A birth in a prison, a childhood in a village
Every child in our family knows how the story begins: a storm, a locked cell, a newborn and a father wading into a flooded river with a basket on his head.
Krishna was born, the story tells, at midnight in a prison cell in Mathura. On the night of the eighth birth the guards fell asleep, the chains fell open and the gates swung wide. Vasudeva carried the baby out through the storm and across the swollen Yamuna, the serpent Shesha spreading his hoods above them.
The prisoners: his mother Devaki and father Vasudeva had been imprisoned by her brother, the tyrant king Kamsa, warned that Devaki's eighth child would kill him.
The cost: Kamsa had already murdered seven of their children.
Facts to know
- When
- Eighth night of the dark half of Bhadrapada, usually August or early September
- Where
- The haveli of Shrinathji, Nathdwara
- Lasts
- Two days, Janmashtami and Nandotsav
- Best day
- Nandotsav, the morning after
- Book by
- Three months ahead, earlier in Nathdwara
- Good for
- The curious about faith, Krishna devotees, art lovers
- Gokul: Vasudeva left the baby with the cowherd Nanda and his wife Yashoda in this village.
- A cowherd's son: Krishna grew up stealing butter, teasing the milkmaids and protecting the villagers of Braj from demons and storms.
- Govardhan: in the most famous story he lifted the hill on one finger and held it over the village like an umbrella for seven days, against the rains of an angry Indra.
- Shrinathji: that is the form worshipped at Nathdwara, Krishna as a boy of seven with one arm raised, holding up the hill.
- The festival: Janmashtami marks the midnight birth on the eighth night, ashtami, of the dark fortnight of Bhadrapada, in the heart of the monsoon.
- Across India: people fast through the day, sing through the evening and break their fast at midnight.
- Elsewhere: Mathura and Vrindavan celebrate with vast crowds. In Maharashtra, young men build human pyramids to break pots of curd hung high above the street.
- In Nathdwara: it is kept as a family keeps a birthday.
- Pushtimarg: the path of grace, founded by Vallabhacharya around the end of the fifteenth century, teaches devotees to serve Krishna with the tenderness the women of Braj felt for him as a child.
- A haveli, not a mandir: the temple is a household, where the child is woken, dressed, fed, taken out with his cows, given his nap and put to bed every day.
- To Mewar: our Nathdwara guide tells how the image came here in 1672, under the protection of Maharana Raj Singh.
- The image: carved in black stone, it was brought to Mewar from Braj, where it had been worshipped near Govardhan hill.
- The name: Nathdwara means the gateway of the Lord. The town stands on the Banas river, in Rajsamand district.
- A temple town: the rulers of Udaipur have protected Shrinathji ever since, and Nathdwara is shaped by the haveli: pilgrim guest houses, sweet shops, flower sellers, and painters whose families have made pichwai for generations.
- At full stretch: on Janmashtami every one of those trades is busy, and the whole town takes part in the birthday of the child it was built around.
When Janmashtami falls
Janmashtami moves with the moon, and in the monsoon. Our planners check two calendars for it: the lunar one and the weather.
The calendar: the festival falls on the eighth day of the dark fortnight of Bhadrapada in the north Indian calendar, in most years in August or early September.
Variations: some regions name the month differently, and some traditions keep it on consecutive days, depending on when the eighth lunar day and Krishna's birth star, Rohini, fall.
Facts to know
- Lunar date
- Eighth day, dark fortnight of Bhadrapada
- Usual month
- August or early September
- Next day
- Nandotsav, the day most worth seeing
- Before it
- Raksha Bandhan and Teej
- Weather
- Warm, humid, sudden rain
- Dates
- Announced by the temple, we confirm them
- Nathdwara's own dates: the town follows its own temple calendar, and the temple announces its dates. We confirm them for each year before planning anything.
- Monsoon green: the Aravalli hills turn from brown to emerald, the lakes of Udaipur and Rajsamand fill, and showers come in short afternoon bursts.
- An ordinary day: the haveli opens for eight brief darshans, from Mangla at dawn to Shayan in the evening, following the child's daily routine.
- Darshan timings: the temple sets its own for the festival, and they can change at short notice.
- Read more: our Rajasthan in August page explains what the season feels like.
Local tip
Plan for both days: the evening and night of Janmashtami, then the morning of Nandotsav, which for most visitors is the more spectacular of the two.
