Govardhan Puja 1951

From the Bhagavata Purana: Govardhan and the Annakoot

One year Krishna saw the cowherds of Vraja getting ready a great sacrifice for Indra, the king of the gods. He asked his father Nanda what it was for. Nanda said that Indra sends the rain, and the rain feeds every creature, so the people of Vraja honour him every year.

Krishna answered that each being receives the fruit of its own deeds, and that the people should honour what really keeps them alive. The cowherds, he said, live in the forests and on the hills, so let this sacrifice be for the cows, for the learned brahmanas, and for Govardhana Hill. He asked them to use everything they had gathered for Indra. Let every kind of food be cooked, from sweet rice to vegetable soups, cakes and all kinds of milk sweets. Let food be given to everyone, even the dogs, let grass be given to the cows, and let the offerings be made to the hill. Then, dressed in their best, let them walk around the cows, the brahmanas, the sacred fires and the hill.

The cowherds did just as he said. With the cows and calves in front, they walked around Govardhana, and the women followed in carts, singing. Krishna then took a huge new form, declared "I am Govardhana!", and ate the great heap of offerings. This mountain of food for the hill is remembered as the Annakoot.

Indra was furious. He sent the clouds of the world's ending to Vraja, and they poured down rain, hail and wind until the land was flooded. The shivering people and cows ran to Krishna. Krishna lifted Govardhana Hill with one hand, as easily as a child holds up a mushroom, and called everyone to shelter beneath it with their cows and carts. For seven days he stood holding up the hill, forgetting hunger and thirst. Indra, his pride broken, called back his clouds. When the sun shone again, Krishna set the hill back in its place, and the people of Vraja embraced him with joy.

From the Bhagavata Purana and the Padma Purana: Bali Pratipada

Bali, grandson of Prahlada, was a generous king of the demons. Lord Vishnu came to him as Vamana, a small brahmana boy, and asked for just three steps of land. Bali's guru Shukra warned him that the boy was Vishnu and would take everything, but Bali would not break his word. He poured the water of the gift over the boy's feet. Vamana grew until he filled the universe. With one step he covered the earth, and with the second the heavens, and no room was left for the third. Bali bowed and offered his own head for the third step.

Pleased with his truthfulness, the Lord gave Bali the realm of Sutala, promised that he would one day be Indra, and promised to stay with him and protect him always. The Padma Purana says that Vishnu himself, pleased, granted Bali this festival on the first day of Kartika's bright half, when Bali is honoured and the day is sacred to both Vishnu and the demons.

Another story

This is the tradition popularly told for Bali Padyami; no single Purana passage was found for it. Vishnu granted Bali that he could return to the earth for one day each year to be with his people, and this day is celebrated as Bali's yearly return.