Janmashtami 2027: date, midnight puja time and Dahi Handi

Janmashtami 2027 date and timing at a glance

Times are in IST for New Delhi, calculated from the real positions of the Sun and Moon.

Why Janmashtami 2027 has two dates

Smarta tradition, followed in most North Indian homes, looks for Ashtami at midnight. In 2027 Ashtami begins at about 8:25 PM on 24 August, so it is running at midnight that night, and 24 August becomes Janmashtami.

Vaishnava tradition, followed by ISKCON and many Krishna temples, prefers the day on which Ashtami is present at sunrise and avoids Saptami touching the day. In 2027 that is 25 August. Rohini nakshatra also plays a part in some calendars. Both dates are correct within their own tradition; families usually follow their mandir.

• Home calendars (Smarta): Tuesday 24 August 2027, puja at midnight.
• ISKCON and Vaishnava temples: Wednesday 25 August 2027.
• Dahi Handi in Maharashtra: Wednesday 25 August 2027.
• Abroad: Ashtami at your local midnight decides the day; see the city table below.

How Janmashtami is kept at home

1. The house and the puja corner are cleaned and decorated with flowers and rangoli.
2. A small jhula or cradle is dressed for Bal Gopal, often with new clothes, a flute and a peacock feather.
3. Many families keep a fast through the day, with fruit, milk or falahari food.
4. Bhajans and kirtan run through the evening.
5. At midnight the curtain is opened, a conch is blown and Bal Gopal is bathed in panchamrit.
6. The cradle is rocked, aarti is sung and makhan mishri and panjiri are offered.
7. The fast is opened after the midnight puja or the next morning, as per family custom.

Janmashtami food: the classic bhog

• Makhan mishri, white butter with rock sugar, Krishna's favourite.
• Panjiri, roasted dhaniya or wheat flour with ghee, sugar and dry fruit.
• Panchamrit of milk, curd, ghee, honey and sugar.
• Dhaniya pag, a coriander seed sweet from Gujarat and Rajasthan.
• Gopalkala, a mix of poha, curd and cucumber, made in Maharashtra on Dahi Handi.
• Seedai and murukku in Tamil Nadu for Gokulashtami.

Janmashtami across India

Janmashtami 2027 for families abroad

Krishna Ashtami begins at the same instant everywhere. In the UK it begins in the afternoon of 24 August, in the UAE in the evening of 24 August, and in the USA and Canada in the morning of 24 August local time, so midnight Ashtami usually falls on the night of 24 August there too. In Australia and New Zealand Ashtami starts after midnight local time, which can move the home puja to the night of 25 August.

Temples abroad often hold the main celebration on the nearest weekend. The world table on this page shows the Ashtami window in local time for 30 cities, so you can see which midnight falls inside it.

Janmashtami 2027 time in Indian cities

Krishna's birth is celebrated at midnight, and in 2027 Ashtami covers the midnight between 24 and 25 August in India. Below are sunrise, sunset and moonrise on Tuesday, 24 August 2027 for major Indian cities, calculated from each city's latitude and longitude. All times are IST. East Indian cities see the sun and moon earlier, west Indian cities later, by up to about an hour.

Janmashtami 2027 time in the USA, Canada, UK, UAE and Australia

For families abroad, the tithi starts and ends at the same instant everywhere, but your clock shows it at a different hour and sometimes on a different date. Here is Krishna Ashtami converted to each city's local time, with daylight saving applied, plus sunrise, sunset and moonrise on Tuesday, 24 August 2027 in that city.

How to read this table

1. Find your city, or the nearest one in the same time zone.
2. If the tithi covers your evening on Tuesday, 24 August 2027, you observe on the same date as India.
3. If it does not, follow your local mandir, which will decide using the same rule.

Open your city's full daily panchang, choghadiya and Rahu kaal from the panchang page.

How we calculate these dates and times

• The festival date is the India observance date published in standard Delhi calendars for 2027.
• The tithi window (Tue 24 Aug, 8:25 PM to Wed 25 Aug, 7:20 PM IST) is calculated from the real positions of the Sun and Moon.
• Sunrise, sunset and moonrise are calculated for each city's coordinates, on a flat horizon.
• Local times use each city's official time zone, including daylight saving.

Frequently asked questions about Janmashtami 2027