  15. The story of Krishna's birth

    • Read or listen to the story of Sri Krishna's birth:
    • Devaki and Vasudeva Kamsa's prison Krishna born at midnight Vasudeva carrying him to Gokulam Balakrishna growing up in Yashoda's home

    Read — Krishna janma katha ↓

  16. The midnight celebration

    • If your family keeps the midnight celebration:
    • Ring the bell. Call out “Jai Sri Krishna” and “Govinda”.
    • Place Balakrishna in the cradle and rock him gently.

  17. Harathi

    • Offer camphor harathi or lamp harathi.
    • Say the shloka below and bow.
    Shloka

    kṛṣṇaṃ vaṃde jagadgurum oṃ śrī kṛṣṇāya namaḥ | nīrājanaṃ samarpayāmi ||

  18. The prayer

    • At the end, join your hands:
    • “Krishna… let love, dharma, health and joy stay in our home. Forgive the mistakes we made knowingly and unknowingly, and lead us on the right path.”

  19. Prasadam

    • After a little while, share the naivedyam with your family as prasadam.
    • Some steps may differ according to your family's tradition. In a puja, devotion and feeling matter more than the materials. If your family keeps a particular custom, let that come first.

Puja checklist

🪔 Everyday puja items

  • Turmeric
  • Kumkuma
  • Sandalwood paste
  • Akshatalu
  • Camphor
  • Incense · dhupam
  • Wicks
  • Oil · ghee
  • Lamps
  • Matchbox
  • Bell
  • Harathi plate
  • Water vessel
  • Small bowls · spoon
  • Panchapatra · uddharini
  • Puja plate
  • Naivedyam bowls

🛕 Puja peeta

  • Puja peeta
  • Cloth for the peeta

🌸 Flowers, fruits, leaves

  • Flowers
  • Flower garland
  • Tulasi leaves
  • Bananas
  • Other fruits
  • Coconut

🦚 Special for Krishnashtami

  • Sri Krishna idol or picture

🍚 Naivedyam — whatever you can

  • Butter
  • Rock sugar
  • Atukulu and jaggery
  • Milk
  • Curd
  • Panchamrutam
  • Payasam / paramannam
  • Laddu
  • Chakkera pongali
  • Whatever else your family makes

🥛 For abhishekam

  • Milk
  • Curd
  • Ghee
  • Honey
  • Sugar
  • Clean water
  • Abhishekam vessel

✨ Decoration

  • Muggu flour for little footprints
  • Decorations for the house
  • A small cloth for Balakrishna
  • A small cradle
  • Peacock feather

Prasadam

Butter

Butter with a little rock sugar mixed in

Rock sugar

A favourite of Krishna's

Atukulu and jaggery

The offering that remembers Kuchela

Milk

Curd

Panchamrutam

Payasam / paramannam

Laddu

Chakkera pongali

Whatever else your family makes

📖 Krishna janma katha

In Mathura, the wedding of Devaki and Vasudeva was celebrated in great splendour. Kamsa, Devaki's own brother, loved his sister so dearly that he drove her chariot himself.

But midway through that journey an akashavani — a voice from the sky — was heard: “The eighth child born to Devaki will be the cause of your death.”

And that was all it took… fear closed over the love he had for his sister. Kamsa moved to kill Devaki then and there.

Vasudeva stopped him and gave his word: “Every child born to Devaki, I will hand over to you.” Even so, Kamsa imprisoned Devaki and Vasudeva.

Time passed. One by one, Kamsa killed the children born to Devaki. A mother losing her children… a father watching, able to do nothing… and in that prison cell the years went by.

At last… the time came for the eighth child to be born. Ashtami tithi. The hour of midnight.

Outside, everything was darkness… but that prison cell alone filled with a divine light. To Devaki, Sri Mahavishnu himself came — born as Sri Krishna.

That was no ordinary birth of a child. It was the moment dharma was born in the middle of adharma. The moment light came in the middle of darkness.

The instant Krishna was born, a wonder happened. The prison doors opened of their own accord. The guards fell into deep sleep. Vasudeva's chains slipped away.

Vasudeva placed the little Krishna in a basket… and that very night set out from Mathura for Gokulam. Outside, heavy rain. The river Yamuna was in flood.

His little one above his head… the swelling Yamuna before him… and still Vasudeva did not take a single step back.

Adishesha spread his hoods and followed, sheltering Balakrishna from the rain. And Yamunamma too rose up for the touch of little Krishna's feet… longing to touch those small feet, she gave way and made a path for Vasudeva's journey.

