The night Kṛṣṇa was born — in a prison cell, in the rain, with the guards asleep and the river parting for a father carrying a baby in a basket.
When it falls
25 August 2027 13 August 2028 1 September 2029
Most families keep the children up. A story is the easiest way to hold a small child's attention until midnight, and the boyhood ones are the best in the whole collection.
Why it has more than one name
Janmāṣṭamī in Sanskrit, Gokulāṣṭamī in much of the south, Kṛṣṇa Jayantī and Śrī Jayantī in Tamil households. The eighth tithi of the dark half — the aṣṭamī of the name — is the same in all of them, though the fast is broken at different hours depending on which reckoning a family follows.
25 August 2027, 13 August 2028 and 1 September 2029. The eighth tithi of the dark half of the month, kept through to midnight.
What story should I read my child on Janmashtami?
The birth itself is the obvious one — a prison cell, a river that parts, a father carrying a basket. The boyhood stories that follow are the strongest material in the collection for young children.
How do I keep a small child awake until midnight?
A story is easier than anything else, and one that runs six minutes at a time can be spaced across the evening rather than spent at once.
Sandhya Katha chooses one story each night against the pañcāṅga, for your child's age, and lays it out to be read aloud. Free, nothing to install.