Janmashtami and Nandotsav, as Nathdwara keeps them
In Nathdwara you don't watch a re-enactment of Krishna's birth. You wait outside his house while it happens.
The day of the fast
The town fills: pilgrims arrive by the busload from Gujarat, Mumbai and across Rajasthan, and the lanes around the haveli are hung with flowers.
- Fasting: many devotees fast through the day.
- The darshans: they show Shrinathji in festive dress, with the pichwai behind him changed to scenes of the birth and Krishna's childhood in Braj.
- The crowds: each darshan is brief, and the crowds at every opening are dense.
The evening, and the closing of the doors
Haveli sangeet: temple musicians sing the songs of the Ashtachhap, the eight poet-saints of the tradition, among them Surdas.
- The doors close: shortly before midnight. The birth itself is not shown as a public spectacle.
- The wait: inside, the temple's own household celebrates. Outside, thousands of people fall quiet and wait.
Midnight, the conches and the salute
The sound: conches and gongs from inside the haveli, then a 21-gun salute for a newborn king, an old custom of Nathdwara.
- Inside: the image is bathed in panchamrit, the five nectars of milk, curd, ghee, honey and sugar, and aarti is performed.
- Outside: the crowd breaks into cheers, songs and cries of Jai Shri Krishna, and many devotees break their fast.
Nandotsav, the morning after
Nand Mahotsav: the haveli celebrates the joy of Nanda and Yashoda, as the villagers of Gokul did when the news spread.
- The splashing: milk, curd and turmeric are sprinkled and thrown in front of Shrinathji and the Tilkayat, the temple's hereditary head, until the courtyard and everyone in it is yellow and white.
- In the lanes: people dance, sweets are shared, and the mood is closer to a family wedding than a solemn rite.
The days that follow
Lingering joy: a few days of special darshans and decorations.
- Prasad: pilgrims buy the blessed food from the temple's kitchens to take home.
- The painters' lane: a lovely time to walk Chitron ki Gali, when many pichwai of the birth and childhood of Krishna are on show.
Where to celebrate Janmashtami in and around Mewar
Nathdwara is the heart of the festival in Rajasthan, but it is not the only place to keep it. These are the temples we suggest, from the most crowded to the most serene.
The haveli of Shrinathji, Nathdwara
The centre of everything: be in the lanes at midnight and in the courtyard crowd at Nandotsav.
- Be ready: it is extremely crowded, physical and noisy.
- Our way: a guide who knows the temple, carefully chosen darshans, and a car close by.
Dwarkadhish at Kankroli
Where: on the shore of Rajsamand lake, about half an hour north of Nathdwara.
- Its history: another important seat of Pushtimarg, whose image was also brought to Mewar in the time of Raj Singh.
- Its Janmashtami: devout and joyful but far less crowded, and the lake in the monsoon is lovely in the afternoon.
The Jagdish temple, Udaipur
Where: in the old city of Udaipur, just above the City Palace, a seventeenth-century temple to Vishnu.
- On the evening: it fills with families, and smaller Krishna shrines across the old city are decorated with cradles and lights.
- The gentlest way: if you stay in Udaipur and want only a taste of the festival.
Eklingji and Nagda, on the way
- On the road from Udaipur: Eklingji, the temple of Shiva as guardian of the Mewar rulers, and the carved temples of Nagda.
- Why stop: not Krishna shrines, but a calm and beautiful morning before the crowds of Nathdwara.
Mathura and Vrindavan, for the full Braj festival
- At its most vast: Mathura and Vrindavan, the land of Krishna's birth and childhood, celebrate with extraordinary crowds and hundreds of temples.
- A different experience: overwhelming and magnificent, and a few hours from Agra rather than Udaipur.
Janmashtami with us, hour by hour
This is the rhythm we use with guests staying in Udaipur, built to see the festival's two great moments and rest in between.
Facts to know
- Morning
- Breakfast by the lake, the story
- After lunch
- Drive about an hour north
- Early evening
- A darshan, then the painters' lane
- Late evening
- Wait near the haveli
- Midnight
- Conches and the 21-gun salute
- Next morning
- Nandotsav, then back to Udaipur
Morning of Janmashtami, Udaipur
- A slow breakfast by the lake: in the monsoon the clouds sit on the hills around Pichola, and the city is quiet and green.