At last Vasudeva reached the house of Nanda and Yashodamma in Gokulam. There, a baby girl had just been born to Yashodamma. Vasudeva left Balakrishna there… took that baby girl, and returned to the prison in Mathura.

In the morning Kamsa learned that a child had been born. As he tried to kill her… she slipped from his hands, took on a divine form, and warned him: “The one who will destroy you is already born, elsewhere.”

And in Gokulam… Yashodamma alone did not know who it was she held in her lap. Did not know he was the protector of the worlds. Did not know he had come to end adharma. Did not know he was Sri Mahavishnu himself.

To her he was not God… he was her own little Kannayya.

He ate butter from her hand. He slept in her lap. He stole butter from the gopikas' houses. In Nanda's home he filled the days with his laughter and his mischief.

The Paramatma who had come to protect the world… grew up as a small boy in a mother's lap.

The Krishna who was born as God in Mathura… in Gokulam, through love, became “our own Kannayya”.

Jai Sri Krishna Govinda… Gopala…

Sri Krishna Ashtottara Shatanamavali

Read the full namavali (108)

oṃ śrī kṛṣṇāya namaḥ

oṃ kamalānāthāya namaḥ

oṃ vāsudevāya namaḥ

oṃ sanātanāya namaḥ

oṃ vasudevātmajāya namaḥ

oṃ puṇyāya namaḥ

oṃ līlāmānuṣavigrahāya namaḥ

oṃ śrīvatsakaustubhadharāya namaḥ

oṃ yaśodāvatsalāya namaḥ

oṃ haraye namaḥ (10)

oṃ caturbhujāttacakrāsigadāśaṃkhādyāyudhāya namaḥ

oṃ devakīnaṃdanāya namaḥ

oṃ śrīśāya namaḥ

oṃ naṃdagopapriyātmajāya namaḥ

oṃ yamunāvegasaṃhāriṇe namaḥ

oṃ balabhadrapriyānujāya namaḥ

oṃ pūtanājīvitaharāya namaḥ

oṃ śakaṭāsurabhaṃjanāya namaḥ

oṃ naṃdavrajajanānaṃdine namaḥ

oṃ saccidānaṃdavigrahāya namaḥ (20)

oṃ navanītaviliptāṃgāya namaḥ

oṃ navanītanaṭāya namaḥ

oṃ anaghāya namaḥ

oṃ navanītanavāhāriṇe namaḥ

oṃ mucukuṃdaprasādakāya namaḥ

oṃ ṣoḍaśastrīsahasreśāya namaḥ

oṃ tribhaṃgine namaḥ

oṃ madhurākṛtaye namaḥ

oṃ śukavāgamṛtābdhīṃdave namaḥ

oṃ goviṃdāya namaḥ (30)

oṃ yogināṃpataye namaḥ

oṃ vatsavāṭacarāya namaḥ

oṃ anaṃtāya namaḥ

oṃ dhenukāsurabhaṃjanāya namaḥ

oṃ tṛṇīkṛtatṛṇāvartāya namaḥ

oṃ yamalārjunabhaṃjanāya namaḥ

oṃ uttālatālabhetre namaḥ

oṃ gopagopīśvarāya namaḥ

oṃ yogine namaḥ

oṃ koṭisūryasamaprabhāya namaḥ (40)

oṃ ilāpataye namaḥ

oṃ paraṃjyotiṣe namaḥ

oṃ yādaveṃdrāya namaḥ

oṃ yadūdvahāya namaḥ

oṃ vanamāline namaḥ

oṃ pītavāsine namaḥ

oṃ pārijātāpahārakāya namaḥ

oṃ govardhanācaloddhartre namaḥ

oṃ gopālāya namaḥ

oṃ sarvapālakāya namaḥ (50)

oṃ ajāya namaḥ

oṃ niraṃjanāya namaḥ

oṃ kāmajanakāya namaḥ

oṃ kaṃjalocanāya namaḥ

oṃ madhughne namaḥ

oṃ madhurānāthāya namaḥ

oṃ dvārakānāyakāya namaḥ

oṃ baline namaḥ

oṃ bṛṃdāvanāṃtasaṃcāriṇe namaḥ

oṃ tulasīdāmabhūṣaṇāya namaḥ (60)

