Commemorates Krishna killing his uncle Kansa; celebrates evil's defeat

Kansa Vadh commemorates the day Lord Krishna killed his tyrant uncle Kansa, king of Mathura, on Kartika Shukla Dashami. Kansa had imprisoned his sister Devaki and her husband Vasudeva after a heavenly voice foretold that their eighth son would kill him, and murdered six of their children; the seventh, Balarama, was transferred to Rohini's womb, and the eighth, Krishna, was carried across the Yamuna to Gokul. After many failed attempts on Krishna's life through demons such as Putana, Trinavarta and Aghasura, Kansa invited Krishna and Balarama to Mathura for a bow sacrifice and wrestling match. Krishna broke the great bow, killed the elephant Kuvalayapida at the gate, and with Balarama defeated the wrestlers Chanura and Mushtika. He then leapt onto the royal dais, dragged Kansa down by his hair and killed him, freed his parents, and restored Ugrasena to the throne. In Mathura the day is celebrated with the Kansa Mela: the Chaturvedi community carries a large effigy of Kansa through the streets, beats it with sticks, and topples it amid celebration. It symbolises the end of tyranny and the triumph of dharma.

No fast of its own. In 2026 Devutthana Ekadashi falls on the same day, so those keeping the Ekadashi fast avoid grains.