Govardhan Puja 1957

Govardhan Puja commemorates the day Lord Krishna lifted Govardhan Hill on the tip of his little finger, holding it aloft for seven days to shelter the people and cattle of Vraj from the torrential rain sent by an angered Indra. The episode humbled Indra and established the worship of Govardhan Hill, the cows, and the natural world as central to the devotion of Vraj.

The day is marked by Gau Puja (worship of cows), and by building and worshipping a symbolic representation of Govardhan Hill, often out of cow dung, food, or clay, in temples and homes. It falls on Kartik Shukla Pratipada, the day after Diwali.