Festivals of Radha Krishna

The festivals of Radha and Krishna follow the Hindu lunar calendar and centre on Braj. Janmashtami marks Krishna's birth at midnight in Bhadrapada, Radhashtami marks Radha's appearance fifteen days later, and Holi fills Braj with colour in Phalguna. Sharad Purnima, Govardhan Puja, Gopashtami and Jhulan Yatra fill out the rest of the year.

One thing to get straight early. None of these dates are fixed. They follow tithis, the lunar days of the Hindu calendar, so each one moves against the Gregorian calendar every year. Janmashtami can land in mid August or in early September. Always check a panchang for your own city, because the tithi begins and ends at a clock time, not at midnight.

Key takeaways

• Janmashtami falls on Bhadrapada krishna paksha ashtami and is kept at midnight. In 2026 it is 4 September, and it sits on the Government of India gazetted holiday list.
• Radhashtami falls on Bhadrapada shukla paksha ashtami, exactly fifteen days later. In 2026 it is 19 September, and Barsana keeps it best.
• Braj stretches Holi over roughly forty days, from Vasant Panchami to the Phalguna full moon, with Lathmar Holi at Barsana and then Nandgaon.
• Sharad Purnima, the Ashwin full moon, is kept in Braj as Raas Purnima, the night of the maha raas told in Bhagavata Purana 10.29 to 10.33.
• Govardhan Puja and Gopashtami come in Kartik, and Jhulan Yatra puts Radha and Krishna on flower swings through Shravana.

What are the main Radha Krishna festivals?

Nine days carry the pair through the year. Some are national, most are strongest in Braj.

Why is Radhashtami exactly fifteen days after Janmashtami?

Because both are an ashtami, the eighth lunar day, in the same month of Bhadrapada. Janmashtami takes the eighth day of the waning fortnight, Radhashtami the eighth day of the waxing fortnight. A fortnight apart, every year, without exception.

In 2026 that puts Janmashtami on 4 September and Radhashtami on 19 September.

Janmashtami is kept at midnight, because Krishna is said to have been born at midnight in Kansa's prison. The birth is narrated in Bhagavata Purana 10.3. Radhashtami is usually kept at midday instead, and Barsana, the hill town most tied to Radha, is where it is largest. Her appearance is told in the Garga Samhita and the Brahma Vaivarta Purana, the Puranas that name her. The birth of Srimati Radharani lays out what each text actually says.

How is Holi celebrated in Braj?

Not in one day. Braj stretches it over roughly forty days, starting at Vasant Panchami and ending at the Phalguna full moon, with a different town taking a different day.

The famous one is Lathmar Holi. Men from Nandgaon, Krishna's village, come to Barsana, Radha's town. The women of Barsana meet them with colour and with lathis, sticks, and the men take it behind leather shields. It is played in good humour by both sides. The next day the direction reverses and the men of Barsana go to Nandgaon. Barsana also keeps Laddu Holi just before, where sweets are thrown instead of colour.

After that the colour moves through Vrindavan and Mathura on Rangbhari Ekadashi in the bright fortnight of Phalguna, then to Holika Dahan and Rangwali Holi on the full moon night and the day after. If you plan a trip, the temples and Braj section covers where each of these happens.

Which festivals come from which scripture?

Most of them are anchored in the tenth canto of the Bhagavata Purana, though the Radha festivals lean on later texts.

Sharad Purnima keeps the night of the maha raas, the circle dance described across Bhagavata Purana 10.29 to 10.33, the five chapters called the rasa panchadhyayi. Govardhan Puja keeps the lila of 10.24 and 10.25, where Krishna talks Braj out of a sacrifice to Indra and then lifts the hill on one finger for seven days.

Radhashtami rests on the texts that name her. Her story is given in the Garga Samhita, the Brahma Vaivarta Purana and the later Gaudiya, Nimbarka, Vallabha and Radhavallabha traditions, while the Bhagavata holds her unnamed. That is worth knowing rather than glossing over, and who Radha is works through it properly.

How do devotees keep these days at home?

Fasting, a puja at the right hour, and chanting. On Janmashtami most people take no grains through the day, do the abhishek and puja at Nishita Kaal around midnight, then break the fast at the parana time their panchang gives. On Radhashtami many fast until noon.

The rest is names. Radha Ashtami is the day the Radha Sahasranama, her thousand names, is most chanted, and the Hare Krishna maha mantra carries every one of these festivals. The full set sits in prayers and mantras.

Where should I go next on this site?

For the couple these days are about, start at Radha Krishna.

For the narratives behind the festivals, stories has Radha's birth for Radhashtami and the day Krishna dressed as a gopi for the Braj lilas.

If you arrived with a doubt rather than a date, questions answers the common ones with sources, including why Krishna did not marry Radha.