Govardhan Puja & Bhai Dooj 2026 — Dates, Muhurat and Puja Vidhi

Govardhan Puja 2026 falls on Monday, November 9, and Bhai Dooj on Tuesday, November 10 — the fourth and fifth days of the five-day Diwali festival. Govardhan Puja, also called Annakut, celebrates Lord Krishna lifting the Govardhan hill to shelter the people of Vraj, and is marked by offering him a "mountain of food." Bhai Dooj, also called Yama Dwitiya or Bhau-Beej, celebrates the loving bond between sister and brother. Together they close the great festival of lights on a note of gratitude and family love.

Here are the verified dates, the muhurats, the stories behind both festivals, and the complete way to observe them.

Govardhan Puja & Bhai Dooj 2026 — Dates and Muhurat

The Pratipada tithi runs from about 12:31 PM on Nov 9 to 2:00 PM on Nov 10, so some panchangs place Govardhan Puja's morning muhurat on Nov 10; the day-after-Diwali convention observes it on Nov 9. Confirm the Govardhan muhurat and your city's Bhai Dooj tilak time on the ShubhDivas Panchanga.

Govardhan Puja (Annakut) — Significance

Govardhan Puja recalls one of the best-loved episodes of Krishna's life. The people of Vraj used to worship Indra, the king of the gods, for rain. The young Krishna taught them instead to honour the Govardhan hill and the cows and land that truly sustained them. Angered, Indra sent down a deluge to punish the village — and Krishna lifted the entire Govardhan hill on his little finger, holding it as an umbrella for seven days and nights until Indra, humbled, relented. The festival celebrates that shelter, and the truth it teaches: that the divine protects those who honour nature and live in gratitude.

The day is marked by Annakut — literally a "mountain of food." Devotees cook a great variety of vegetarian dishes (the chhappan bhog, 56 offerings, in temples) and arrange them as a hill before Krishna, thanking him for the year's abundance and asking his blessing for the next.

Govardhan Puja Vidhi

1. In the morning, make a small hill of cow dung (or clay) representing Govardhan, decorated with flowers, and place figures of cows, Krishna, and the villagers around it.
2. Worship the Govardhan hill with roli, akshata, flowers, a lamp, and incense; offer Annakut — the array of freshly cooked dishes, sweets, and kheer.
3. Perform parikrama (circumambulation) of the Govardhan mound, and worship the cows — bathing, feeding, and honouring them, for the cow is sacred to this day.
4. Recite Krishna's names and the Govardhan katha, and perform arati. In temples, the Annakut darshan draws great crowds.

Bhai Dooj (Yama Dwitiya) — Significance

Bhai Dooj, on the Dwitiya of Kartik Shukla Paksha, is the sister-and-brother festival that closes Diwali — a counterpart to Raksha Bandhan. Its story is tender: Yama, the lord of death, visited his sister Yamuna after a long separation. Overjoyed, she welcomed him with a tilak, a garland, and a lovingly cooked meal. Moved, Yama granted that any brother who receives a tilak from his sister on this day, and any sister who honours her brother, would be blessed with long life and freedom from fear of untimely death. So the day is also called Yama Dwitiya, and a sister's tilak on Bhai Dooj is believed to protect her brother's very life.

Bhai Dooj Vidhi

1. The sister prepares a puja thali with roli, akshata, a lamp, sweets, and often a coconut or gift.
2. In the aparahna (afternoon) muhurat, she applies a tilak to her brother's forehead, performs his arati, and prays for his long life and wellbeing; in some regions she draws a protective square (chowk) for him to sit in.
3. The brother offers a gift and his blessing and pledge of protection in return, and the family shares a festive meal.
4. Those without a brother or sister honour the Moon god, or a cousin or close friend, in the same spirit.

The Five Days of Diwali 2026

Govardhan Puja and Bhai Dooj complete the festival:

• Dhanteras — Nov 6 (wealth, buying, Dhanvantari)
• Naraka Chaturdashi / Choti Diwali — Nov 7
• Diwali · Lakshmi Puja — Nov 8 (the main night)
• Govardhan Puja / Annakut — Nov 9
• Bhai Dooj — Nov 10

The full month's guidance, including the return of wedding muhurats after Dev Uthani Ekadashi (Nov 20), is in our November 2026 auspicious dates.