After the auspicious festival of Diwali comes Govardhan Puja which coincides with the Gujrati New Year. This is a special day for all the Hindus and is also known as Annakoot Puja in some parts of the year. In the five days festivities of Diwali, Govardhan Puja is observed on the fourth day and this year it falls on November 8th. On this day, Hindus celebrate the victory of Lord Krishna over Lord Indra as he defeated him using the Govardhan Parvat.
According to the Hindu Mythology the story goes like this- Villagers of Lord Krishna’s village prayed to Lord Indra to stop the heavy rainfall and protect their harvest. However, angry Lord Indra let the rain pour. In order to save the villagers from the wrath of Lord Indra, Lord Krishna lifted the Govardhan Parvat on his little finger and saved the villagers as well as their crops. Since that day, people worship Govardhan Hill which denotes their increasing devotion to lord Krishna.
Govardhan Puja Vidhi
People prepare chappan bhog, 56 or 108 kinds of meals cooked with wheat, rice, gram flour on Govardhan Puja. The Vegetarian delicacies are then offered to Lord Krishna. To mark the festival, a hillock is created from cow dung which is referred as Govardhan and is decorated with flowers. The devotees walk all the way round the hillock to pray Lord Govardhan for their wellbeing and to safeguard their families.
How to do Govardhan Puja at home, basic rituals and vidhi
Govardhan Puja Samagri
Cow dung or mud, 2 sugarcane sticks, Curd, unboiled milk, batasha, ladoo and peda Roll, rice, Clay Deepak and matchsticks and one silver coin
How to perform Govardhan Puja at home?
Begin by offering 2 sticks of sugarcane to the picture of Govardhan or you can make a hill using mud and cow dung. Then offer Curd, unboiled milk, batasha, laddoo and peda. Light a Deepak and offer roli and rice. After the puja, pray to Govardhan. Leave sone batasha in thali and give it to someone along with money. Read Lakshmi Katha. Person who reads Lakshmi katha, should be given silver coin as dakshina. After the puja, put the kaajal from the kajlota of Deepavali puja. It is believed that the women of the house should eat first and should start their meal by eating something sweet.
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