For New Delhi
Krishna Janmashtami puja time
Nishita kaal (midnight puja)†12:01 am – 12:45 am on 25 Aug · 44 min
- Ashtami tithi
- 8:25 pm – 7:20 pm on 25 Aug
How this time is worked out
The night runs from sunset to the next sunrise and is cut into fifteen equal muhurtas (about 44 minutes each in New Delhi that night).
Krishna’s birth is kept at nishita, the eighth muhurta of the night†, on the day Ashtami runs. At the middle of nishita the Moon is in Krittika.
† Practice varies between schools; our faculty is reviewing these rules.
2028
Tuesday, 24 August 2027
In 2027 the tithi runs from 8:25 pm on 24 Aug to 7:20 pm on 25 Aug; it is running at the middle of the night (halfway from sunset to the next sunrise) on Tuesday, 24 August 2027, so that is the day of Krishna Janmashtami.
2029
Friday, 31 August 2029
In 2029 the tithi runs from 9:01 pm on 31 Aug to 10:57 pm on 1 Sep; it is running at the middle of the night (halfway from sunset to the next sunrise) on Friday, 31 August 2029, so that is the day of Krishna Janmashtami.
How the date is fixed
Krishna Janmashtami falls on the eighth day of the dark half of the lunar month Shravana (Krishna Ashtami). The date is the day on which that tithi is running at the middle of the night (halfway from sunset to the next sunrise). In the North Indian (purnimanta) calendar the same fortnight is counted in Bhadrapada.
About
Janmashtami falls on the eighth tithi of the dark half of Shravana in amanta reckoning, which North India names Bhadrapada Krishna Ashtami; it is the same night in August or early September. Because the birth is placed at midnight in Rohini nakshatra, the day whose nishitha (midnight) holds Ashtami is chosen, and the day on which Ashtami and Rohini both touch midnight is preferred. This is why smarta and Vaishnava calendars sometimes give consecutive days. Mathura, Vrindavan and Dwarka hold their main celebrations at the midnight hour.
How it is observed
A fast until midnight, the birth ceremony with the infant image at twelve, and dahi handi the next day in Maharashtra.