Krishna Janmashtami
Also called Gokulashtami
Midnight at Mathura, on the Yamuna.
When it falls
Sunday, 13 August 2028
By the sunrise at Har Ki Pauri, Haridwar
- The rule
- Bhadrapada Krishna Ashtami, at midnight
- Which day
- True midnight (nishita kaal)
- The night on which the tithi is running at midnight, because this is a night observance; the morning snan is the morning after that night.
- Weight
- One of the year's great days
- Returns
- Once a year
What it is
Janmashtami is the eighth of the dark fortnight of Bhadrapada, the night of Krishna's birth at Mathura. It is kept at midnight, so the date is fixed by the tithi at nishita, and the almanacs of the north and of the Vaishnava temples can differ by a day when the ashtami and Rohini nakshatra do not fall together; this page gives the night the tithi holds at midnight. The morning after is a bathing morning on the Yamuna at Mathura and at Vishram Ghat especially, and the Dahi Handi day in Maharashtra.
Where it is kept
One water. This night is Mathura's.
Yamuna
Vishram Ghat, Mathura
Purnimanta reckoning
The birthplace. Mathura on Janmashtami night, and the Yamuna at dawn after it.
The windows
Brahma Muhurat
about 48 minutes
From sunrise
- Definition
- Two muhurtas of the night before sunrise, until one muhurta before it. A night muhurta is a fifteenth of the night, about 48 minutes at the equinox and longer in winter.
Brahma Muhurat falls before sunrise, so it belongs to the panchang day that opened at the previous sunrise, and the Gregorian date beside it is the next day. The calendar keeps the two apart.
Pratah Snan
about 96 minutes
From sunrise
- Definition
- Sunrise, until two muhurtas of the day after it. A day muhurta is a fifteenth of the daylight, about 48 minutes at the equinox and longer in summer.
This window sits after sunrise, so its panchang day and its Gregorian date agree.
Every time is given at the ghat first, and in your own zone beside it. How the clock is read
Where the timing comes from
- Source
- Computed here, checked against Drik Panchang
- Ayanamsa
- Lahiri (Chitrapaksha)
- Ghat coordinates
- Har Ki Pauri, Haridwar: 29.9457, 78.1642
Textual basis
The living usage of the ghats named below, and the puranic and dharmashastra literature on the day. A citable edition and passage is still to be added.
Every date here is computed: the tithi at the ghat's sunrise, the month named by the sankranti it holds, and the sun's entry into each sign under the Lahiri ayanamsa. Tithi, nakshatra, sunrise and windows were checked against Drik Panchang for Haridwar on eight days between September 2026 and March 2027, to the minute. The dates roll forward each morning.