The tenth Canto of Srimad-Bhagavatam relates many of Krishna’s amazing pastimes. Of these, “The Lifting of Govardhan Hill” is one of the devotees’ favourites.

It tells the story of how Krishna lifted Govardhan Hill in Vrindavan for seven days and seven nights, balancing it on the tip of his small finger and thus providing a huge umbrella under which all the residents and animals of Vrindavan could find shelter from the devastating rainstorm sent by Lord Indra (god of rain and king of heaven) upon their village. When Lord Indra realized that only the Supreme Lord could defeat him in such a mystical way, he surrendered to Krishna.

Traditionally in Vrindavan, this very merry festival is celebrated by cooking very large amounts of food offerings which are then arranged in the form of Govardhan Hill. It is called Anna (grains) Kuta (mountain) and takes place on the day after Diwali.

In ISKCON, devotees have developed unique offerings of halvah and sweets beautifully arranged in a replica of Govardhan Hill. Sometimes a Govardhan shila is placed on top of the hill. Devotees jubilantly circumambulate the hill of sweets and worship it as Govardhan Hill itself. A sumptuous feast is served on the occasion.

At the Krishna-Balaram Mandir the festival starts at around 11 a.m with worship of the cows in the goshalla, followed by circumambulation of the replica Govardhan Hill, lecture and feast.

At Hare Krishna Land, Phoenix, if the festival falls on a weekend or public holiday, it is celebrated with an early afternoon programme but if it falls on a weekday it is celebrated in the evening.

Please visit our website regularly so that you may find out our exact festival schedule.

“O Govardhan, you are decorated with beautiful pavilions of pearls and jewelled thrones shaded by trees, along with caves and valleys, where Krishna always plays with Balarama and the cowherd boys. I also long to witness those transcendental games. Kindly allow me to reside close to you”.
Srila Raghunath Das Goswami