HinduCalendar.in New Delhi

Radha Ashtami

Also called Radhashtami, Radha Jayanti

When

Saturday, 19 September 2026 in 9 days

New Delhi · change location

Sunrise6:11 AM
Sunset6:17 PM
Ashtami until 3:27 PM
at sunrise. This observance is governed by udaya, not by the sunrise tithi — which is why the tithi named here is often not the one the festival is named for.
Mula until 1:43 AM, Sep 20
9:13 AM – 10:44 AM

See the complete panchang for that day →

Governed by udaya

Why this date?

Bhadrapada Shukla Ashtami, taken on the day the tithi prevails at sunrise — the udaya-vyapini rule, which is the ordinary nirnaya default for a Shukla-paksha vrata. It falls a fortnight after Krishna Janmashtami, in the same lunar month.

  • Computed by the panchanga engine for your location
  • Follows a written selection rule, not a copied list
  • The governing period is stated, and the rule is applied to it
  • The written guide has not yet been reviewed by a named scholar

Dates come from the calculation engine and are independent of the written guide. How we calculate →

Dates in the coming years

Published to 2030. Later years appear as the dataset is extended and validated.

What In short

Radha's appearance day, kept most intensely in the Braj country — Barsana, Vrindavan and Mathura — and in Vaishnava households and temples elsewhere. Temples hold abhishekam and shringar through the day, and Barsana's Ladli ji temple is the reference observance.

Why The reason behind it

In Gaudiya and other Vaishnava theology Radha is not an adjunct to Krishna but the completion of him — hladini shakti, the power by which the divine delights. Her appearance day is therefore kept in its own right and not merely as an appendix to Janmashtami, which is why the fortnight between them is deliberate rather than incidental.

Traditional basis

Padma Purana and Brahmavaivarta Purana — The Radha narratives on which the appearance-day observance rests.

Gaudiya Vaishnava vrata calendars — Establish Bhadrapada Shukla Ashtami as Radhashtami and prescribe the fast and the midday observance.

How At home, step by step

  1. Where the fast is kept, it is commonly held until midday rather than the full day.
  2. Attend the abhishekam and the shringar darshan where a temple holds them.
  3. Recite or hear the Radha-related stotras; the Braj temples' kirtan is the reference form.
What you'll need
  • Flowers, particularly for the shringar
  • Panchamrit for abhishekam
  • A ghee lamp
  • Fruit and milk sweets for naivedya
Fasting and breaking the fast

Commonly kept until midday and then broken, rather than the full-day fast of Janmashtami. Practice varies by sampradaya and by temple.

Fasting guidance here describes traditional practice. It is not medical advice — if you are pregnant, diabetic, on medication or unwell, ask a doctor about your own circumstances.

Personal In your region

For children

Radha's birthday, a fortnight after Krishna's. In the towns where she is said to have grown up the temples are decorated all day and there is a lot of singing.

Common questions

Why is it a fortnight after Janmashtami?
Because the two are reckoned in the same lunar month from opposite fortnights — Janmashtami on the dark-fortnight Ashtami, Radha Ashtami on the bright-fortnight one. The gap is a consequence of the rule, and it is also read theologically as deliberate.
Is this the same as the monthly Masik Durgashtami?
No. Both fall on a Shukla Paksha Ashtami, but Radha Ashtami is the single annual Bhadrapada occurrence and has its own rule and observance.

This guide has not yet been reviewed by a named scholar or practising priest. The dates and times on this page come from the calculation engine and are independent of it; the explanatory text is editorial and may not reflect your family's practice. Tell us if something is wrong.