Govardhan Puja · Govardhan Puja, Annakut

Culture of origin: Hindu · Cultural

Holiday sources: Hinduism

Govardhan Puja, or Annakut ("mountain of food"), falls on the first day of the waxing moon of Kartika, the fourth day of Diwali. It recalls the story in the Bhagavata Purana of Krishna lifting Govardhan Hill to shelter the villagers of Vrindavan from torrential rains, when they had been worshipping Indra for rain. Devotees offer a mountain of food standing for the hill, and in Braj they walk around Govardhan hill, an eleven-mile circuit.