oṃ syamaṃtakamaṇihartre namaḥ

oṃ naranārāyaṇātmakāya namaḥ

oṃ kubjākṛṣṇāṃbaradharāya namaḥ

oṃ māyine namaḥ

oṃ paramapūruṣāya namaḥ

oṃ muṣṭikāsuracāṇūramallayuddhaviśāradāya namaḥ

oṃ saṃsāravairiṇe namaḥ

oṃ kaṃsāraye namaḥ

oṃ murāraye namaḥ

oṃ narakāṃtakāya namaḥ (70)

oṃ anādibrahmacāriṇe namaḥ

oṃ kṛṣṇāvyasanakarṣakāya namaḥ

oṃ śiśupālaśiracchetre namaḥ

oṃ duryodhanakulāṃtakāya namaḥ

oṃ vidurākrūravaradāya namaḥ

oṃ viśvarūpapradarśakāya namaḥ

oṃ satyavāce namaḥ

oṃ satyasaṃkalpāya namaḥ

oṃ satyabhāmāratāya namaḥ

oṃ jayine namaḥ (80)

oṃ subhadrāpūrvajāya namaḥ

oṃ jiṣṇave namaḥ

oṃ bhīṣmamuktipradāyakāya namaḥ

oṃ jagadguruve namaḥ

oṃ jagannāthāya namaḥ

oṃ veṇunādaviśāradāya namaḥ

oṃ vṛṣabhāsuravidhvaṃsine namaḥ

oṃ bāṇāsurakarāṃtakāya namaḥ

oṃ yudhiṣṭirapratiṣṭhātre namaḥ

oṃ barhibarhāvataṃsakāya namaḥ (90)

oṃ pārthasārathaye namaḥ

oṃ avyaktāya namaḥ

oṃ gītāmṛtamahodadhye namaḥ

oṃ kāl̤īyaphaṇimāṇikyaraṃjitaśrīpadāṃbujāya namaḥ

oṃ dāmodarāya namaḥ

oṃ yajñabhoktre namaḥ

oṃ dānaveṃdravināśakāya namaḥ

oṃ nārāyaṇāya namaḥ

oṃ parabrahmaṇe namaḥ

oṃ pannagāśanavāhanāya namaḥ (100)

oṃ jalakrīḍāsamāsaktagopīvastrāpahārakāya namaḥ

oṃ puṇyaślokāya namaḥ

oṃ tīrthapādāya namaḥ

oṃ vedavedyāya namaḥ

oṃ dayānidhaye namaḥ

oṃ sarvatīrthātmakāya namaḥ

oṃ sarvagraharūpiṇe namaḥ

oṃ parātparāya namaḥ (108)

Why do we celebrate?

The Bhagavatam records Krishna's birth at midnight on Shravana Krishna Ashtami under Rohini nakshatra — born in a prison, yet the one who showed the world what freedom means.

Bhagavata Purana

Krishna isn't just the butter thief — he's the teacher of the Bhagavad Gita. His birthday is also the birthday of that wisdom.

The Gita view

How to celebrate

  • Stay up till midnight — that's when he was born, after all!
  • Place baby Krishna in a cradle and gently swing it
  • Butter, atukulu and milk as naivedyam — his favourite menu
  • Tiny footprint muggulu from the door inward — as if Krishna walked in
  • Read one shloka from the Bhagavad Gita
Did you know?

Krishna may be the only god whose birthday celebrates butter theft. Proof that even mischief, done with charm, earns worship!

A few small things

  • Offer whichever of these you can. You do not need all of them.
  • Some steps may differ according to your family's tradition. In a puja, devotion and feeling matter more than the materials.
  • Devotion and feeling matter more than the hour.

Frequently asked questions

When is Sri Krishna Janmashtami?

Friday, 4 September 2026.

Why is Sri Krishna Janmashtami observed?

The Bhagavatam records Krishna's birth at midnight on Shravana Krishna Ashtami under Rohini nakshatra — born in a prison, yet the one who showed the world what freedom means. (Bhagavata Purana)

How is Sri Krishna Janmashtami performed?

• Stay up till midnight — that's when he was born, after all! • Place baby Krishna in a cradle and gently swing it • Butter, atukulu and milk as naivedyam — his favourite menu • Tiny footprint muggulu from the door inward — as if Krishna walked in • Read one shloka from the Bhagavad Gita

What is needed for Sri Krishna Janmashtami?

The checklist has 48 items in all, grouped as Everyday puja items · Puja peeta · Flowers, fruits, leaves · Special for Krishnashtami · Naivedyam — whatever you can · For abhishekam · Decoration.

How long does the Sri Krishna Janmashtami puja take?

About 35 minutes, across 19 steps.