- The story: your guide visits to tell you of the birth and explain what you will see that night.
Afternoon, the drive north
- The road: after lunch and rest, about an hour north to Nathdwara, stopping at Eklingji.
- The night: check in at a hotel near the town, or plan to return to Udaipur late.
Early evening, a darshan
- Shrinathji in festival dress: join one of the evening darshans with your guide. It will be crowded and brief.
- Afterwards: walk the decorated lanes and Chitron ki Gali, where painters sell pichwai of the birth.
Late evening, waiting for midnight
Dinner: something simple and vegetarian.
- Your place: near the haveli, arranged by our guide, to wait as the singing builds and the doors close.
- Be careful: keep valuables to a minimum and stay together.
Midnight, the birth
- Listen: the conches, the gongs and the 21-gun salute, and the cheer that follows.
- Then: stay a while as the crowd celebrates, then walk back to the car and to bed.
Morning of Nandotsav
Dress for it: clothes you don't mind having splashed with turmeric and curd.
- Watch: from the edge of the courtyard or from the lanes, and buy prasad on the way out.
- Back to the lake: Udaipur for lunch and a long, quiet afternoon by the water.
Butter, sweets and songs: the household's gifts to its child
Krishna was the child who stole butter from every kitchen in his village. On his birthday, Nathdwara makes sure he never needs to steal again.
The kitchens: Shrinathji is offered food many times a day, and the temple's kitchens work from before dawn. On Janmashtami the offerings become a feast.
Makhan mishri: fresh white butter with crystal sugar, the child Krishna's favourite in every story, among sweets rich with milk, ghee and sugar.
Panjiri: many households across north India make this roasted mixture of wheat or coriander seed, ghee, sugar and nuts.
- Panchamrit: the same five nectars used to bathe the image, shared at midnight when the fast is broken.
- Prasad: once offered, food becomes prasad, shared with devotees and sold from the temple counters and long-established shops in the lanes.
- Carried home: pilgrims take boxes of it on the train to Mumbai and Ahmedabad.
- How to buy it: from the temple counters or shops your guide knows. Treat the box with respect, and offer some to your driver and guide.
- A vegetarian town: in the festival days many eating houses serve food without onion or garlic, with simple thalis of dal, kadhi, seasonal vegetables and fresh rotis.
- Haveli sangeet: the devotional singing of the Pushtimarg temples is built on classical ragas.
- The festival songs: they celebrate the birth, the rain over the Yamuna and the joy of Gokul. Many were written by the Ashtachhap poets of the sixteenth century.
- Read more: our Rajasthani food guide covers the wider vegetarian table of Mewar.
Local tip
If you love Indian classical music, ask your guide to explain what is being sung while you wait. Each season, festival and hour in the haveli has its own songs.
Etiquette and respect at Nathdwara
Nathdwara is a house where a beloved child lives. Behave as you would in a devout family's home, and you will be welcomed.
No phones, cameras or bags: they are not allowed inside the haveli. Leave them in the car, because deposit queues on festival days are very long.
No leather: leave belts, wallets and bags behind, and wear shoes you can slip off easily.
Dress modestly: shoulders and knees covered. On Nandotsav, wear clothes you are happy to have splashed.
- No photographs of Shrinathji: not even from the doorway. Photography of the deity is forbidden.
- The press is real: at darshan time keep children close, hold small hands and follow your guide's instructions.
- Separate lines: men and women may be guided through separate entrances and stand in separate areas. Agree a meeting point beforehand.
- Prasad: accept it with your right hand, never put it on the floor, and share some with your driver and guide.
- Join in quietly: a soft Jai Shri Krishna as the curtain opens is always welcome.
- Non-Hindu visitors: generally welcome, but the temple sets its own rules, and we follow them. Our temple etiquette guide has more.
How we plan a Janmashtami journey
The festival is only two days, but it falls in a season most travellers ignore. That makes it one of the most rewarding times to see Mewar.
Easier rooms: palace hotels in Udaipur are easier to book and gentler on rates than in winter, with full lakes and green hills.
Nathdwara fills: its pilgrim guest houses and modern hotels are booked weeks or months ahead by families from Gujarat and Mumbai.
