Govardhan Puja in 2017: Celebration in Honor of Mother Nature

Govardhan Puja 2017 date is 20th of October. Govardhan is one of the festivals that is celebrated during the Diwali festive season. Govardhan in 2014 will be celebrated on 4th October which is exactly the next day of Diwali. The next day of Diwali is celebrated as Govardhan Puja every year but in some cases a gap of one day between Govardhan Puja and Diwali might occur. The essence of performing Govardhan Pooja is in worshipping Lord Krishna and the purity of nature that enables human to reap so many profits. This year, Govardhan will again be a medium of thanking the nature and Lord Krishna for his blessings.

Legend Related to the Festival Govardhan

While celebrating Govardhan Puja, it is a good idea to know about the legend associated with it. There was a time when Lord Vishnu took birth on Earth as Lord Krishna. Lord Krishna is firmly believed to be the eighth incarnation of Lord Vishnu. Apart from killing demon Kansa and guiding Pandavas during Mahabharata, Lord Krishna also taught the exact way of living to the people of his village, Gokul. People residing in Gokul were dedicated to the Lord Indra and used to worship him every year during a festival. Lord Krishna made people aware of who deserve their love and respect the most. He showed that the divine nature must be worshipped as it is the only source that sustains life on Earth. He asked people to offer their prayers to Annakut hill also known as Govardhan Parbat to commemorate nature in true sense.

People of Gokul realized that what Lord Krishna was saying was absolutely true as they received food from Govardhan itself. Therefore since then people started doing the same and worshipped Govardhan for his kindness. This initiation of worshipping Govardhan rather than worshipping Lord Indra made Lord Indra extremely furious and he cursed Gokul with sudden climatic change. Continuous rain in the region started destroying the village steadily. Lord Krishna came forward and rescued the people of Gokul by lifting the Govardhan Parbat on his little finger. The severe attack of rain, thunder and lightning couldn�t have any effect on people and all the people were saved by the endeavor of Lord Krishna. These events gave birth to the festival called as Govardhan Puja.

This story is one of the stories. There is one more belief related to the Govardhan that states that Vamana, an incarnation of Lord Vishnu killed King Bali and sent him back to the Paatal Lok (Netherworld). Therefore, Govardhan Puja is a way of celebrating the triumph of Vamana over Bali.

You may believe any of the present stories but you should have a pure heart and faith in the Almighty for sure.

Celebrations of Govardhan puja

Govardhan is celebrated in various forms at different places in the country. Mathura being the city of Lord Krishna will receive special treatment during the festival Govardhan. Moreover, the Govardhan Parbat is present over there, therefore people can worship the Annakut hill in actual sense. The basic purpose of celebrating the festival is to give respect to the nature and express gratitude toward it. In order to complete the celebrations of Govardhan and performing the Govardhan Puja people will prepare many types of dishes to offer Lord Krishna. Once the dish is offered to the Lord as Prasad it becomes highly pious, therefore it is distributed to all the people around.

Worshipping Lord Krishna with utter dedication and devotion is a part of the rituals performed on Govardhan. People of Mathura also visit the Govardhan hill to worship it and then revolve around it in order to honor the hill. Many people prepare the mounds from cow dung and then worship it with the Lord Krishna. One thing to notice in all the things done on Govardhan is the enthusiasm and willingness of people. They truly believe that one should commemorate Lord and the sources through which the life is sustained.

Govardhan puja is mainly the festival of north India and people in north India excitedly await the festival Govardhan. Lord Krishna is worshipped and trusted by people immensely. The faith in the purity of Lord made people celebrate Govardhan and the bond of faith is so strong that it is being celebrated till date. Become a part of this amazing festival Govardhan that is a thanksgiving to the things that allow you to live happily.