Krishna lifts Govardhan Hill to shelter Braj from Indra's rain; the hill is worshipped with Annakut

Govardhan Puja is celebrated on Kartika Shukla Pratipada, the day after Diwali, to honour the day Lord Krishna lifted Govardhan Hill. The Bhagavata Purana relates that the people of Braj used to hold a great sacrifice to Indra, the rain god, each year. Young Krishna persuaded them instead to worship Govardhan Hill, which fed their cows, and the cows and Brahmins who sustained them. Enraged, Indra sent a devastating storm for seven days. Krishna lifted the entire hill on the little finger of his left hand and held it like an umbrella over the villagers and their cattle for seven days and nights, until Indra, humbled, came to ask forgiveness; Kamadhenu bathed Krishna with her milk and he was named Govinda. The festival teaches humility, gratitude to nature, and trust in God rather than fear. Devotees make a figure of Govardhan from cow dung in the courtyard, decorated with flowers, and worship it with the Annakut, a mountain of cooked food. Pilgrims walk the 21-km Govardhan parikrama around the hill near Mathura, and cows and bulls are bathed, decorated, and worshipped.

A feast day; no fast.