Facts to know
- Season
- Monsoon, low season in Rajasthan
- Base
- Udaipur or RAAS Devigarh
- Book by
- Three months ahead
- In Nathdwara
- Book earlier, it fills completely
- Pack
- Quick-drying clothes, umbrella, sandals
- So we base you nearby: usually in Udaipur or at Devigarh, travelling to Nathdwara for the evening, midnight and Nandotsav.
- Booking: three months ahead for Udaipur and Devigarh, and earlier to sleep in Nathdwara itself.
- Around the rain: we plan the drives around the monsoon showers.
- Flexibility: we keep the night of the birth flexible in case the temple changes its timings, with a long rest between midnight and the Nandotsav morning.
- Pack light: quick-drying clothes, an umbrella and sandals. The lanes can be wet.
- Cash: a small amount for prasad and offerings, and very little else.
Local tip
If crowds worry you, tell us. We can place you at the edges of the lanes at midnight, keep Janmashtami at Kankroli or in Udaipur, and bring you to Nathdwara only for Nandotsav or a quieter day after.
Where to stay for Janmashtami
Nathdwara is a pilgrim town, not a palace town. The best beds for the festival are a short drive away, in places that feel like another world after the crowds.
RAAS Devigarh
What it is: an eighteenth-century hill palace at Delwara, between Udaipur and Nathdwara, reimagined as a modern marble hotel.
- Why choose it: the closest luxury base to the temple, and the calmest place to come back to after midnight.
- In the monsoon: the valley below turns vividly green.
The lake hotels of Udaipur
- About an hour south: the Taj Lake Palace, The Oberoi Udaivilas and Fateh Prakash Palace.
- Why: the full beauty of monsoon Udaipur, with the lakes high and the hills in cloud, a perfect contrast to the festival.
In Nathdwara itself
- What there is: many pilgrim guest houses and a few comfortable modern hotels, convenient for the earliest darshan of the day.
- The catch: practical rather than luxurious, and they fill very early. Tell us as soon as possible if you want to sleep in town.
What to combine with Janmashtami
Janmashtami falls in the most underrated season in Rajasthan. These are the places and festivals we pair with it.
Monsoon in Mewar
- Built for this season: our Monsoon in Mewar journey brings Udaipur's full lakes and the green walls of Kumbhalgarh in cloud.
- Ranakpur: the marble temple of Ranakpur washed by rain. Janmashtami at Nathdwara fits in naturally.
Teej and the monsoon festivals
- Before Janmashtami: women across Rajasthan celebrate Teej, the festival of the monsoon and of Parvati, with swings, green saris and ghevar.
- Both in August: one journey can include the two.
Sacred Rajasthan
- The route: our Sacred Rajasthan journey links Pushkar, Ajmer, Nathdwara, Udaipur and Ranakpur.
- Timed to the festival: for guests who want Janmashtami at the heart of the trip.
Pichwai, the art of the temple
- A morning with a painter: many guests come back to Nathdwara after the festival for one.
- Read more: our pichwai painting experience explains how the great painted cloths of Shrinathji are made.
Annakut and Diwali, later in the year
- Come back in autumn: for Annakut, the mountain of food offered to Shrinathji the day after Diwali, in memory of Krishna lifting Govardhan.
Who will love Janmashtami in Nathdwara
We take only some guests to Nathdwara for Janmashtami, and we always talk it through first.
Faith lived: you will love it if you are curious about how faith is lived, drawn to Krishna and his stories, or want to see one of India's most joyful religious celebrations close up.
The moment: guests who have spent a week in palaces often tell us that standing in a silent lane at midnight, waiting for the guns, was when they understood the country a little better.
Facts to know
- Loves it
- The curious about faith, Krishna's devotees
- Also
- Art lovers, for the pichwai painters
- Think twice
- Crowd-anxious, dislike of waiting
- Alternative
- Nathdwara on an ordinary morning
- Art lovers: they find the pichwai painters at their busiest and most inspired.
- May not suit: those whom crowds make anxious, who dislike waiting without knowing when a door will open, or who would rather see monuments than festivals.
- The gentler plan: visit Nathdwara on an ordinary morning, keep Janmashtami quietly in Udaipur, and spend the monsoon on the lakes.
- Calmer sacred places: our guide to faith and temples in Rajasthan suggests them, and the evening prayers at Eklingji are among the most peaceful in Mewar.