Annokut Festival Editorial Image

Goverdhan Puja, or Annakut or Annakoot translated as “a mountain of food” as it is also known, is a Hindu festival in which devotees prepare and offer a large variety of vegetarian food to the murtis of ParamatmaGod as a mark of gratitude. For Vaishnavas, this day commemorates the incident in the Bhagavata Puran when Krishna lifted Govardhan Hill to provide the villagers of Vrindavan shelter from torrential rains. The incident is seen to represent how God will protect all devotees who take singular refuge in him. Devotees offer a mountain of food, metaphorically representing the Govardhan Hill, to God as a ritual remembrance and to renew their faith in taking refuge in God. The festival is observed by many Hindu denominations, but is particularly prominent among the Vallabh Sampradaya Pushtimarg, the Gaudiya Sampradaya of Chaitanya, and the Swaminarayan Sampradaya. The Annakut festival occurs on the first lunar day of Shukla Paksha bright fortnight in the Hindu calendar month of Kartik, which is the fourth day of Deepawali Diwali, the Hindu festival of lights, and also the first day of the Vikram Samvat calendar.