Govardhan Pooja & Annakut in Vrindavan — Date, Parikrama & Plan (2026)

Govardhan Pooja 2026 falls on Tuesday 10 November 2026 in Braj, two days after Diwali. From a Vrindavan base you can walk the 21 km Govardhan Parikrama before breakfast and still stand before an Annakut by noon. Here is how the day fits together.

📅 The Diwali-week dates in Braj

Kartik Shukla Pratipada, the day Krishna lifted the hill, begins at 12:31 PM on 9 November and ends at 2:00 PM on 10 November 2026. Because the tithi holds at sunrise on the 10th, that is the Govardhan Pooja day in Braj.

ISKCON's Vaishnava calendar lists Monday 9 November for Govardhan Pooja. If Krishna Balaram Mandir is on your list, plan for the 9th there and the 10th everywhere else.

🍚 Where to see the Annakut in Vrindavan

Annakut means a hill of food: the chhappan bhog of 56 dishes, eight meals a day for the seven days Krishna held up the hill, mounded around rice and khichdi and distributed as prasad afterwards.

• Radha Raman and Radha Vallabh: both hold Annakut on Govardhan Pooja day itself. Radha Raman's regular darshan runs about 5 AM to 12:30 PM and 6 to 9 PM; the Annakut is shown around the noon aarti.

• Banke Bihari: standing jhanki darshan only, the curtain drawn every minute or two, and Diwali-week crowds that police struggle to hold. The temple's Annakut has traditionally been shown the day after; confirm at the notice board.

• ISKCON Krishna Balaram Mandir: on its own date, 9 November. ISKCON programmes elsewhere run Go Pooja around 10:30 AM and the Annakut offering about 12:30 PM.

🚶 The Govardhan Parikrama, hour by hour

The full parikrama is 21 km, seven kos, and most Yatris finish in 5–6 hours at a steady walk. There is no fixed start time, so the crowd thins before dawn.

1. 5:00 AM: Daan Ghati temple, Govardhan town. Bow to the hill and set off anticlockwise with the hill on your right.

2. Badi Parikrama, about 12 km: Daan Ghati, Aniyor, Govind Kund, Poonchhari ka Lautha, Jatipura and the Mukharbind shrine, back toward town.

3. Chhoti Parikrama, about 9 km: Mansi Ganga, Uddhav Kund, Radha Kund and Shyam Kund, Kusum Sarovar, and back to Mansi Ganga.

4. 10:30–11:00 AM: finish at Mansi Ganga. On Govardhan Pooja the Jatipura temples do a milk abhishek of the hill around noon.

Four-wheelers are meant to stay off the Parikrama Marg, but enforcement is patchy and e-rickshaws weave through walkers. In March 2026 a two-hour jam formed outside Daan Ghati when barriers failed. Walk on the hill side and keep children on the inside.

🚗 Vrindavan to Govardhan: distance and the no-entry days

Vrindavan closes to outside cars on big days. For Janmashtami 2026 four-wheelers were stopped at the Chhatikara multi-level parking, with parking at Rukmini Vihar and opposite Prem Mandir Gate 2 and e-rickshaw shuttles beyond. For Sharad Purnima on 25 October 2026 outside vehicles were barred again.

No Diwali-week order has been published yet. Expect the same pattern on 8–11 November: your taxi reaches Chhatikara or the parikrama marg edge, and the last kilometre into the kunj galis is on foot or by e-rickshaw. Our Braj yatra plan from Delhi covers the drive down.

🧭 Which plan suits you?

• With elders: skip the full parikrama. Drive to Govardhan at 4 PM, do Mukharbind darshan at Jatipura and the Mansi Ganga evening aarti, which runs from about 5 PM. Annakut in Vrindavan at noon first.

• You want the full seven kos: start at 5 AM, finish by 11, Annakut at Radha Raman after. Carry water; there are stalls but long stretches without shade.

• On a tight schedule: the 9 km Chhoti Parikrama via Radha Kund, about 2.5 hours, then Govardhan Pooja darshan at Daan Ghati.

• On a budget: shared tempos run Vrindavan to Govardhan all day, but on the 10th they fill and the return is the problem.

• Avoid: Banke Bihari between 4 and 7 PM on the 10th and 11th, and any plan that needs a car inside Vrindavan after dark.

Readers comparing Annakut traditions can see how Dwarka does Diwali and Annakut.

🛏️ Where to stay

Stay in Vrindavan rather than Govardhan town: the temples, the evening aartis and the e-rickshaws are all here, and Govardhan is a 45-minute drive. Rooms near Prem Mandir and the Chhatikara road suit a 5 AM departure. The kunj galis around Banke Bihari are unreachable by car, and corridor demolition has begun there.

Walk the hill in the dark, eat the hill at noon, and let Giriraj carry the rest. Jai Shri Radhe!